What causes a skimmer to overreact?

[AmberL]

My skimmer had been functioning fine for the past 7 months, when I bought it new. It's a Reef Octopus 180.

Last week it started overreacting (overflowing massive amounts of water and bubbles into the skimmer cup). I haven't changed anything (no new additives, water level is the same). What can cause this? We took the skimmer out and disassembled it. There wasn't a blockage or anything we can see. The only way it functions normally is if I drop the water level about an inch from where it has always been (it's marked with a line, so I'm not just guessing). What can cause a skimmer to just start over-reacting? It is time to change my media in my phosphate reactor (I use Sea Gel), but I don't think that could be the culprit, could it?

Thanks for your input!

:bigsmile:

 

[nater]

do you blast your rocks off to remove detritus ? do you use filter socks? if you have an abundance of loose detritus getting to the skimmer that may cause it. also , when you adjust the skimmer , how much are moving the valve to dial it in? also , how do you keep your water level constant in the sump? if your water level varies too much it may be making the water level in the skimmer to rise which could cause it to over flow. some ideas

 

[gerardsreef]

are the holes clean on the collection cup cap? my reef octopus fills up with water when they are clogged

 

[AmberL]

do you blast your rocks off to remove detritus ? do you use filter socks? if you have an abundance of loose detritus getting to the skimmer that may cause it. also , when you adjust the skimmer , how much are moving the valve to dial it in? also , how do you keep your water level constant in the sump? if your water level varies too much it may be making the water level in the skimmer to rise which could cause it to over flow. some ideas

I haven't blasted off the rocks in a while. I changed the filter sock about 3 days before the skimmer started overracting. The skimmer is opened all the way. I can't adjust the dial in any manner to make it stop overreacting. I have the skimmer currently turned off because it won't stop overflowing. The water level is always the same in the sump; I do top off the water every day.

 

[AmberL]

are the holes clean on the collection cup cap? my reef octopus fills up with water when they are clogged

Everything has been cleaned thoroughly. We disassembled the whole thing and cleaned everything.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

gerardsreef welcome to R2R great to have you here!

Amber have you glued or epoxied any frags or rocks into the tank lately?

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Oh have you used chemiclean?

 

[AmberL]

gerardsreef welcome to R2R great to have you here!

Amber have you glued or epoxied any frags or rocks into the tank lately?

Nope - I haven't bought any frags in a while. The ones I have, I just wedged in between rocks - I'm afraid of epoxy in my tank. I know I'll get something glued down and then want to move it the next week! :squigglemouth:

Oh have you used chemiclean?

I don't even know that that is! What is it? :neutral:

 

[btkrausen]

Sometimes my newly washed filter socks will cause my skimmer to overflow, but it usually only last for a very short amount of time, like 10-15 minutes or so.

Do you have the output of your media reactor coming out in front or behind the skimmer. In other words, does the water coming out of the reactor have a chance to get into the skimmer, or does it go straight to the return pump?

 

[AmberL]

Sometimes my newly washed filter socks will cause my skimmer to overflow, but it usually only last for a very short amount of time, like 10-15 minutes or so.

Do you have the output of your media reactor coming out in front or behind the skimmer. In other words, does the water coming out of the reactor have a chance to get into the skimmer, or does it go straight to the return pump?

The water from the reactor goes straight into the sump, not the skimmer.

 

[AmberL]

If I reduce my sump level about a gallon and a half, about an inch below my marked line, the skimmer seems to function like normal. (I'll have to watch it to make sure it stays functioning normally.) Should I just move my line and chalk this up to something funky but not important?

 

[Reefers Cove]

Had the same problem after cleaning pump and the skimmer body, i just lowered the water level in the sump and retune the skimmer to resolve the problem.

Jorge

 

[CJO]

You probably just got something in the water. Adjust the water level in your sump for a day or two and then go back and see if you need to raise it back again.

CJ

 

[DJ_in_WV]

How new is your tank ,in the beginning while the skimmer is building up a slime coat inside you will get alot of over and under production. During this time adjustment is very touchy and my take up to 24 hours to stabilize the skimate production. Make micro changes to the output and wait 12 to 24 hour before changing it.