My skimmer is going crazy!

J

jackie dh

Guest
It's about to take me with it. I came home from work Wed. morning and the pump in my sump was running dry, I added a gallon of water, before bed I noticed that it was running dry again. I checked all of my U tubes, nope, no big air bubbles so I cleaned the sponges in my sump, some times they get clogged up and restrict the water flow and I added more water. When I got up that afternoon it was runing dry again and I noticed that my carpet was wet near the tank! I have a heart attack and start looking for leaks, nope no leaks, so I check the bottom for cracks, nope. Then I noticed that the 2 liter bottle that my protein skimmer drains in was over flowing.

My carpet is soaked with stinky skimmer water, I vacumed as much up and I could and adjusted the skimmer. I get up today and notice that the carpet still feels really wet! It had done it again after being fie for a day.
Now my carpet is really stinking, I've shampooed and cleaned up the water but it reaks of amonia like a dirty litter box.
Why is my skimmer suddenly going nuts? I hadn't messed with it and I hadn't made any changes to the tank at all until last night when I made a water change. The water in the 2 liter was almost clean, light green in color not the normal crud that a skimmer pulls out. The skimmer is about 2 months old and is a Marineland 300.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Are you sure nothing different chemical wise was added to the tank? Is the skimmer overflowing the cup?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Have you checked the output of the skimmer...maybe it is clogged or blocked somehow...might cause the skimmer to back up with water?
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
Nothing had been added to the tank and the output is flowing freely, it's on the front and out of the water so I can see it plainly. I have the skimmer draining into a bottle, maybe I should get a bucket for the drain line to empty into until I figure this out.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Jackie DH
http:///forum/post/3281713
maybe I should get a bucket for the drain line to empty into until I figure this out.
I think I would have done this already....especially after what.....2 floods onto your carpet

If all else fails you may have to take it apart to make sure there is nothing stick anywhere
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Is there a way to adjust the water level in your skimmer? If so...maybe you can try lowering it and see if that helps.
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
It's in my sump, so I really can't adjust the water level. It wasn't puting out any thing yesterday and then it made the lake in the carpet. I'm starting to think that the thing is possesed by crap demons!
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
What 2Quill is saying there has to be some type of air/water adjustment on the skimmer to controll the height of the water column inside the skimmer body. The skimmer is run in sump?
 
robertmathern

robertmathern

Active Member
I would say untill you figure it out just leave the tube from the cup draining back into the sump. That way you wont have a mess to clean.
 
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