Skimmer Issues

[dabeling]

My skimmer, Bubble Magus 5, works for about a week and then stops producing many bubbles.

I empty it and clean the neck regularly.

The only way to get it working again is a full cleaning of the skimmer which is a pain to do every week.

How often do you guys clean your skimmers? Should I just get a new one? It's getting annoying.

I run it fairly dry but even if I run it wet it stops producing bubbles in about a week (usually before the cup is even full).

 

[dabeling]

PS - I've had it about a year and it's been the last few months that this has been happening. Can't figure it out.

 

[Jimbo662]

Has anything in the tank changed? Less fish, feeding less?

 

[ReeferBob]

It stops producing bubbles or stops producing skimmate? It might be oversized for your tank and/or you just don't have much to skim. Skimmers are like this for low bio-load tanks - feast or famine.

 

[luke33]

Have you checked the venturi hole? Generally I have always had to clean the venturi hole in every skimmer I've owned on a monthly basis. The hole gets salt creep and calc buildup, you just scrape it off and your good to go.

 

[Ryengoth]

I have an original reef octopus and only have to take it out if my sock fills up and the the chamber gets dirty or grows algae. As far as skimmate it only bubbles into the cup when the proteins exceed where I have the water level set. I run mine just short of max. Make sure you're not getting a cyano explosion. That can clog up the diffuser plate if it gets bad. Is your filter media or inside of the sump slimy?

 

[mcarroll]

I vote for @ReeferBob and @luke33 answers.

 

[matt_97055]

Have you checked the venturi hole? Generally I have always had to clean the venturi hole in every skimmer I've owned on a monthly basis. The hole gets salt creep and calc buildup, you just scrape it off and your good to go.

I have always cleaned the air in take line but never thought of cleaning the intake hole. I have had my skimmer for a 1 year and a half. I did the vinegar bath last night and cleaned it today. The intake hole was almost encrusted closed with calcium. I cleaned it out and got it back into my sump and wow!! What a world of difference! I will be cleaning that more often.

 

[luke33]

I have always cleaned the air in take line but never thought of cleaning the intake hole. I have had my skimmer for a 1 year and a half. I did the vinegar bath last night and cleaned it today. The intake hole was almost encrusted closed with calcium. I cleaned it out and got it back into my sump and wow!! What a world of difference! I will be cleaning that more often.

Yep, this is one of the most important things with a skimmer, and easiest!

 

[mcarroll]

Tunze skimmers have a nifty semi-self-cleaning design for the air-intake.

[knock on wood]Neither my Tunze 9410 nor my old AquaC EV90 really had persistent air-intake clogging issues.[/knock on wood]

The venturi intake on my old, old Oceanic "Plus Series" Model 6 would do better after a cleanout every so often. I remember I fixed it by devising a way for RODI water from the ATO to be added in a manner such that it would drain into the skimmer's air intake, giving it a rinse every ATO-cycle.