skimmer over-skimming?

[mallorieGgator]

So my skimmer is skimming watery green skimmate and it fills up almost half way in 2 days. It's foaming so much that it's pushing the lid off of the skimmer. I tried to turn it down but it's still going nuts. I have no fish in my tank or corals. I have a Reef Octopus 110 (I think). Anyone else have this problem?

[Palting]

It's too "wet" a skim, from either too much inflow or not enough outflow, or both. Depending on the skimmer you have, either turn the outflow all the way open, or turn the inflow down.

You can also turn the inflow down by either elevating the skimmer on a pedestal, or lowering the water level in the skimmer section.

Is it a new skimmer? The other thing is that it needs to break in. new skimmers have a tendency to produce way too much buubles. Takes a week to break-in.

[fatdaddy]

I made a mod to my skimmer for a 1/4" quick connect and then I use a 1/4" tube to drain into a 2 quart bottle. I like to skim aggressively and just add makeup salt water once a week or so.

Given that must of us do a WC 1/month or more, you might as well skim wet and count it against your WC.

[mallorieGgator]

The skimmer's been running for about over a month. It wasn't skimming like this until about 2 weeks ago. How do you adjust the water it takes it vs the outflow? If it's too much of a hassle, I'll just let it be and empty it every few days.

[fatdaddy]

Every few days sounds about right to me.

I have an ASM-4 and there is a telescoping outflow used to adjust the height. I'd download the manual and take a look.

[Jstdv8]

it might help if you turned it ioff for an hour or so while you feed

[steelhead77]

Have you added any chemicals or other treatments to the tank? Mine goes nuts when I feed my tank phyto or other liquid coral food.

[crvz]

I've also had this occur when doing maintenance around the house. Certain chemicals in the air will cause my skimmer to go crazy (worst for me was when painting with latex paints).

[RcToners]

Originally Posted by mallorieGgator

The skimmer's been running for about over a month. It wasn't skimming like this until about 2 weeks ago. How do you adjust the water it takes it vs the outflow? If it's too much of a hassle, I'll just let it be and empty it every few days.

Mallorie,

Not to be a stinker here but you need to give everyone else some history on your tank. You should know why its skimming like this, you nuked your tank a few weeks ago. Basicaly you created a ton of die off in your tank with the cat wormer you used, there might even be more of it in the tank depending on what you have done as far as water changes. You rock might have even absorbed some of the medication and is leaching in yoru tank( small possibility) Bottom line is you have a ton of die off in your tank making your skimmer go nuts along with the possibility of medication still in your tank, notice how it started about two weeks ago, same time you were done with the cat wormer?

[Mitchell]

Originally Posted by RcToners

Mallorie,

Not to be a stinker here but you need to give everyone else some history on your tank. You should know why its skimming like this, you nuked your tank a few weeks ago. Basicaly you created a ton of die off in your tank with the cat wormer you used, there might even be more of it in the tank depending on what you have done as far as water changes. You rock might have even absorbed some of the medication and is leaching in yoru tank( small possibility) Bottom line is you have a ton of die off in your tank making your skimmer go nuts along with the possibility of medication still in your tank, notice how it started about two weeks ago, same time you were done with the cat wormer?

What a surprise!! Put dewormer in your tank two weeks ago, there's even a description of a "big die-off" in the tank, and now the skimmer is going crazy. Interesting to leave this information out of the initial post in this thread.

The skimmer is just doing it's job.

[mallorieGgator]

omg excuse me for leaving out something. I figured the large water changes I did and the removal of any dead things would be enough to not cause the skimmer to go crazy. I love how you (RcToner) use the cat dewormer in a negative context. It seems your may be a little irritated that I found a $3 way to kill something that you had to destroy your tank to kill. I'm really irritated at how people jump on everyone's case in the "newbie" forum. It's a little rude IMO.

But thanks for the imput everyone else. I tured down the skimmer and it's not skimming like crazy anymore.

[jonbry123]

Mallorie with it pulling a green skimmate it is overworking. Check your salinity level. Over the years having been in the hobby I have also found that if the salt levels are off this will also affect the skimmer. After you check and is not around 1.0025 off more than 3 or more degrees lowerthen add some salt to bring it closer to the 25 mark if too high then add some fresh water. Once you have done that give it 24hrs to adjust. Another product you can use to help detoxify organic and inorganic elements in Seachem's Prime. It will not cause the skimmer to go nuts and I always have some on hand as my kids in the past got things poured into the tank and this product saved them. But it is still possible that some of the meds are still in the water and could be causing this too and t he Prime will help remove. But do check your salinity. If it is ok then dial down the flow through the skimmer in tiny increments the skimmer you have is a very good one and should be sensitive to any adjustments you make. Let me know about your salinity levels as soon as you can. We're here to help.

[mallorieGgator]

Thanks. My salinity was very high about a week ago at 1.030. I've since got it down to 1.0255. The skimmer isn't over skimming since I've turned it down a little. That could have also been the cause of the over skimming with the salinity so high. Thanks for the input!

[Palting]

Hey, Mallorie. Where'd your cat de-wormer thread go? I can't seem to find it. I want to save it, just in case.

[RcToners]

Originally Posted by mallorieGgator

omg excuse me for leaving out something. I figured the large water changes I did and the removal of any dead things would be enough to not cause the skimmer to go crazy. I love how you (RcToner) use the cat dewormer in a negative context. It seems your may be a little irritated that I found a $3 way to kill something that you had to destroy your tank to kill. I'm really irritated at how people jump on everyone's case in the "newbie" forum. It's a little rude IMO.

But thanks for the imput everyone else. I tured down the skimmer and it's not skimming like crazy anymore.

Mallorie,

I wasnt being mean or rude I was simply stating the facts. You keep posting in here with all these questions but you continue to fail to mention that you just nuked your tank !! I dont care how you nuked your tank the fact is you nuked your tank and now your wondering why your skimmer is going nuts. I think its great that you feel the cat womer worked, I hope it does work out for you and you dont have to deal with the isopods again. I could care less that you spent three bucks and nuked your tank, I also nuked my tank as well so I am confused as to why you think I would be irritated that you found a 3 dollar way to do it? I chose to use vinigar and change my substrate to a larger size so the cost difference was maybe 10.00 bucks as far as vinigar vrs your cat wormer. Skimmers go crazy when there is alot of die off and you not mentioning you killed your whole tank seems kind of like you were leaving out alot of information. Please read my above post as I was not being mean or rude just pointing out facts.

[DaveWF]

Don't flame me, but I'm coming in late here.... what would you use Cat Dewormer for in an aquarium???

[Nanz]

Originally Posted by DaveWF

Don't flame me, but I'm coming in late here.... what would you use Cat Dewormer for in an aquarium???

I assume from the above post it was used to kill isopods.

[jonbry123]

Ok I believe she is new to the hobby so cut her some slack RC. Not sure how long you've been in the hobby but I have almost thirty years and can't believe you never tried something that others with much more experience would consider foolish.

Mallorie,

You said you have no fish or inverts in the tank-why? Did everything die. If your bio load is non existant that may explain the green skimmate as your DOCs may be very low so all it is pulling is micro algae.

[RcToners]

Originally Posted by jonbry123

Ok I believe she is new to the hobby so cut her some slack RC. Not sure how long you've been in the hobby but I have almost thirty years and can't believe you never tried something that others with much more experience would consider foolish.

.

I never said anything about her using cat wormer in a bad way!! I simply said she nuked her tank so there was alot of die off!! I could care less what she did or did not do but if your going to ask for help here the least you can do is give all the infomation so others here can help you!.