Skimmer going TOO hard...please help!!!

chrisncarrieb

chrisncarrieb

Member
I bought my tank used and this is my first saltwater, so I am not very familiary with saltwater equipment. I am not sure of the proper names for parts so please bear with me while I explain. My tank has been running about 6 weeks or so and I do have a few fish and need to get the skimmer going. When we first set up the tank we tried to get it going and it was straight water up the tube....no bubbles at the top....just TONS in the tank. (BTW-he called it a Corallife Superskimmer? Something about a needle?). We thought there must not be anything to "skim" so turned it off. In the coming weeks we heard that it takes several weeks until you need to use them and that could be the problem.
So, we now have 2 clowns and 3 damsels and a few cleaners. I've been feeding pretty good and I know there HAS to be something to skim, so we tried it again tonight. So now we are still getting a TON of bubbles into the tank and yes, we are getting a bit of WHITE very wet foam. Within a very few mins we had to turn it off as it filled up.
The adjustment knob is turned all the way down with no more control. It looks exactly like the skimmer up at the LFS and it seems like I've heard these are good skimmers. I'm positive its user error. Please help!!
I did try to take a few pics. I'll post them shortly.
Thanks,
Carrie
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
Lots of bubbles can be a normal condition for a newly started skimmer. My experience with other skimmers is that the airbleed on the powerhead venturi air intake may not have a wide range of adjustment and can be tricky to get dialed in. Skimmers should be always on and I suggest leaving yours on, let it run and it should start working, with less bubbles and more of the nasty dark stuff collecting in the cup. This may take a few days to a week of steady operation. Since you are getting some foam, it sounds like your skimmer is basically OK and may be working properly.
What size is your tank? If it's a new tank w/a low bioload, there may not be all that much DOC to be pulled out now but go ahead and leave it on, keeping an eye on the collection cup to make sure it doesn't overflow. An important word in beginning SW fishkeeping is: Patience. I wish I had known that word when I started my tank years ago!
One thing you can do to check the air bleed is to pull the adjustment

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out of the tube, put your finger over the end and see if it stops sucking air into the column.
 
chrisncarrieb

chrisncarrieb

Member
I cant leave it on!!!! It overflows to the drain within 4 or 5 mins....I would fill up a 5 gallon bucket by morning!!! Or even worse...the entire tank!!!!

Its a 46 gallon bowfront with 3 damsels, 2 clowns, a couple snails, a hermit, and a few hitchhikers. Also have 20lbs live sand, 30lbs arroganite (sp?)sand, and about 20-25lbs of live rock.
So by the air adjustment you mean the small rubber hose that is connected to the water intake inside the tank right? The other end of that hangs out the outside of the tank right? There is a canister looking thing on the end. I think that is just for noise...thats the only difference I get putting that on and off. When I plug it up the big canister no longer fills up with bubbles, and then yes then the bubbles are not overflowing into the top. But I still have no more room to turn it down on the adjustment. So, how do I adjust that air intake tube more? I tried opening that smaller canister thing thinking I could maybe put in some baffles or soemthing...but nope!
Maybe I shoudl just take it into the fish store and see if they will test it for me and show me how to use it?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreicated!
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
I'm thinking that the air bleed

[hr]
on the end of the hose is just sending too much air into the powerhead inside the tank. The powerhead in the tank uses the venturi effect (low pressure) created by water flow (being pumped into the skimmer intake tube) to draw air into the skimmer and to create (just the right amount of) foam. It sounds like the adjustment

[hr]
that is supposed to meter the incoming air just can't be dialed down enough to let ONLY the required amount of air into the water stream. The air bleed screws on the skimmers I have had were made of plastic and were far from precision devices, even though I did get them to work. You should be able to find another type of air adjustment

[hr]
or device in your LFS. It's a pretty common item and won't cost much.
Once you do get the skimmer working, keep in mind that you should monitor it regularly as conditions in your tank as well as additives (stress coat, etc) and the use of carbon filtration can reduce it's output or otherwise change it's operating parameters, requiring ongoping adjustments. Some skimmers are more stable than others, I have heard, but I have to occaisonally adjust mine. Good Luck!
P.S. The word deleted above is the word for a threaded fastener that can be either slotted or phillips head-the automatic editor thought it was a "bad" word!
 
scopus tang

scopus tang

Active Member
Originally Posted by ChrisNCarrieB
http:///forum/post/2503346
I cant leave it on!!!! It overflows to the drain within 4 or 5 mins....I would fill up a 5 gallon bucket by morning!!! Or even worse...the entire tank!!!!

Its a 46 gallon bowfront with 3 damsels, 2 clowns, a couple snails, a hermit, and a few hitchhikers. Also have 20lbs live sand, 30lbs arroganite (sp?)sand, and about 20-25lbs of live rock.
So by the air adjustment you mean the small rubber hose that is connected to the water intake inside the tank right? The other end of that hangs out the outside of the tank right? There is a canister looking thing on the end. I think that is just for noise...thats the only difference I get putting that on and off. When I plug it up the big canister no longer fills up with bubbles, and then yes then the bubbles are not overflowing into the top. But I still have no more room to turn it down on the adjustment. So, how do I adjust that air intake tube more? I tried opening that smaller canister thing thinking I could maybe put in some baffles or soemthing...but nope!
Maybe I shoudl just take it into the fish store and see if they will test it for me and show me how to use it?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreicated!

Check the end of the air hose where it connect to the powerhead ~ sometimes on mine it plugs with calcium deposits.
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
yeah, you need to cut the tube from the pump, and cut your return tube going into the bubble box.
I have a set up pic of my old Css i'll post it
 
sharkbait9

sharkbait9

Active Member
found it. This pic is how i had my CSS set up. After about 6 months or so i did not the bubble box anymore.
Hope this helps you.
 
coralina

coralina

New Member
I've had that type skimmer for about 3 years, so your's may be a newer model, but from the second photo it looks like your "bubble reducer box" is several inches underwater.
You might try raising it so the top of the sponge (I hope it has a sponge?) is at water level. It could be that the water pressure that low in the tank is forcing some of the overflow back up instead of letting it out into the bubble box. I had to adjust mine several times to get it right. There should be a clamp to attach the box to the rim of the tank at a higher level.
Hope this helps.
Also, I've found that some additives such as Reef Plus will cause the skimmer to go crazy too.
 
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