Help! Piece of crap skimmer!

[Slyguy00]

So I have a reef octopus in sump skimmer. The classic NWB-110SSS. I am extremely unhappy with this thing and was wondering if other people have the same problems? I thought reef octopus was supposed to be good? This thing is the biggest pos iv ever seen. If I stick my hand in the water even 2" it stops skimming. If i add food it stops skimming, and then takes hours before it shows any signs of doing anything again. Every few days ill check it and it doesn't even have any foam or build up, yet it is still bubbling from the pump. I have never even got this skimmer collection cup half full and i empty it maybe once a month. Iv played with the adjustments but it makes no difference. Someone please tell me that this is fixable and it isn't a total hunk of ****? Because I'm just about ready to throw this thing out the window.

[Proteus]

I have same one and love it..

It's normal to loose foam head when you feed or dose products

[Slyguy00]

Thanks for quick reply. Yea i know its normal when i add food for it to drop, but once it does it doesn't start to do anything again for hours. I'm talking 5-7 hours. That seems ridiculous to me. Between me feeding and having to put my hand in the tank for whatever reason, this thing literally pulls nothing out of my tank. And whatever it does pull out its almost clear. all 2cm of it.

[Proteus]

I only run mine during lights out so I've never had issue.. Might be worth a shot

[Slyguy00]

But if i turn it off, it takes even longer for it to start actually skimming.. It used to work ok when I got it. Since then its just been on a quick and steady decline. I should mention Im using it on a 72 gallon bowfront with 20 gallon sump. Its rated for up to 100 gallons. I figure it should be pulling out a lot more than that if its almost at its limit. I took it all apart and everything seems normal so I'm pretty confused and frustrated with this thing. I have it in the correct depth of water as well.

[Proteus]

Maybe try a vinegar bath.. I'm stumped

[Slyguy00]

Yea I haven't done that yet, maybe Ill go buy some vinegar and give that a try. Thanks.

[mikellini]

I've heard a few bad things about this one and its big brother (NWB-150-SSS), specifically with sensitivity to water level and feeding. You can always try adjusting it to skim a bit wetter. I prefer a dry skimmate, but then this requires cleaning the neck every couple of days because the buildup reduces skimming efficiency and eventually it will just stop skimming altogether if the neck isn't cleaned. Wet skimming avoids this to some extent.

[Aquattro]

Only time my skimmers have ever shut down was during heavy feeding with PE mysis. Anything else was fine. Hands in tank, no problem.