skimmer going crazy during feeding?

jrod11 · 05/14/2009, 10:53 AM

I have an ASM G3 skimmer on my tank and never had this problem until now.

I used to feed my fish flake food or frozen mysis shrimp. I recently switched to a homemade blend of multiple types of high end food that was thrown into a blender from the local reef community.

my fish go crazy over the food, but the problem is that my skimmer starts overflowing when i feed. I started to turn off my skimmer during feeding, but even leaving it off for an hour after feeding it still over flows.

Does this happen to everyone else?

stingythingy45 · 05/14/2009, 11:11 AM

Sounds like there could be a lot of oils and such from the ingredients.

der_wille_zur_macht · 05/14/2009, 11:21 AM

Probably more likely a bunch of really finely broken-up biological material, which nearly instantly dissolves into protiens and other components the skimmer reacts to.

IMHO the problem here is not the skimmer, it's the food dumping a bunch of nutrients into the tank. Livestock probably love it, but that food would make me nervous. This is why when I make home-made food, I chop finely by hand with a knife, then rinse away any "slime" or juices. By doing that, you get only reasonable and controllable chunks of food.

Put things in a blender and you get a smoothie puree - with lots of juice that your fish can't reall utilize, but which will cause nutrient problems and/or freak out your skimmer. This is why many people make it a practice to rinse commercially-bought frozen food where possible, to remove the unwanted liquid material.

drparker · 05/14/2009, 11:56 AM

+1 with what a "Will to Power" said, ditch the blender.

Oils would not be the problem they affect surface tension of the bubbles and would reduce skimmer production. This is why production drops after you have your hands in the tank.

spleify · 05/14/2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by drparker

Oils would not be the problem they affect surface tension of the bubbles and would reduce skimmer production. This is why production drops after you have your hands in the tank.

+1

Entropy · 05/14/2009, 01:46 PM

+2. My skimmer always goes flat when I feed or do maintenance.

jrod11 · 05/14/2009, 02:27 PM

I think what I will do is thaw the food in tank water and then strain out all the liquid. Thus leaving only chunks of food behind. Thanks for the input!

jrod11 · 05/14/2009, 02:33 PM

*Edit

until this batch is gone, then i'll switch foods. Just dont want to waste.

05/14/2009, 10:53 AM	#1
jrod11 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: San Diego Posts: 347	skimmer going crazy during feeding? I have an ASM G3 skimmer on my tank and never had this problem until now. I used to feed my fish flake food or frozen mysis shrimp. I recently switched to a homemade blend of multiple types of high end food that was thrown into a blender from the local reef community. my fish go crazy over the food, but the problem is that my skimmer starts overflowing when i feed. I started to turn off my skimmer during feeding, but even leaving it off for an hour after feeding it still over flows. Does this happen to everyone else?

05/14/2009, 11:11 AM	#2
stingythingy45 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: MA Posts: 3,296	Sounds like there could be a lot of oils and such from the ingredients. __________________ Bob Current Tank Info: 90 gallon,mixed Reef,2-250 watt Optix 3 pendants(Phoenix 14K)2-54 watt T5 Super actnics ,ASM G-2 Gate/recirc mods,70 gal. basement sump,20L ref

05/14/2009, 11:21 AM	#3
der_wille_zur_macht Team RC Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: NY Posts: 17,749	Probably more likely a bunch of really finely broken-up biological material, which nearly instantly dissolves into protiens and other components the skimmer reacts to. IMHO the problem here is not the skimmer, it's the food dumping a bunch of nutrients into the tank. Livestock probably love it, but that food would make me nervous. This is why when I make home-made food, I chop finely by hand with a knife, then rinse away any "slime" or juices. By doing that, you get only reasonable and controllable chunks of food. Put things in a blender and you get a smoothie puree - with lots of juice that your fish can't reall utilize, but which will cause nutrient problems and/or freak out your skimmer. This is why many people make it a practice to rinse commercially-bought frozen food where possible, to remove the unwanted liquid material. __________________ Inconveniencing marine life since 1992 "It is my personal belief that reef aquaria should be thriving communities of biodiversity, representative of their wild counterparts, and not merely collections of pretty specimens growing on tidy clean rock shelves covered in purple coralline algae." (Eric Borneman)

05/14/2009, 01:46 PM	#6
Entropy Texas Reefer Join Date: May 2003 Location: Round Rock, TX Posts: 13,656	+2. My skimmer always goes flat when I feed or do maintenance. __________________ Rich Overton 150G cube FOWLR, 30g sump, ReefKeeperII, 3x Koralia 1400's, QuiteOne 3000, Reef Octopus DNWB150, 4x 30w Par38 LED. Current Tank Info: 36x36x27 150g

05/14/2009, 11:56 AM	#4
drparker Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Palatine, IL Posts: 2,652	+1 with what a "Will to Power" said, ditch the blender. Oils would not be the problem they affect surface tension of the bubbles and would reduce skimmer production. This is why production drops after you have your hands in the tank.

05/14/2009, 02:27 PM	#7
jrod11 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: San Diego Posts: 347	I think what I will do is thaw the food in tank water and then strain out all the liquid. Thus leaving only chunks of food behind. Thanks for the input!

05/14/2009, 02:33 PM	#8
jrod11 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: San Diego Posts: 347	*Edit until this batch is gone, then i'll switch foods. Just dont want to waste.