Another skimmer issue

[gregzz4]

This morning I found my skimmer overflowing after running for nearly 2 weeks without issues - minus the epoxy I used
So now, 2 days after I cleaned all the remaining epoxy out of it, it starts overflowing.
I stripped and cleaned the whole thing but it still wants to overflow unless I close the air right off and open the outlet flow fully
Before this, if I turned the air off it would overflow, now it stops it from overflowing ?????
The foam is really frothy and pretty much only white

It's a Skimz SK181

Any thoughts ?

[Nano]

Could be the epoxy a lot of people mention it driving the skimmer nuts. You have nothing in your system that would make it skim much of anything yet.

[Nano]

Maybe a small wc would help?

[gregzz4]

How so ? All params are good, water is clear ... ummm
I know it wouldn't hurt but are you thinking maybe 'cause of all the epoxy ?

It was quite sudden .... overnight after no issues

In the meantime I'll let it puke out all the foamy stuff and see what happens
Plus I'll get a tank of NSW ready

Oh, and I'll get some pics of the new dudes and have a couple frostys :biggrin:

[Nano]

Could be the epoxy. At least I've heard similar stories in regards to epoxy

[gregzz4]

'K, thanks Kenny
I'm mixing some NSW for tomorrow. I'll do a 15% WC

More thoughts are welcome !!!

[Nano]

yeah take a few more suggestions ;) I am wrong from time to time.. but mostly I'm always right....:lol: haha no.. I think its the other way around :lol:

[subman]

I always found my skimmers were a little goofy in a new tank, not skimming anything then boom puking foam all over especially if its brand new. let it foam out and it will settle....I think.:mrgreen:

Also the epoxy does it as well.

[gregzz4]

Thanks both of you
I've actually unplugged it now and will deal with it later
I just got finished prepping the QT with it's RKL and am heating up some RO for the NSW for tomorrow's WC

I also have been acclimating the snails and hermit, so the skimmer just got in the way

I will plug it back in soon and see what it does, but when I unplugged it, it was peeing me off and wasting water with basically nothing to throw away being produced

[gregzz4]

Yep, that's it for the skimmer tonight
I tried to let it foam out, but it just keeps puking water and then the ATO fires up
I tried it again and no luck so it's gonna stay off-line overnight
I'll try it again tomorrow after a WC

[subman]

take the cup off and let it flow Greg get what ever is causing the bubbles out.

[daplatapus]

Ya, I found my was a bit screwy too when my tank was new. I also find it's weird after I clean it. It works way better after it slimes up a bit.

[gregzz4]

Thanks again Sub and for your input daplatapus
I'll try turning it on again in a min or so with the cup off
Such a waste to have it running over though .....

And I just finished cleaning it !!!!

[gregzz4]

Ya, I found my was a bit screwy too when my tank was new. I also find it's weird after I clean it. It works way better after it slimes up a bit.
It was running fine before, and after, the epoxy
I saw it running on the previous owner's setup and no issues

Tomorrow is WC day just to see .......

[gregzz4]

OK, it's running for now. I'll watch it until bedtime
I'm keeping the foam low

Thanks for all your input

I'll report back when I can

[Enigma]

How long has the skimmer been running?

Mine was very moody for the first couple of days, but it settled down. Aminos still seem to make it go a bit nuts, though.

[gregzz4]

The skimmer was first fired up when I started using epoxy, so about 2 weeks

I was cleaning it and the socks as needed, sometimes multiple times a day
I put the sand in on Thursday and then on Friday cleaned the skimmer out just in case there was sand in it
It seems that's when it started acting up, before the cleaning

I got tied up yesterday so today I'm doing a 15% WC. I'm hoping this will show some results as maybe, as Kenny suggested, there could be some residual glueing crap in the water

[Nano]

Good luck bud, hope it helps solve the issue. My epoxy was cured out of the water for a few days, as I used dry rock so I never experienced it, but have heard a few people on here report it causing some issues :P

Hope all goes well!

[gregzz4]

You da man Kenny :mrgreen::mrgreen:

I blew all the crap off the rocks then changed 15%
I let it settle down for 'bout 1/2hr while I rinsed out the NSW tank and now the skimmer is back to normal

It's definately wanting to pull something out so I'll have to sit here for awhile and fine tune it

Thanks bud, great tip :biggrin: