Hi I was hoping someone here could help me out. I have a 150 gallon reef the has been running for about a year. I have a reef octopus 200 skimmer in the system set up external from the sump it is feed buy one of the overflows. Has been working great up until tonight.
I feel asleep on the couch and was awoken to a loud noise coming from my office where my tank is at. I headed in there to see what was going on. Of course first thing i notice was the water level had dropped in the display tank. Next I realize me socks are getting wet. Of course oh **** run through my mind and I open the sump to see whats going on. Well all the water has drained out to the level of the overflow and is now on the floor so I cant tell whats going on. So I start to refill it when i realize the gallon bottle from the protein skimmer is full to the brim. The skimmer has overflowed and drained the tank and the 20 gallon fresh water reservoir that is on a float switch. Everything in the tank is super pissed off and has retracted and many of the corals have a wired slim coming off of them. Now this skimmer has worked great sense the tank was setup and no changes have accorded in the last 48 hour period that I am aware of. What could have caused the skimmer to go so hay wire and cause this problem I am baffled.
I currently have it wide open so that it doesn't happen again. Till I can figure out what the heck is going on here. Oh and the other thing wired is as I mopped up the mess I notice something on the ground. My clown has committed harry carry during this fiasco and jumped out the top of the tank and is now dead on the floor. All other fish are alright though I think. Once refilled and working properly again minus the skimmer the corals seem to be doing fine again a hour later as I write this but cant tell for sure cause its 4 in the morning and still night in there.
If anyone can give me some insite here it would be much appreciated as I am stumped on what to do and would like to be able to use the skimmer again without having to worry of the same problem again. Thanks so much
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Have you taken the pump off and cleaned it since setting up the skimmer? I recommend taking off the pump and soaking it in 50/50 mix of vinegar and water (you can run the pump at this time, it will help clean it) overnight. What has likely happened it that the venturi (the part where the airline goes into the pump) has probably clogged. You should do this about every 3 months.
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Ah good call I have cleaned every other pump besides that one once every 2 months in the same manner don't know why that one slipped my mind. Ill do it tonight and see what happens. However it is still bubbling the same does that say anything about the clog?
