DIY skimmer performance help

[Little Luey]

Hey everybody!
I have a stupid question here. I build my skimmer a while back and it has been working ok, nothing spectacular but it does the job. I found that I have to be constantly adjusting it for it to keep skimming, I have to restrick the water outlet more and more every so often, then it works for a couple of weeks or so. I am cleaning the "neck " to the collection cup with a baby bottle cleaner but I wonder if there is another maintenance I should be doing to it? do I need to clean the venturi? how do I do that?

[Little Luey]

Here are a couple of pictures of the skimmer.

[Little Luey]

Lets try again.

[Geoff]

depending on your Ca levels you may need to clean your skimmer pump. Ca deposits like to build up on the pump motor making them less efficient. how is air delivered to the skimmer? you should also be cleaning the air intake whenever you clean the collection cup.

as nutrient levels in a tank changes the skimmer will also need to be adjusted. this is even more so if you have a sand bed. the nutrient levels in a sand bed are in a constant state of flux. some times it is releasing more nutrients than it is absorbing. this can cause the skimmer to behave differently between weeks.

you really can not have a skimmer that is completely adjust and forget.

G~

[Little Luey]

I have a ventury valve, BB tank with only a couple of fish and some coral in it. Feed ligthly.
I'll clean the pump and see what happens.

[Geoff]

if you have a sand bed in the tank than you could just be dealing with the flux in the sand bed. sand beds go from absorbing nutrients to releasing some. these changes can cause changes in the way the skimmer behaves. this is normal. these changes occur over several days. the deeper the bed the greater the differences.

i have to adjust my skimmer every other day or so. not much, but maybe a 1/4 degree on my gate valve. i have a lot of flow going through my skimmer so any tiny change in my gate valve does a lot in the skimmer.

G~

[Little Luey]

No sand in my tank, I run BB. Thanks for the replies Geoff.

[Geoff]

no problem. let me know if you have more problems or questions.

G~

[Little Luey]

Well, looks like I fixed the problem definatly.

I got a good deal on a used euro-reef skimmer so my DIY will only be a back up in case needed.