Skimmer overflowing

lilqtpierikki · Jan 23, 2012

Hey everyone, for some reason now that i've added puka shell and have the salinity of the water correct, the top of my coralife skimmer is overflowing. The bubbles will go all the way to the top and the water spills over. It fills up in literally 3-5 minutes. HELP!!

tigger · Jan 23, 2012

You can't dial your skimmer back some?

tigger · Jan 23, 2012

You can't dial your skimmer back some?

lilqtpierikki · Jan 23, 2012

i've tried moving the knob all the way closed and open and if i all the way one way it fills up in 5-10 seconds. All the way opposite, it fills up, just slower.

btkrausen · Jan 23, 2012

Open it all the way and just let it flow. Do you have a cap that allows a connection to a skimmate locker? I'd undo that and let it flow in which it'll end up going back to normal. You could even take the collection cup off and just let it overflow back into the sump. It'll correct itself after a while.

lilqtpierikki · Jan 23, 2012

AH HAH! I got it LOL. So i didn't know there was 2 knobs. one that controls the flow back into my tank and one on the sucking park. Yes i'm really bad at lingo, i have no idea what anything is called, hence, i'm a newb. anyway, i turned the sucking knob to a certain point and it went down. I left the other knob all the way open. Now, my question is, how high should the bubbles go in the skimmer collection cup?

aznnutty · Jan 25, 2012

the thing that controls the air input is called a venturi valve. some skimmers dont come with one and when ever a new skimmer starts to run, theres a "break in" point that makes the skimmer run abnormaly. i had to add a venturi to an old euro reef skimmer when i started it on a new tank. after a while, you can open the air valve all the way and ultilize the skimmer to it's full potential.

lilqtpierikki · Jan 25, 2012

it's hanging on the back right now, so hopefully when i get a sump it'll run differently. i'm still trying to figure out how it goes in the sump though...

dh350twin · Jan 27, 2012

very frustrating

peteranddeb · Jan 28, 2012

We had the same problem, first there was something defectiove in the intake tube, the airhose was filling with water. We got a new piece and it was working. After we did a water change, it started that filling up the cup thing. this went on for about a week. every day I would put it back on and try to adjust it. Finally, it started functioning properly. That was about a week and a half ago. now I just keep my fingers crossed that it remains working. It is the mostfrustrating thing, its such a simple concept...lol.....

Dozerman · Jan 28, 2012

I had one of those skimmers. Very hard to adjust them and they have a habbit of acting up no matter how you set them. I fought with mine for ages until I finally upgraded to a better one. I went with a Vertex IN 180. To put yours in a sumpbe sure to get the water in the sump the right depth for the skimmer or it won't work right. I would consider saving up the $$ to upgrade to a better skimmer.