Help -Skimmer Overflowing Constantly

[DiverDude]

A couple of days ago I changed my filter sock. Doing so usually makes my skimmer go nuts (fill quickly with clean water) for a few minutes and this time was no different -except that it's pretty much kept going nuts for almost 2 days now.

I did a 15% water change and changed the filter sock again this morning in case something had got into the water but it's just as bad now if not worse.

I've shut it down because I'm tired of listening to it gurgle on a full (clean) collection cup.

Any thoughts on what could be causing this ?

[bignose]

are you feeding you corals? some coral food makes skimmers overflow.

[DiverDude]

I dose Coral Snow more or less daily but I've been doing that for months and the skimmer's been fine.

[Seamazter]

Chances are it was something on your hands, or you changed the air/water setting.
If your skimmer lets you, this i do often at the skimmer as work if they overflow.
Is set your collection cup on the edge and allow half the water to flow over top the skimmer and half into the collection tube.
I do this on super skimmers and eshopps and my euroreef here at home when i dose my tank something that sets it off.

If you cant do that just keep dumping what it does pull out, sooner or later, usually the later, it gets the gunk out that caused the overflow.

[DiverDude]

Well, nothing is impossible but I always wash my hands and rinse well before the hands go in the tank. I have a Bubble Magus BMQQ (http://www.fish-street.com/bubble_magus_bmqq_protein_skimmer) and I adjust the air level by raising or lowering the entire skimmer body -and I have it as high as I can (dry).

[Skimmerking]

why is your skimmer going nuts I WILL TELL YOU MINE DOES IT its the soap that you are using. don't use soap to clean the socks and phosphates do leach back in hot water and vinegar.

[Seamazter]

there u go, skimmer king is the guru on skimmers, i was gunna say that but I was waiting for skimmer king too.
hehe, peace folks.

[DiverDude]

why is your skimmer going nuts I WILL TELL YOU MINE DOES IT its the soap that you are using. don't use soap to clean the socks and phosphates do leach back in hot water and vinegar.

I wash my filter socks in the washing machine without soap and a a second rinse cycle. I have been putting a half-dose of bleach in the machine though but again, I have 7 or 8 filter socks and I wash 6-7 at a time so if one sock had some kind of residue on it, they all would.

[Skimmerking]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm Ok 2nd thought

If you have a skimmer the is super efficient then its going to clean the tank up till there isnt any thing to clean. Now once the tank has gotten to that level then what ever you put into the water is going to cause the chemistry of the water to flip around. having a high ALk will cause your skimmer to over flow too.

And 3rd option if your filter socks are washed in the washing machine its still going to get soap residue from the other washing.

4th

feed more to cause the tank to get some nutrients in the water to cause the bubble to stick to the nutrients

super high PH will do the skimmer funny things

[DiverDude]

Actually, I can't comment on just how efficient my skimmer is since I do a 15% water change at LEAST once a week. I had a small sea hare vanish in my tank so I've been doing water changes more like every 3 days to be safe. So, yeah, my water is super clean right now.

Agreed on the residue from the washer but I think that is really minimal.

pH is only 8.1

In the last hour, it's finally settled down. I was beginning to think it never would.

[Milad]

so you guys are saying vinger and hot water? i was using baking soda and hot water to clean them.

[fishytime]

are you using RO or tap water?.......if your using tap water are you using a water "conditioner"?

[DiverDude]

Doug....All RO/DI here. 100 GPD system and just 35 gal system volume so everything is still quite new and 0ppm TDS.

[DiverDude]

Update on this: The skimmer had calmed down a bit to the point where the collection cup was about 3/4 full of essentially clean water every day. Not immediately overflowing but not skimming usefully either.

This morning, I had a few minutes so I pulled a few rocks from teh tank and was ripping hair algae from them when the skimmer suddenly overflowed. :twised:

Ok, now I have some correlation: algae seems to be setting it off. This would tend to make sense because my water is spotless.

Anyone else ever seen this ?

A buddy has offered to lend me a high power UV Sterilizer for a few weeks in the hope that may help.

[globaldesigns]

Personally I was my filter socks in the washing machine also with bleach, very hot and second rinse. I have never had an issue with soaps, leached into the socks, but all washers are different I guess.

I agree with Skimmer King, don't use soap when washing your hands. I just rinse real well and use a clean towel.

DKH fluctuations, the use of 2part epoxy (drying stage only) and many other things can cause skimmers to go nuts. Is there anything you do, before or hours/day before the skimmer goes nuts. Take note of what you have done, it may the cause.

[DiverDude]

So nobody out there has ever seen algae make their skimmer go nuts !?

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree then....

