Tunze 9410 protein skimmer overflowing

BurtMacklin · Feb 2, 2021

Tunze 9410 (not DC), 65 gallon tank, 20 gallon sump, 40lb reincarnated rock, 60lb live sand, dosing microbacter7 daily and have out 1 dose of ammonia in. Turned on the protein skimmer last night and it rank ok at first, but I woke up to it overflowing and spraying water out of the top. The manual says water depth should be 5.5-9.4". It was at 8.5" when overflowing. I turned off the return, pulled the sump out, and lifted the sump out of the water 0.75" with some wooden dowels (temporary) and it resolved the issue, but when I turned the return back on and heavier flow passed through that chamber it started overflowing quickly. I only have 1.5" above my skimmer and the shelf in the stand (which is why I got this shorter skimmer), so I can't move it much higher. There is maybe another 0.25-0.5" space. Do I need a DC skimmer? Is there something else I can change? I'm pretty sure I have it hooked up properly. Do I need to set it up to collect into a bucket while it adjusts? I'm worried that if it's producing this much foam already, it's only going to get worse when I establish bacteria and add fish. Pictures added.

X-37B · Feb 2, 2021

Both my dc and non dc are in 6.5" of water.
Little to no bio load will make any skimmer do what yours is doing.
6-6.5"s is optimum. Any higher and it wont skim correctly, imo.
Can you reduce your sump level to 6.5"?

BurtMacklin · Feb 2, 2021

90's reefer said:
Both my dc and non dc are in 6.5" of water.
Little to no bio load will make any skimmer do what yours is doing.
6-6.5"s is optimum. Any higher and it wont skim correctly, imo.
Can you reduce your sump level to 6.5"?

Should I just wait to run it then? The rocks were given an acid bath and don't have much, if any, organic material on them. The sump has glass baffles siliconed in place, so I can't adjust the height of the water in the sump. I can only raise the skimmer. If the skimmer needs to be raised higher, then that shelf needs to come out and I'd have to build new doors for the front of the stand...

Suohhen · Feb 2, 2021

Skimmers can overflow for many reasons. Like 90's reefer said you can't really expect consistant bubble formation until you establish a bioload and it is safest to the on the low end of depth recommendations. But you can still run it just try different times of the day and see what works, avoid any time you are dosing/feeding anything. You may also want to consider redoing the baffles if that is something your comfortable with.

BurtMacklin · Feb 2, 2021

That

Suohhen said:
Skimmers can overflow for many reasons. Like 90's reefer said you can't really expect consistant bubble formation until you establish a bioload and it is safest to the on the low end of depth recommendations. But you can still run it just try different times of the day and see what works, avoid any time you are dosing/feeding anything. You may also want to consider redoing the baffles if that is something your comfortable with.

That'd be a project to redo those baffles... I'd really rather not. On the other hand I don't exactly want to build new doors and remodel this stand... What are your opinions on waiting until I have a bioload to test it again? Might it produce fewer bubbles or am I looking and needing to run this in shallower water. It's probably still in about 7.75" of water right now after being propped up.

Suohhen · Feb 2, 2021

It is the organics that allow bubbles to form into a much larger diameter and without them you get what your seeing. Anything that breaks down bubble formation can cause what your seeing plus there is the factor of the break in period. That is why I recommend to run it periodically to break it in an get a feel for how it is working.

BurtMacklin · Feb 2, 2021

Suohhen said:
It is the organics that allow bubbles to form into a much larger diameter and without them you get what your seeing. Anything that breaks down bubble formation can cause what your seeing plus there is the factor of the break in period. That is why I recommend to run it periodically to break it in an get a feel for how it is working.

Understood. The issue is that I can only run it for about 5 minutes at this height before it overflows and starts spraying saltwater in every direction. That's why I'm also wondering if the DC version of this skimmer would be better for my limited space, so I can turn down the power.

Gernader · Feb 2, 2021

I have that same exact skimmer. Try twisting the blue screw almost all the way down to skim more dry for now until you find a way to decrease the water level

BurtMacklin · Feb 2, 2021

Gernader said:
I have that same exact skimmer. Try twisting the blue screw almost all the way down to skim more dry for now until you find a way to decrease the water level

YES that's what I needed. Fixed!!! Didn't even need to screw it all the way.