Skimmer going crazy- help

Fishinwall · Oct 22, 2014

What is causing this?

For some reason the volume of the water in the display tank raised to the point where the first prong of the auto shut off was submerged. This tip is a bit rusty.

The skimmer went crazy for a day until the auto top off came on which made the bubbles go down.

I did a 6.5 gal water change and the skimmer went down further. During the change the water reached the tip again, but briefly because I cut the power to the return pump. While the water was down I covered the tip in silicone grease.

The skimmer stayed low for 24 hrs, then it started to go crazy again until the auto top off came back on, which helped to calm it down again.

Not sure what is causing the skimmer to go crazy. The gate is completely open too. Help.

Also. Tank has cycled and I'm just starting to stock it... Just has two emerald crabs in it.

Salinity 1.025
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 40

Irsug1 · Oct 22, 2014

You should adjust the skimmer down so that it is slowly producing skimmate. I constantly need to adjust mine slightly.

Fishinwall · Oct 22, 2014

If I close the gate the bubbles go up... Not down.

CastAway · Oct 22, 2014

I was just checking out your build thread. Just Awesome.

Are you saying that your ATO coming on affects the surface tension of your water, and changes the level in your skimmer column?

Fishinwall · Oct 22, 2014

CastAway said:
I was just checking out your build thread. Just Awesome.

Are you saying that your ATO coming on affects the surface tension of your water, and changes the level in your skimmer column?

Thank you!

No the ATO is in the return chamber of the sump. I just noticed that when fresh water is added the skimmer bubbles go down.

CastAway · Oct 22, 2014

Hmmm. I'm not using my ATO right now, and am manually adding 1 gallon at a time, a couple times a day, and my skimmer/surface tension is unaffected. I wonder if there may be some contaminate in your top off water. Plus, your ATO should be adding RO water in such small quantities, it just seems odd to me. Unlike some, I do not chase every transitory condition that may effect foam production by adjusting my skimmer daily, or at all. Many things change the surface tension of the water, feeding, hands, cleaning, and apparently even topping off. I set my skimmer to produce as dry and dark skimmate as possible, then just leave it be. If I manually dose anything, I'll turn the skimmer off altogether for a short while.

NanaReefer · Oct 22, 2014

The bubbles will go down when it's drawing fresh water. Clean fresh water doesn't foam. Why do you have your skimmer in the return chamber? Especially if that's where your ATO is located also. The return chamber water level is never consistent. No good for a skimmer.

Fishinwall · Oct 23, 2014

NanaReefer said:
The bubbles will go down when it's drawing fresh water. Clean fresh water doesn't foam. Why do you have your skimmer in the return chamber? Especially if that's where your ATO is located also. The return chamber water level is never consistent. No good for a skimmer.

My skimmer is not in the return, my ATO sensor and refill line is in the return chamber. My skimmer sits in 6.5 in of consistent water.

NanaReefer · Oct 23, 2014

Fishinwall said:
My skimmer is not in the return, my ATO sensor and refill line is in the return chamber. My skimmer sits in 6.5 in of consistent water.

Oops my bad, read it wrong. Looooog day