Ultra Reef UKS-180 going crazy

[SpyC]

Whenever I run any skimmer on a lifeless tank, they always randomly overflow.

 

[Reefer911]

Whenever I run any skimmer on a lifeless tank, they always randomly overflow.

I’m not doubting your observation but I don’t understand how that would be the case

 

[Reefer911]

Well it’s back to it. I havent made any adjustments.

 

[spsick]

At this point I could only recommend taking everything apart and look for what’s causing it. It’s not like it’s going nuts skimming it’s just pushing the water level up too high. Like as if it had the next size up pump or something. Then I guess check with the distributor or Ultra Reef direct. I emailed them directly inquiring about what thread the fitting for the cup drain is and they emailed back in minutes. (It’s 1/4 BSP if anyone’s wondering)

 

[Reefer911]

Ok thanks. Taking it apart is fine but I don’t even know what I’m looking for.

 

[spsick]

Ok thanks. Taking it apart is fine but I don’t even know what I’m looking for.

Me neither! Just something abnormal. Do you have a Kill-a-watt you could check the wattage draw on?

 

[Reefer911]

I think it does have something to do with the silencer since it calmed down yesterday after messing with it.

No I don’t have a kill-a-watt. I could get one though. Is the wattage listed on the Ultra Reef website?

 

[spsick]

Yes and on the pump I believe.

 

[Reefer911]

Support sent a FAQ on the skimmer overflowing and the only thing I took from reading it was that this could go on for weeks. This is pretty ridiculous

 

[danielankeny]

Its overflowing and making a mess. Is this just the normal new break in? Nothing I do seems to help.

Did it finally settle down? Same issue for mine after after probably 3 weeks, no signs of the bubbles decreasing

 

[afrokobe]

I had the same issue with mine for about a week or more. Took a while to get dialed in, but its been amazing since. I just took the top off and let it run. I have the smaller model.

 

[Reefer911]

Did it finally settle down? Same issue for mine after after probably 3 weeks, no signs of the bubbles decreasing

Yes it did. I think once I put a bio load on the system that’s when it started working properly.

Just use the olive oil trick until things settle down

 

[danielankeny]

Yes it did. I think once I put a bio load on the system that’s when it started working properly.

Just use the olive oil trick until things settle down

I discovered that my flow valve was detached from the knob, in the wide open position. Once I seated the threads and closed the valve, the bubbles immediately settled and now i have a few mL of skimmate since last night

 

[Reefer911]

Nice catch!

 

[Daniel]

Using a UKS-160 in my system and it did something similar like others mentioned for 1st week, randomly overflowing... but it did settle after the initial break-in (1-2 weeks for me).

The 2 things that worked best in my case was to:
1. Open the flow all the way, so that the bubbles actually stayed just below (1cm) where the cup began, and every morning I would do 1 full turn towards "close" to adjust height of bubbles - eventually I stopped it where the bubbles were consistent around the bottom of the cup, barely visible above the neck
2. Also had to adjust water level in the sump exactly where the groove of the open/close flow pipe is... seems you're slightly above that line in your photos.

By lowering water level height in sump, and doing a full open, then daily adjustments and observations to close flow, I was able to finally dial in. Hopefully you get yours adjusted and settled soon, these skimmers are great!

 

[danielankeny]

Using a UKS-160 in my system and it did something similar like others mentioned for 1st week, randomly overflowing... but it did settle after the initial break-in (1-2 weeks for me).

The 2 things that worked best in my case was to:
1. Open the flow all the way, so that the bubbles actually stayed just below (1cm) where the cup began, and every morning I would do 1 full turn towards "close" to adjust height of bubbles - eventually I stopped it where the bubbles were consistent around the bottom of the cup, barely visible above the neck
2. Also had to adjust water level in the sump exactly where the groove of the open/close flow pipe is... seems you're slightly above that line in your photos.

By lowering water level height in sump, and doing a full open, then daily adjustments and observations to close flow, I was able to finally dial in. Hopefully you get yours adjusted and settled soon, these skimmers are great!

Completely agree! Solidly build and super efffective!