Skimmer Smells Terrible

[hobbyreefer]

Every time I run my skimmer it literally stinks up the entire downstairs of my home. Has anyone found a workaround to keep the tank from smelling so bad. This can't be normal. Here's my setup:

160 gallon DT and 30 gallon sump.
Tank running since Nov 2019 ~6 months
Nyos 160 skimmer

I was struggling with 0 phosphate and 0 nitrates so I turned off my skimmer off for a few weeks. During this time the tank didn't smell at all. I've been dosing ReefRoids and NeoPhos and feeding a heavier. Yesterday my phosphate test spiked to .24 so I turned the skimmer back on. It went nuts! Heavy foam and dark skimmate for most of the day and it smells terrible.

I rechecked my phosphate this morning and they are back down to .04.

Skimmer is still running but it not foaming nearly as bad. Sump still smells awful.

I'm already running 2 bags of ROX carbon in the sump. Is there anything I can do for the smell? Has anyone put carbon in the skimmer cup? Other ideas?

 

[tehmadreefer]

Mine stinks up the house at times. I just empty it cos it’s usually from the cup being quite full

 

[Water Dog]

Not familiar with Nyos skimmers, but are there vent holes on the lid? If so, throw a mesh bag of carbon on the lid so it covers the vent holes.

 

[hobbyreefer]

Yes, I'm emptying and cleaning the cup daily to keep the smell down. I'm just surprised at how strong the smell is. Am I supposed to be able to smell the tank??? My previous tanks were ~30 gallons and I never noticed any smell after the initial cycle. I'm not sure if the larger tank size is the issue or if something else is going on?

 

[hobbyreefer]

Yes there are vent holes on the lid. When the skimmer foams a lot, the foam will come out of the holes and drain down the neck of the skimmer (not water, but foam). I'm thinking this is also part of the issue. Do most skimmers have vent holes?

 

[mfinn]

Years ago I seem to remember a carbon chamber on top of a skimmer cup, but I don't remember which ones.
I guess the idea really never took off.
So all you can do is empty it.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Don't they all. Its sludge, poop, inorganics and goo

 

[Water Dog]

I have a Deltec and a Lifereef and they both have vent holes.

 

[Water Dog]

Years ago I seem to remember a carbon chamber on top of a skimmer cup, but I don't remember which ones.
I guess the idea really never took off.
So all you can do is empty it.

Kinda got the idea for the carbon bags over the vents from old skimmate collectors from Precision Marine and Reef Octopus, which always had a little carbon chamber on the lids.

 

[mfinn]

Kinda got the idea for the carbon bags over the vents from old skimmate collectors from Precision Marine and Reef Octopus, which always had a little carbon chamber on the lids.

Maybe that's what I remember

 

[tehmadreefer]

I have one with vent holes as well and place a towel over it. And put something heavy on the lid to keep it down.

 

[Wtyson254]

It needs to have vent holes for air to exit the skimmer. You can mod the top to exit through a carbon chamber