Skimmer Help

[briand7878]

I bought a Vertex skimmer about a month ago and i keep having trouble. Sometimes the water level will be a little low in the bubble chamber and then a couple of hours later it will fill up the cup and be overflowing rapidly. I know the water level in the sump needs to be constant but is it really that important to keep the pump under a certain water level? there are probably 3 inches of water covering the top of the pump.

 

[jackri]

My coralife can be touchy... make small adjustments and wait -- keep an eye on it as changes take a little while to effect sometimes.

 

[briand7878]

The corallife was a piece of cake compared to this thing. I miss my old one. It just randomly changes water levels in the bubble chamber. I think it probably has something to do with the depth of the water in that sump but am not sure.

 

[joncat24]

The depth of the water in the sump should remain as constant as possible. The pump will pull more air at shallower water depths and that is why the levels inside the skimmer are fluxuating.
Do you have an auto top off? If not, it is a good idea to have one anyway, and it will make your headache with the skimmer go away, more than likely.

 

[briand7878]

No i dont have an auto top off but the water level in the sump does stay constant with my set up. the only thing i can think that is affecting it is the actual depth of the pump in the sump.

 

[joncat24]

that is possible. With the pump that shalow, it could be pulling in a vortex from the surface form time to time which would cause the fluxuating levels.