why does a skimmer suddenly go nuts?

[jennmac415]

I have had my skimmer finally "dialed in" for about 4-6 weeks now... I finally figured out what level to keep the water to get a nice dark, wet, nasty skimmate consistantly. I normally have to empty the cup about every 2-3 days and it is nasty and smelly. Well, twice in the last 2 days I have gone down and the skimmer is going nuts! The cup is completely full with a very light tea colored skimmate and the skimmer is just overflowing...I have not added anything to the tank nor have I done anything differently in the last week.

Any ideas?

[Fly Guy]

something clogging the venturi

somehting on your hands when you stuck them in the tank

something in the air

epoxy

many others

although I will say that most likely your air line is slightly clogged with something

usually something on hour hands or in the air will kill the head instead of make it overflow

take it apart and clean it with vinegar including the inside of the nipple it hooks onto

[crvz]

Agreed, probably something in the airline, but I've had it happen when I painted the house.

[scoop]

Fly covered all these, but here are some specifics I've had issues on: Mine went nuts when I put my hands in after putting some hand lotion on. I thought the hand lotion was dry (it had been a while), but it took a whole day to re-set the skimmer after that faux-paus. Also, I think I have some issues with it when I work with silicone on my new tank which is sitting right next to it. Just the fumes must make it go nuts.

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by jennmac415

I have had my skimmer finally "dialed in" for about 4-6 weeks now... I finally figured out what level to keep the water to get a nice dark, wet, nasty skimmate consistantly. I normally have to empty the cup about every 2-3 days and it is nasty and smelly. Well, twice in the last 2 days I have gone down and the skimmer is going nuts! The cup is completely full with a very light tea colored skimmate and the skimmer is just overflowing...I have not added anything to the tank nor have I done anything differently in the last week.

Any ideas?

It received its next year's estimated tax statement?

It could be any number of circumstances that end up adding long-chain hydrocarbons or surface-active agents to the water: the loss of a specimen, feedings (can work either way), aerosolized surface-active agents (some air fresheners, furniture polish, cooking (esp. frying), hair spray, etc.), algal growth, scraping the glass for algae, exhaustion of your carbon, suspension of detritus from the rock, coral specimens disturbed so they are dumping mucus, disturbing the sand bed, yadda yadda, yadda...: anything that puts surface active substances into the water column can make your skimmer go nuts.





Most often the fix is to replace your carbon, replace any phosphate GFO medium, look to see how the corals are doing, and make sure to count heads for your fishes, snails, etc if possible and remove any bodies if they are to be found. Keep your skimmer in a waterproof tray, and run the discharge into an airtight container with a shutoff valve if your skimmer is one that can be controlled by this device (most high-end skimmers work this way).





A temporary fix is to stick yout hand in the tank. This will usually stop skimming dead, but will not fix the problem and it will return within an hour or two, so you'll need to find what the problem is before you decide to take a long drive through the mountains...



HTH

[yellow submarine]

did your water levels change at all?

if my water level is low and then I top off.....if I dont redial the skimmer level then I'll get a full cup within 24hrs