Snail spawn and a skimmer

[asylumdown]

How much snail spooge does it take to make a skimmer go crazy? My total system volume is about 375/350 gallons, and I don't have very many large snails, but twice in the past 10 days I've checked the skimmer right before bed, each time seeing that I should have up to 5 more days of room in the cup at normal production levels, only to come downstairs the following morning to an overflowing skimmer spewing salty water all over the inside of my cabinet.

I can't figure it out, but just a few moments ago I observed one of my larger Astrea snails ejecting puffs of white gunk in to the water. I think I've got maybe 6 of those guys in the tank, not sure if he's the only one doing it. Would that be enough to make the skimmer go nuts or should I be looking for something else still? It's not enough to make the water go visibly cloudy.

The skimmer is a Deltec SC2560, so it's not a small piece of equipment, and it has a relatively large collection cup, it usually takes a lot to make it misbehave.

[Aquattro]

I've woken up to almost milk in my tank from snails spawning and it doesn't affect my skimmer at all.

[asylumdown]

hmmmm, so then it's got to be something else. It's really very quite annoying. I'd put the drain line for the cup right in to the drain that's right next to the sump but I have visions of the skimmer going nuts for long enough to drop the salinity in the tank if I do that. It happened once before in the early days of my tank and I lost 80% of my corals.

Can you think of anything else that would make a skimmer spontaneously go crazy like that?

I dose the standard three - baking soda, calcium chloride, and magnesium via an auto-doser. I just started dosing a a half dose of amino acids, but the first time it did this was before the AA, and the aminos have been going in on nights when the skimmer has not gone crazy. I've been dosing MB7 for the better part of a month now, but I always turn the skimmer off for 4 hours following a dose and it comes back on and goes back to normal almost immediately.

[craigwmiller]

Suggestion for the overflowing... I run a float sensor inside my skimmer cup which shuts off the skimmer when the cup is full, and emails me. Saves salinity worries, and the skimmate from going back into the water :wink:

[asylumdown]

I've heard of those but have never looked in them seriously. Is it something that can be set up with an Apex? Do you not have problem with skimmer gunk making the float stick?

The ones I've heard about were in remote skimmate reservoirs, but I don't have space for an external vessel and my skimmer is normally rock solid. I don't think I've ever seen them put right in to the skimmer cup itself. Do you have any pics of how it's set up?

[craigwmiller]

No different hookup to the controller than any other float sensor. I have 2 others for min and max sump water level... Too high and I shutoff the ATO power port (just in case it got confused on) and also shutoff the skimmer so it doesn't go too crazy with the increased water level. Too low (super too low) and it shuts off the two return pumps and the one heater in that section (to ensure it doesn't overheat while dry).

Picture of the float in the skim cup: And no, it hasn't been affected -- running like this for 5 months now - got sick of over flows, and got off my lazy but :D. I clean it every month when I take the skimmer cup off for a neck cleaning, and I test it at least every week. (I just lift it up like I did for this picture, and make sure it's super easy to lift up -- and that the skimmer shuts off... has never failed once)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53801997/reef210/2014-01-12%2000.10.32.jpg

[asylumdown]

No different hookup to the controller than any other float sensor. I have 2 others for min and max sump water level... Too high and I shutoff the ATO power port (just in case it got confused on) and also shutoff the skimmer so it doesn't go too crazy with the increased water level. Too low (super too low) and it shuts off the two return pumps and the one heater in that section (to ensure it doesn't overheat while dry).

Picture of the float in the skim cup: And no, it hasn't been affected -- running like this for 5 months now - got sick of over flows, and got off my lazy but :D. I clean it every month when I take the skimmer cup off for a neck cleaning, and I test it at least every week. (I just lift it up like I did for this picture, and make sure it's super easy to lift up -- and that the skimmer shuts off... has never failed once)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/53801997/reef210/2014-01-12%2000.10.32.jpg

That looks like it was pretty simple to set up, how does it attach to the apex? Does that cable end in a 3 prong power plug, or one of the one of the Aquabus ports?

[craigwmiller]

I don't have an Apex, but from a quick google it seems you would connect it to a 'Switch Input Connector'. Check the manual for that text, you should see something like it. There is no polarity from a float sensor -- one direction it's OPEN and the other it's CLOSED, operating like an on/off switch.

Definitely not a power plug, this is DC, and the switch inputs are testing for connectivity only (very small voltage/current).

[spit.fire]

That looks like it was pretty simple to set up, how does it attach to the apex? Does that cable end in a 3 prong power plug, or one of the one of the Aquabus ports?

You need a breakout box to connect it