Skimmer not producing bubbles

BigJohnny · Nov 11, 2018

Woke up this morning to low ph (I use a co2 scrubber through my skimmer) and no foam head. My skimmer is still moving water but no bubbles are being produced. I am about to take it apart and run it in citric acid but does anyone have any guesses as to what the issue is? Vertex omega 150.

Broken/stuck impeller? Clogged venturi?

I'm trying to get it up and running asap so a little direction would be greatly appreciated. I've had the skimmer for 5 years and never had any issues.

Funny enough I just posted about how "set it and forget it" it was........argh.

Thanks!

ndrwater · Nov 11, 2018

Check the Venturi. probably a snail or something stuck in it

Dpate · Nov 11, 2018

If it ain’t making bubbles,it ain’t gettin air

HexaReef · Nov 11, 2018

Dpate said:
If it ain’t making bubbles,it ain’t gettin air

^^

BigKid4788 · Nov 11, 2018

Did the airline disconnect from the pump? That would allow the water level to rise w/o the air bubbles. Check the scrubber airlines

Reefing Madness · Nov 11, 2018

Usually salt creep clogs the air intake line

BigJohnny · Nov 11, 2018

So venturi and air line were clear. Only thing I found was (besides a bunch of gunk) a little bit of loose algae in the pump in front of the impeller and then about 15 small snails in the impeller, but they dont have shells and they were all in the center. None of which look like they would have impeded performance, but maybe the algae was blocking the air line and just fell out after I turned off and took apart the pump. I'm cleaning everything and will fire it up again in about an hour.

BigJohnny · Nov 11, 2018

Turned out to be the impeller. I thought it had atleast been moving water but not air, it wasn't moving either. After taking it apart and cleaning it, everything looked fine, but when I fired it up it just sputtered a few times (sometimes air n water, sometimes just water) and would vibrate a lot. I thought maybe the alignment was off or something but upon further inspection I saw that the magnet could rotate freely from the rest of the assembly. It wasnt loose but I could turn it if I tried.

So, I applied super glue to all 3 contact points between the magnet and the rod/impeller and put the pump back together. It's working great now, for the time being, but I'll be ordering a new impeller asap.

I've attached a pic to show you the red section/magnet that could move independently of the rest of the assembly. Something for people to check in the future if their pump is making noise/sputtering but not functioning properly.

Thanks for posting everyone.