Help...Remora Skimmer problem

[askinz]

I've developed an issue with my remora skimmer today, and am curious if anyone else has had a similar experience. I've been running it since Januray, and it's been working well, as far as I can tell (ie: I have to empty it once every few days...and it's usually a pretty well concentrated sample of pond scum). Today has been a different story. When I checked it today, I found that it was almost filled with water that was only slightly green tinted, not nearly as concentrated as all the other times before. I thiought it might be a fluke, so I emptied it and thought nothing of it. I have had to empty the thing several times throughout the day today, each time with the same slightly green water. If I keep going at that rate, and keep adding just RO water to fill the tank as I have been doing, I imagine I'll start to throw off the salinity. Not to mention the stinking mess I'd have on the carpet if I were to forget to check the thing sometime and it were to overflow.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, what is there to do? Could it be that it needs some maintenance? Does the skimmer need to be cleaned from time to time? For now I've decided to turn it off over night and when I'm not around to watch it, although I hate to do that for prolonged amounts of time, for obvious reasons.
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[gwen_o_lyn]

Is the collection cup all the way at the top?

I get slighty green water from mine, but I have it set to skim wet. Mine is only on a 12g tank so I don't have to empty very much. How big is ur tank?

[askinz]

I've got 55 gallon tank, and yes, the collection cup is on the top. I usually get a collection of greenish liquid, but it usually has all sorts of crud in it too. This is basically slightly green tinted water.
You mention that you have yours set to skim wet. I didn't know you could set them differently. I wonder if I could have inadvertently changed the settings?

[gwen_o_lyn]

do you have a black rubberband adjustment around the outside of your collection cup?

[askinz]

yes, but with the amount of water in the thing, and the rate it's accumulating, it wouldn't take long for it to overflow that, too.

[gwen_o_lyn]

If you have the skimmer cup adjusted at the highest setting them I'm not sure what to tell you. I'd suggest cleaning it out really good with vinegar and see if that helps.

Have you put any chemicals in your tank or used anything that may increase the skimmate like epoxy?

[askinz]

The only thing added recently was a yellow powder called "red slime remover" which the guy at the lfs sold me, to help with my cyano issues (it seems to come and go...I've tried to suction it out, I've treated with chemicals to lower the phosphate, I think I've got good circulation, and I don't know what else to do). Like I said though, it's not that the thing is just removing more crud from the tank. It looks like it's removing more volume that isn't as concentrated, and thus isn't working the way it's supposed to.
I hadn't heard of cleaning it with vinegar, but it's worth a shot!

[Clownfishman]

Originally Posted by askinz

The only thing added recently was a yellow powder called "red slime remover" which the guy at the lfs sold me, to help with my cyano issues (it seems to come and go...I've tried to suction it out, I've treated with chemicals to lower the phosphate, I think I've got good circulation, and I don't know what else to do). Like I said though, it's not that the thing is just removing more crud from the tank. It looks like it's removing more volume that isn't as concentrated, and thus isn't working the way it's supposed to.
I hadn't heard of cleaning it with vinegar, but it's worth a shot!

There is your problem, once that stuff gets out of your system your skimmer will resume normal operation

[gwen_o_lyn]

hmmm the red slime remover could be causing the skimmer to work extra hard. Do you see micro bubbles in your tank?

I recommend getting rid of cyano the natural way, and avoid putting any chemicals in your tank, after all, we don't throw chemicals in the ocean when there is a problem. Cyano is caused by excess nutrients. Take a look at how often you are feeding, are you getting the right amount of flow, are u using RODI water....stuff like that can cause cyano to go crazy.

It's always good to clean your pumps and equipment with vinegar. Once a year I will fill up my bathtub with 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar and put all my pumps and skimmers in there and let them run for about 24 hours. You can get CA buildup on your pumps and that can wear them down. It's prolly best to clean em every 6 mouths, and not wait as long as I do. I keep backup pumps that I rarely use and throw those on the tanks when I'm cleaning the pumps.

[askinz]

Thanks for th input.
Have you ever heard of that product? Was it a bad idea to use, or is this part of it's doing it's job and getting rid of the cyano? I haven't noticed a drastic change (good or bad) over the past few days.
Also, am I correct in assuming that if this meeps up I'll eventually affect the salinity, or does the skimmer return the salt to the tank and remove low salinity water?