[Canadian]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm Ok 2nd thought

If you have a skimmer the is super efficient then its going to clean the tank up till there isnt any thing to clean. Now once the tank has gotten to that level then what ever you put into the water is going to cause the chemistry of the water to flip around. having a high ALk will cause your skimmer to over flow too.

And 3rd option if your filter socks are washed in the washing machine its still going to get soap residue from the other washing.

4th

feed more to cause the tank to get some nutrients in the water to cause the bubble to stick to the nutrients

super high PH will do the skimmer funny things

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/1/aafeature#h6

This article and the one previous to it would suggest there is no way for a skimmer clean anything so that there isn't "anything left to clean".

[DiverDude]

That may well be true but the point right now is not how efficient my skimmer is at removing what may be in the water column, but rather why it fills the collection cup so quickly with clean water.

Once I answer that question, I could begin to debate the relative efficiency of the device itself !

[Canadian]

That may well be true but the point right now is not how efficient my skimmer is at removing what may be in the water column, but rather why it fills the collection cup so quickly with clean water.

Once I answer that question, I could begin to debate the relative efficiency of the device itself !

That post wasn't directed at you. I just wanted to dispel the ubiquitous notion that skimmers are some how uber efficient filtration devices.

With respect to your problem with overflowing: a) have you recently done a water change or changed salt brands b) when was the last time you cleaned and checked the nipple on your venturi intake? Sometimes they build up with deposits and if you adjust your skimmer to the reduced intake and the deposit becomes dislodged you end up with a mess.

[DiverDude]

I've finally figured out the problem. The sponges at the bottom of this unit can become clogged with gunk. The back pressure caused by the restricted flow causes the skimmer to overflow and overflow and.....

Now...you're thinking "ya gotta CLEAN the skimmer once in a while, ya know !" and yes, I clean it quite regularly but it didn't even look dirty this time (I was just fed up with it).

This was a really simple issue and sadly, no one (not even the dealer) could offer any help. So I'm posting this in the hope that some poor bastard who's about ready to pitch their BMQQ through a window can save himself the grief (and expense).

It's important to note that depending on where you mount this thing in your setup, it may be very difficult to see that the sponges are dirty until they are in your hand.

So if your BMQQ overflows and you just can't adjust it high enough to get it to stop, check the sponges.

Of course, if you bought a skimmer that came with a manual of some usefulness, gems like this are likely found in the manual. BM manuals are the worst chinglish and aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

[Cal_stir]

if you are using bleach you should soak your socks in a chlorine neutralizer like aquasafe for 24 hrs, then allow them to dry before use

[DiverDude]

Interesting you should say that. This last load of socks I ran, I watched more closely in the machine and I saw suds -not a lot but some.

These days, I'm collecting dirty socks in a bucket of water with and ounce or so of bleach. When I have enough of them, I run a load -with NO soap or bleach and a second rinse cycle.

On top of that, I've now started soaking the clean socks in (tap) water for a day and then drying them before use. We'll see how that goes.

So overall, my socks were definatley adding something to the water but the principal problem with the skimmer was the clogged sponges.

2 more lessons learned.

[Cal_stir]

i don't know how your tap water is teated in calgary, but here our tap water is treated with chlorine so i soak my socks in aquasafe just to be safe

[DiverDude]

I could use RO I suppose -just seems like a waste. I'd like to think that the chlorine content of tap water would be low enough that the amount that could be transferred from a sock to the water would be immeasurable.

[Cal_stir]

i think using ro is a waste, i soak my socks (3 every 2 to 3 days) in a bucket with some bleach for 24 hrs then rinse them well ( lil lady won't let me use washer), and let them soak 24 hrs in clean tap water, thought this was good. but then i quit smoking and after that i noticed i could smell the bleach in the dryed socks prior to using them, so i put a few drops of aquasafe in my final soak and can't smell bleach, ive had the bottle a year now, i do it just to be safe, have you tried running the skimmer without the sponges, they're probably there to control micro bubbles from getting in the tank, but your hob sump might prevent this, just a thought

[DiverDude]

...have you tried running the skimmer without the sponges, they're probably there to control micro bubbles from getting in the tank, but your hob sump might prevent this, just a thought

No, I haven't. I was thinking about that and worried that they provided a degree of necessary back pressure. It'd be worth a try, for sure. I think the clogging was an unusual thing though. Once I get rid of all this HA, I think that level of gunk in the sponges will be a thing of the past.

I may pick up a small bottle of aquasafe for my socks. I know it takes care of chlorine but not sure about bleach. Although, 'bleach' is actually 'chlorine bleach', isn't it ? I'll have to check all that.