Got a problem with my skimmer "I think"

[Krish]

I have been having some issues with my skimmer lately (AquaC EV-120) and I was wondering if anyone could help/comment on the problem. Here's what's happening...

My skimmer will go 2 days without producing anything (which I know is normal) but all of a sudden I'll get a 1/2 gal jug full of water and not really any skimmate. The water basically looks like pure water with a slight yellow coloration (but nothing to talk about). I had flooded the place twice before because of this and had to open my gate valve a 1/4 turn to prevent it (which helped for a while), but now I'm just catching it before a flood again, so I had to open the gate valve another 1/4 turn this morning. Any ideas?? Here's some info on the skimmer and how it is set up..

- I've had the skimmer since September.
- I'm using the reccommended pump (mag5)
- The skimmer is elevated high enough to keep the gate valve above water level and not impeede flow (reccommended).
- I've recently raised the specific gravity in my tank from 1.023-1.025 (incase that matters)
- No extra bio-load
- No extra feeding
- I started using purple up about 3 weeks ago (incase that matters)

Also here's a link to a photo of my setup with the skimmer incase you need to see how it is plumbed etc. Post #50. Any help will be appreciated

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12686&page=4

 

[oldsaint]

Mine was doing the same thing and I found the tip that the air line was hooked to on the pump was clogged. This will cause the pump to push more water and less air, raising to water level in side the skimmer. I used a toothpick to clean it out and everything went back to normal. HTH

 

[Krish]

Mine was doing the same thing and I found the tip that the air line was hooked to on the pump was clogged. This will cause the pump to push more water and less air, raising to water level in side the skimmer. I used a toothpick to clean it out and everything went back to normal. HTH

Thanks oldstaint, but I don't have an airline attached to my pump. I'ts a magdrive and the air is injected into the skimmer through and air injector. If you look at the photo in the link, you'll see the air injector attached to the skimmer's body. So basically the pump is only there to push in water. Thanks for replying so quickly.

 

[CarlaW]

Is it possible your air injector is clogged. I believe the same thing happened to Nikki.

 

[NaH2O]

Hmmm....krish - I'm not sure. Is the air intake on the skimmer body clean? I don't know if that makes a difference with these units....I can't remember what happens when you close that a bit . Anything get in the pump intake? Where are you dosing the purple up?

 

[ldrhawke]

I wouldn't worry too much......I looked at your tank photos. You have very little bio load with only a few fish and few coral in the tank. The skimmer is probably set a little too wet and simply is taking off every time it sees enough organic waste, from excess feeding, in the water to remove it. As you add more fish or coral it will increase and become more constant.

My skimmer doesn't continously remove at the same rate either. Sometimes it appears like it isn't working at all and then an hour or day later it is foaming like crazy. I stopped worrying about it a long time ago.

At the stage your tank is at, I'd consider putting a timer on the skimmer pump and only running the skimmer a few hours a day until you have more bio load. Your soft corals will have more to feed on. If the water is too clean they don't do as well.

 

[The Apprentice]

Aqua "C" skimmers

Hi Krish sorry to hear about your skimmer acting like this however I have to agree with John with the way your skimmer cycles as for the floor flooding when I used to run a Barr Skimmer It would do the same thing so I moved my waste jug to the inside of the sump. I know its not the best idea but if your gone it is contained and The heavier particles will stay in your collection jug. On your Aqua "C" do you have a cleanout hole on the spray Injector? I know I have to clean my Aqua "C" skimmers about every 4-5 months By removing the white screw and running a brush down thru the Injector. I don't know about yours? Good luck ...Jeff

 

[mfinn]

I wouldn't worry too much......I looked at your tank photos. You have very little bio load with only a few fish and few coral in the tank. The skimmer is probably set a little too wet and simply is taking off every time it sees enough organic waste, from excess feeding, in the water to remove it. As you add more fish or coral it will increase and become more constant.

My skimmer doesn't continously remove at the same rate either. Sometimes it appears like it isn't working at all and then an hour or day later it is foaming like crazy. I stopped worrying about it a long time ago.

I agree, but in untill then, maybe look at one of these?

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...n=PROD&Product_Code=AQUAC-WC25&Category_Code=

 

[The Apprentice]

auto-waste container

Good point Finn do these have a check valve that shuts off the flow to the container when it is full? To stop a flood:shock:

 

[big t]

I agree with finn, get one of those. Or you could make your own with a milk jug and a couple fittings + a pingpong ball. (would be very ugly on your pretty setup)

 

[Skimmy]

an auto wast collector isnt going to work with the remora or urchin, it's for the EV series, the remora/urchins are not air tight and the ping pong ball will not shut down the skimmer's air intake.
i would take that thing apart and wash it in hot water and vinegar at least once a month(including the pump) making sure that the water and air injectors are totally clear.
also, get yourself a cheap barometric pressure gauge, i notice that alot of skimmers stop working and need a couple days to re-adjust just because of changes in pressure and weather.

