Skimmer overflow problem

[Gary]

Every so often the skimmer starts bubbling like crazy. The day before this picture almost the entire area on top of the sump was covered in foam.
All the levels are good in the tank.
Last summer I was out of town for 2 weeks. I turned the house A/C off and the tank chiller couldn't keep up so the tank temp got up into the 80's. I've since corrected this. Some livestock died because of that. Things seemed to be getting better when I had to leave for 2 weeks again. A brain that was about 6" long fell off its rock and ended up upside down on the bottom. It died. From that point on, I have been having trouble with hair algae. I change about 10% water weekly and use RODI for top off water.
Does any one have any ideas why the skimmer does this?

 

[mfinn]

Usually a skimmer will act up if you put something in the tank, like food or a chemical.
I know that when I add flake spirulina to my tank, my skimmer goes nuts.

 

[tike]

If you have control over the intake to the skimmer, cut it back a bit. What skimmer is it?

Also, check your nitartes to see if they are too high.

 

[Pepcrylic]

How long ago did the brain die??
Adjust the skimmer to skim alot dryer

 

[Gary]

Thanks for the comments!
The brain died in October. Right after that the nitrates shot up. I did a bunch of water changes and started using AZ-NO3. The algae was dying off pretty quick, but in the last couple of weeks it started blooming like crazy! I have an ASM skimmer. It usually works well (as far as I know). The cup usually has a dark green sludge in it.
Here are the tank test results from today.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Calcium: 350
PO4: 0
Mg: 1250
KH: 12
PH: 8.7
Temp: 77.7
ORP: 381
Salinity: 1.025
I use the Balling dose daily:
Calcium 6mg/day
Alkalinity (I can't remember the name off the top of my head): 30 mg/day
Vinegar: 20mg/day
+ trace elements

This all has been a good recipe up until when the tank got hot and the big brain died. Some of the corals are fine, but the bubble, torch and duncan are all kind of retracted all the time.

 

[Pepcrylic]

I am no expert on the chemistry side but your KH (12) is a bit high compared to your 350 calk which in turn has your PH a bit on the high side. Dont know if this would cause your skimmer to go nuts?????

 

[NanaReefer]

His levels are still in acceptable ranges. So I wouldn't be overtly concerned.
I suspect as mfinn stated it may be something your dosing that is causing your skimmer to go crazy. From the looks of your foam, I suspect something chemical.
Are you manually topping off or using an ATO?

 

[1guydude]

I don't think 8.7 ph is right... lol
Ud b better 8-8.3
Kh10
Mag 1300
Cal 400
My .02

How deep water? If it's been working idk why it would go
NutZ.
Do a big wc one time to catch up. Hths
D

 

[Gary]

I have an ATO.
The ph concerns me too. It went up to where it is over the course of almost a year. But during that time, the tank seemed healthy. The tank is an Oceanic 57. I can measure it tonight, but I'd guess it's about 16" deep.
I will try running the skimmer drier and report back.

 

[1guydude]

im sorry. i meant how deep of water is ur skimmer sitting in> ?
-d

 

[tike]

The pH is a bit high, should be anywhere between 7.8-8.5 so it isn't crazy but could be a bit lower. However I thought your main problem was the over foaming of the skimmer? maybe lower the level of the water in your sump to take care of it. I run a SWC and a level of 8-10 inches is my sweet spot.

 

[Gary]

Oops 1guydude I should have got what you meant... It's in 10" of water.
The skimmer is the main problem. I can't even turn it on without if foaming like crazy now. A while ago I built an overly complicated sump that doesn't allow me to adjust the depth of the skimmer. I didn't follow the K.I.S.S. principle! It looked cool though. :-\ I need to make a simpler one.
I will do some large water changes to see if that helps.
Other than the sand and liverock in the tank there isn't any other biological filtration in the system.

 

[1guydude]

How about a skimmer stand to raise it up a bit? Idk wat the specs are on your skimmer or how it's supposed to be ran...egg crate stacked and super glued or something. Hths
D

 

[Gary]

I need to modify the sump so I can move the skimmer. The pump is in on one side of a baffle so the inlet tube into the skimmer goes through a hole. Hopefully I can do that soon!

 

[Gary]

I did a big water change last night. Also rearranged the tank and cleaned off a bunch of the algae. The skimmer is still bubbling a lot, but not as bad. The bad news is that something went wrong with the ATO and forgot to re-open the emergency overflow valve (it has to be closed when the tank is getting fillet during a water change). Yep, woke up to a soaked floor and low salinity. Merry Christmas!

 

[Pepcrylic]

Sorry You had a flood.
I have taken the mechanical equation out of my ATO for that very reason.
I top off twice a day, in the morning before work while my coffee is brewing, and when I get home from work. Who in this hobby are not looking at there tank at least twice a day.
I have put an MJ900 in a 20gal freshwater holding tank ,plugged it into a power strip. Push the on button, water in. push the button water off.

 

[Gary]

I figured out what happened. I have my pre-mix tank in the garage. When I do a water change I close the overflow on the sump then open the fill from the garage. Once the sump is filled, I close the fill valve and open the overflow. This time, I ran out of water in the pre-mix tank so I forgot to manipulate the valves at the sump. Then overnight the pre-mix tank refilled. Once it got high enough it started filling the sump again... At least it wasn't an equipment failure!

 

[Gary]

I think you guys were right about it being something chemical. I did a couple large water changes and stopped adding the AZ-NO3 and things seem to be OK now. I also discovered that they fish were getting fed way too much. Hopefully, that will help with getting rid of the algae.