Is This Normal?

[reeferkeeper420]

So after a water change i didnt notice the water level changed in my sump until it was too late, so my skimmer started overflowing everywhere. Now ive always noticed that the adjustment valve always took alot of turning to get it to adjust? Is that normal? Ive been turning and turning and cant seem to get this POS to stop foaming everywhere.. is this jut because the skimmer overflowed or is there something wrong with the valve itself.. really pissing me off.

 

[reeferkeeper420]

And the skimmer is a reef octopus sro 3000

 

[heath]

try lifting the skimmer out of the water until it stops overflowing and slowly lowering it, I have a reef octopus and have had to do that...or if you can dial it back to nothing and slowly adjust it from there..

 

[Pistol]

Make sure the air intake is not restricted in any way, calcium can build up in them

 

[coral addicts]

I just unplug skimmer overnight after a water change but now I don't use a skimmer anymore or do water changes, I just top up with rain water everyday when needed

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Yeah im running a sps dominated tank so IMO i need to have a good skimmer running, especially with my high bioload. And use strictly RODI water so i dont have to worry about any contaminations water wise. Never had an issue before, it was because the water level in my sump raised a good inch or 2.

 

[Skim]

I wonder if maybe you had a blockage of some kind in the air input and the overflow dislodged it. I would just star fresh open the valve all the way and let it run until it settles and slowly start to close it. The other option is remove and clean the entire Skimmer Body and pump but I would try the first option you could of just washed a bunch of nutrients back into the tank and it was just responding to that.

 

[TORX]

Also, depending on how much water it already sits in, maybe an extra inch is too much. As example, 10" would be too much no matter what and you have it tuned in 9.5" of water. If the water change goes up an inch, then niagra falls no matter what you do. @heath had a good test, lift it up with something, maybe just and inch or 2 and try again.

Also, if water gets into the air input, then you will pump twice as much water. I had this happen to me recently where I closed the gate too much. My ventri hose connect to my out piping and water built up in there until it got to the hose filling it with water. Water was almost shooting out of my skimmer at that point.

 

[yveterinarian]

I, also have the same skimmer. I have never been able to adjust it properly and I did everything the manufacturer said to do. Eventually I covered the air intake with a bit of Saran Wrap and poked a small hole in it. Now it works wonderfully but I have to check that the little hole hasn't been encrusted with salt every week.

 

[heath]

skimmers; wonderful things but, very temperamental...

 

[AdInfinitum]

FWIW my IN 250 was always very touchy with water level changes set at manufacturers recommended depth. Changed sump set up and raised the skimmer a couple of inches to try it and now it is awesome pulling better and way wider margin for level changes.

 

[scubasteve]

a few things i noticed about my reef octopuss were if you change the water chemistry alot by using alot of additives at once it will foam over. if your water level gets too high suck some out and dial down the skimmer it will stop after a few hours then re adjust. if you shut it off you might as well clean it cause it will take a couple days to set back in anyway. at least those are some the things i have come across. Also check to see if anything is in the pinwheel. I had a small peice of chaeto and it made hell with trying to set it till i took it apart cleaned it and realised.

 

[Jewel]

Skimmers can certainly be a pain in the --- , I'm not familiar with this skimmer but i'm sure they are widely used, find out the optimum height that it should be run at and you'll have to fiddle with the valve until it stops over flowing, it'll take a bit of time but once set, you should be good to go.

 

[Jewel]

I bought a brand new skimmer once, I could not dial that sucker in no way, I got so frustrated with it that i sold it to Jerry cheap just to get rid of it, Man was I ever frustrated with it, Give me a Euro Reef any day LOL

 

[Skim]

Its too bad that Euro Reef closed up. I must admit I found them to be on the pricey side.

 

[Jewel]

You're right but back then, there weren't many choices for skimmers, Compared to the High end skimmers they were actually very affordable, Now a days there are so many budget skimmers out there, And they aren't all that bad. When I started BA was very popular and there in store brand was popular on many systems, Now there's so many Reef stores around and you can purchase cheap skimmers online. I loved my CS 100.

 

[Luke.]

Also, depending on how much water it already sits in, maybe an extra inch is too much. As example, 10" would be too much no matter what and you have it tuned in 9.5" of water. If the water change goes up an inch, then niagra falls no matter what you do. @heath had a good test, lift it up with something, maybe just and inch or 2 and try again.

Also, if water gets into the air input, then you will pump twice as much water. I had this happen to me recently where I closed the gate too much. My ventri hose connect to my out piping and water built up in there until it got to the hose filling it with water. Water was almost shooting out of my skimmer at that point.

I have the e-shop psk100 skimmer and my air hose has been filled with water for months now lol .. Everytime I go to turn it off i wrap paper towels around the hose so it doesn't spill.. Is that bad for the function of the skimmer ? I never have had any issues with this and it's been going for half a year atleast ,

 

[reeferkeeper420]

Your airhose shouldnt have any water in it.

 

[MrHermit85]

I have a reef octopus too. It is so sensitive that it bombs out even when I feed the tank lol. I wind up just opening it up all the way and adjusting to where it was before then it takes a few hours before it starts foaming to the top... maybe it's just a reef octopus thing. Otherwise it skims quite well