 

[mfinn]

I have a auto waste collector with the ping pong ball and it seems to work just fine on my skimmer which isn't air tight.
As long as the ping pong ball is clean, it seems to seat up against the hole and stop about 99.9% of the water.

 

[Skimmy]

well, every skimmer is a little different, and i dont know which skimmer you have finn. but as far as the remora is concerned i can tell you that while it may stop the water it's not going to shut off the air to the skimmer, i think the skimmer would be more likely to overflow from the cup after it fills the auto waste collector personally, just dont rely on it to shut the skimmer down because it wasnt designed to work with that type of skimmer. thats all im saying.

 

[big t]

skimmerguy, did you bother to take the time to see what kind of skimmer krish has before you thwarted others good advice?

 

[mfinn]

Oh I understand, what you meant. Mine does overflow from the cup, when the collestor fills but since it's in the sump I don't have to worry about the water ending up in the stand or on the floor. The waste collector is also big enough that when a problem does occur, that it will contain the overflow and I seem to catch it before it does get bad.

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the quick responses and replies everyone I'll have to check my calender and see when it was I took the skimmer down and cleaned it, the injector etc. last, but if I remember correctly, it was December. If I close my injector valve any at all, it will drop the water level drastically. It is very sensitive IMO and every afternoon when I get home, I'll just close the injector (to drop the water level off) so I can clean down in the neck, and then I open the injector back up for the skimmer to operate. If I remember correctly, they reccommend you keeping the injector wide open and fine tune the water level by the gate valve, but i'll have to double check that...

I agree wth you guys as well on the skimmer not having much to "skim" because of the little bio-load as well as I clean like crazy. I honestly don't leave much for the skimmer and will only get brown skimmate when I blow off my rocks. I just thought it was odd that the water level would sit more than half way down the neck and then all of a sudden shoot water. I think I may have to get a auto shut off waste container, or like you guys said, put the container I have now in the sump, just incase...Did I miss out anything???

 

[big t]

Are you cleaning it daily? I would just sit back and let it run for a while. I don't have personal experience with a aquac, but on my skimmer my water level is set right at the bottom of the main tube. When I put my hand in the water and whatnot that is where it collapses to. I clean my skimmer only once a month or less. I do adjust the gate valve every couple of days or so. After I clean it out it I set it back to run at the bottom of the tube and after a day or so it starts building up and then I fine tune it after a couple days. I would not worry too much about cleaning the neck daily at this point, I think in that type of skimmer it does more harm then good, and it will make it hard to keep in tune.

 

[ldrhawke]

I'm for simple simple......looks like you have room for a gallon milk jug to me.

 

[Krish]

Are you cleaning it daily? I would just sit back and let it run for a while. I don't have personal experience with a aquac, but on my skimmer my water level is set right at the bottom of the main tube. When I put my hand in the water and whatnot that is where it collapses to. I clean my skimmer only once a month or less. I do adjust the gate valve every couple of days or so. After I clean it out it I set it back to run at the bottom of the tube and after a day or so it starts building up and then I fine tune it after a couple days. I would not worry too much about cleaning the neck daily at this point, I think in that type of skimmer it does more harm then good, and it will make it hard to keep in tune.

K...I'll try that Tom....Thanks! I just always thought you were supposed to keep the skimmer neck clean for the skimmer to function properly.

I'm for simple simple......looks like you have room for a gallon milk jug to me.

LOL...My sump couldn't handle the loss of a gallon of water. I have to keep the last chamber (return chamber) relatively low now since adding the sea-swirl. If the power cuts, it will overflow if too high. I really need to look into a bigger sump. I put an elbow on my return pump so that it will suck from an inch of water just incase, but as a result, I have to top off twice a day But, I guess a gallon jug may help. It's better to just burn up the pump than to burn it up and flood the place(LOL)

 

[ldrhawke]

I'll go back to my original comments......set up your skimmer so it can't skim so wet. When you see it skimming heavy, lower the level in the skimmer an inch and give it a day to restabilize.

Setting up the over flow bottle so that it can flow back into the tank if it over fills isn't the end of the world. All your doing for awhile, and until you can empty the bottle, is putting the skimmate back into the tank what you have taken out. It isn't going to cause any problems unless you do this for weeks. A lot better than having stinky skimmate all over the floor and carpeting.


This is what I get at least once a week....because I have a heavy bio load