Why is skimmer burping bubbles from lid top?

Andy G · Sep 16, 2017

Hi everyone,

The bubbles in the collection cup are burping out from the holes on top of the lid.

Is not water, is just bubbles. Even after cleaning the cup, and being completely empty; bubbles pop out.

Skimmer seems to be working fine, is producing very dark matter.

But the bubbles inside the cup completely fill it and they come out the lid holes.

This creates a mess, plus it smells horrible.

I think it might be a correlation to high temperature and humidity, but not sure.

Any suggestion please?

AdamNC · Sep 16, 2017

This usually happens to me after a water change or when I've cleaned the skimmer completely. Nothing wrong with it other than an annoyance. If it's really too much then just turn the skimmer down.

Andy G · Sep 16, 2017

AdamNC said:
This usually happens to me after a water change or when I've cleaned the skimmer completely. Nothing wrong with it other than an annoyance. If it's really too much then just turn the skimmer down.

Thanks Adam, my last WC was 1 week ago and did clean it completely.

roberthu526 · Sep 16, 2017

This means your water have a lot of stuff that can be skimmed out. I usually see this when I over dose carbon.
Another possibility is you set your skimmer on the wet side by a little too much. Try to open the drain valve a little and see if it gets better.

saltyfilmfolks · Sep 16, 2017

Technically, it's not burps.
It's from the other end of the bacteria.

Andy G · Sep 17, 2017

Update, I tried raising the water level and still get bubbles out the lid.

Andy G · Sep 17, 2017

Here's the picture from today. Such a mess.

Samnz · Feb 2, 2023

I have the same issue on a deltec skimmer? I have a dc 1000i. I have tried both wet and dry will still come for the holes.... wondering will reducing speed will help?

afrokobe · Feb 2, 2023

I just assumed this was normal. Mine doesn't always come out, but does occasionally

Samnz · Feb 2, 2023

afrokobe said:
I just assumed this was normal. Mine doesn't always come out, but does occasionally

I just reducing the speed of the dc pump maybe will fix that issue. But I have dosed in the past some bacteria to combat cynobacteria not sure if that causing it.

Manny’s Reef · Feb 2, 2023

roberthu526 said:
This means your water have a lot of stuff that can be skimmed out. I usually see this when I over dose carbon.
Another possibility is you set your skimmer on the wet side by a little too much. Try to open the drain valve a little and see if it gets better.

I'd be careful about this one. I've had this happen to me even when running super dry skimmate. It usually happens after giving my cup a good rinse. I don't think wet/dry has much to do with it.