[askinz]

[quote=gwen_o_lyn]hmmm the red slime remover could be causing the skimmer to work extra hard. Do you see micro bubbles in your tank?

Now that you mention it, I have noticed some micro bubbles these days. I was attributing it to the filter sponges I put over the powerhead intake vents the other day. I bought them the same day I bought the red slime remover. I needed some way to stop my sea hares from getting stuck in the vents, and that seemed like a great solution. Do you think the bubbles are coming from the slime remover? And could that be causing the skimmer to behave this way?

As to the cyano issue, I'm not sure how to get rid of it. I suppose it's possible that I'm overfeeding, but I've been trying not to do so. I had initially been using mostly flakes, with the occasional brine shrimp meal. I recently switched to a different hard food that comes in tiny pellets. The guy at the store said to add 7 pellets daily (which seems like a tiny amount, but I'm sticking to it). BTW, I've got 2 clowns and a 2 spotted goby in the tank. The rest of the inhabitants (2 sand sifting stars, 2 other stars, 3 sea hares, 2 emerald crabs, 1 arrow crab, lots of turbo snails, and lots of hermits) fend for themselves. Do you think I could be overfeeding with just 7 pellets a day?

[gwen_o_lyn]

Yes I bet that slime stuff is your problem- give it a few days and it will be gone.

Personally, I try not to put any chemicals in a reef tank- do u consider carbon a chemical?? Best to take the natural way to eliminate problems. Think about it this way: sure you can dose chemicals and that may patch the problem for a few days, but until you solve the root of the problem and understand why you have excess nutrients, you won't solve anything. Make sense?

I'm gonna assume they are the small sized pellets that I use. Doesn't seem like you are feeding too much if you are only putting 7 very small pieces in your tank. But if I was in your shoes, I'd feed every other day to help with the problem. Are you doing water changes? RODI water?

Just keep an eye on your salinity. Adding RODI water to replace wet skimmate could throw ya off some....

[askinz]

I do monthly water changes. I have yet to see my nitrites/nitrates/ammonia levels rise to prompt more frequent water changes. I do use RO water. To this point, the salinity is fine, I'll just keep an eye on it these next few days.
As to the comment on patching vs. fixing the problem, in general I agree. It looked like the cyano started on a piece of live rock, and I didn't know it was a bad thing initially, so I let it grow. My thoughts were that if I could get rid of it, it would be fixing the problem. I guess that's not the whole story though.
Thanks for all of your input.

[gwen_o_lyn]

You need to do water changes more often- at least once a week since you have cyano. You may not see the elevated nitrate/phosphate levels because they are being rapidly used up in your system *feeding ur cyano*.

Water changes also replenish used up trace elements in your water which is very important.

Think of hair algae and cyano as always being in your tank *some say ich is the same way*. If there is food, then they will take off. No chemical will completely eradicate it from your system so that it never comes back- that just ain't gonna happen.

[jonnywater]

Call me an idiot if you want for asking this, but what are you feeding your tank? 90% of the planet uses some sort of phytoplankton. If you leave your skimmer on when you dose with phyto, the water will come out nearly straight dark green. I dont see how the water coming out could be green unless your additives are green? I dont think that red slime remover could be doing it.

Green Hair algae could cause it if you are just going though the final stages of that dying off. Or even the phyto that your corals are already releasing. In order for the foam to be green, something green would have to be in the aquarium. Caulerpa, Cheato....etc. Just any of those thing. You would figure. That is just a guess though. I dont know if there is some sort of chemical reaction to when you add the slimer remover it turns it green. Also it could be green if you arent using some sort of brush to clean the uptake holder 9 times a week, LOL. That would cause the brown gunk to possibly produce a green fungus. I also take the screw out of the top of the "sprayer" and use the little enclosed brush to get down in there. Keep in mind that once you take the screw out, it is hard to get back in. Then if you accidently drop it down into the skimmer, you need to go fishing for it. Not to mention the fact that I strip the screw head on mine most of the time. According to what i have seen, some residual dripping after the screw is replaced is normal though.

But I have pulled TONS of green algae out of the spray jet a good deal of times without having anything green in my tank at all. If anything my DT's is causing it to produce green scum. Well now it should turn into blue scum. The bright side is that with the new DT's it is just a prettier scum all in all, LOL