Help...New skimmer Lid popping off like geyser

shempdevil · 03/03/2014, 04:00 PM

Good afternoon,
Just got my first skimmer, a Eshopes 75 HOB for my 46-gallon Bowface tank.
Set it up and started running it.
Had the water flow all the way up at 100%.
Turned it on and the bubbles rose so quickly, they spilled over the top of the cup.
To temporarily remedy this, I removed the drain tube plug so the foam would recycle to the tank.
Raised the discharge tube so it was completely out of the water after I read that backpressure would cause this.
This didnt work.
The only way I can get it to work without filling the cup with water in 2 minutes is to sit a bottle of water on the collection cup lid to hold it in place.
With the bottle in place, I dialed it in and it seems to work correctly, but the water is still close to 100% flow.
But if I remove the lid, 1,000,000 bubbles IMMEDIATELY geyser out of the top of the cup.

Any ideas as to why I need to have a bottle of water hold the lid down for this thing to appear to work???

Thanks so much,

Matthew

ratty40 · 03/03/2014, 04:42 PM

Hi most skimmers take a few days to settle down,check what water height your manufactuer states for water depth first, let the water run out the siphon pipe from the cup with it set to minimum (wont do any harm) you may need to sit it on some thing if its too deep flouessecent light diffusers are cheap and can be cut to size easely thuy look like egg box sections about half inch square,godd luck mate.

shempdevil · 03/03/2014, 05:17 PM

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah...like 5 things that I don't understand in every post concerning setting up a skimmer.

#1. set the water height: Manual says to pinch the air intake tube until water level reaches the neck. I do that, but when I let go the entire canister fills with millions of bubbles. after a few minutes if I pinch the air tube again, the warter level has dropped to half full. So I guess I have no idea how to do this.

#2. You said, "Let the water run out the siphon pipe from the cup with it set to minimum."
By "siphon pipe", do you mean the collector cup's overflow tube?
By "set to minimum", does that mean set the water flow to the minimum flow? Because when I Do that, the bubbles go CRAZY!!!

Reeferz412 · 03/03/2014, 05:23 PM

I have the same skimmer but the bigger version. Make sure everything is screwed in properly in the pump area. Im gonna take a wild guess and say you have the atman pump. They can be finnicky and you may need to actually take apart the pump and put it back together since it has start up issues. You could also try blowing the siphon tube.

ska d · 03/03/2014, 05:47 PM

Every new skimmer has a break in period. Trying to fine tune it while it is still breaking in is frustrating to say the least. As with any new piece of equipment it should have a vinegar bath to remove the oils from the manufacturing process. I would remove the skimmer get a 5g bucket with a mixture of 3-1 water and vinegar and hang the skimmer on the bucket running for a few hours. Dump out the vinegar mix and replace with fresh plain water. (Doesn't have to be ro) run this for an hour or so to clean out the vinegar. Place the skimmer back o the tank and run it at a lower setting for a few days. Then start fine tuning it up. But as mentioned above, check that everything is together as it should be. Any little thing not installed properly can affect the performance.

03/03/2014, 05:23 PM	#4
Reeferz412 Coral Hoarder Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,247	I have the same skimmer but the bigger version. Make sure everything is screwed in properly in the pump area. Im gonna take a wild guess and say you have the atman pump. They can be finnicky and you may need to actually take apart the pump and put it back together since it has start up issues. You could also try blowing the siphon tube. __________________ Alex FMAS Member Current Tank Info: 400 Gallons of frags... 30 gallon Deep Blue mixed reef ... 70 other tanks throughout south FL

03/03/2014, 04:00 PM	#1
shempdevil Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 39	Help...New skimmer Lid popping off like geyser Good afternoon, Just got my first skimmer, a Eshopes 75 HOB for my 46-gallon Bowface tank. Set it up and started running it. Had the water flow all the way up at 100%. Turned it on and the bubbles rose so quickly, they spilled over the top of the cup. To temporarily remedy this, I removed the drain tube plug so the foam would recycle to the tank. Raised the discharge tube so it was completely out of the water after I read that backpressure would cause this. This didnt work. The only way I can get it to work without filling the cup with water in 2 minutes is to sit a bottle of water on the collection cup lid to hold it in place. With the bottle in place, I dialed it in and it seems to work correctly, but the water is still close to 100% flow. But if I remove the lid, 1,000,000 bubbles IMMEDIATELY geyser out of the top of the cup. Any ideas as to why I need to have a bottle of water hold the lid down for this thing to appear to work??? Thanks so much, Matthew

03/03/2014, 04:42 PM	#2
ratty40 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: essex UK Posts: 3	skimmer Hi most skimmers take a few days to settle down,check what water height your manufactuer states for water depth first, let the water run out the siphon pipe from the cup with it set to minimum (wont do any harm) you may need to sit it on some thing if its too deep flouessecent light diffusers are cheap and can be cut to size easely thuy look like egg box sections about half inch square,godd luck mate.

03/03/2014, 05:17 PM	#3
shempdevil Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 39	Thanks for the reply. Yeah...like 5 things that I don't understand in every post concerning setting up a skimmer. #1. set the water height: Manual says to pinch the air intake tube until water level reaches the neck. I do that, but when I let go the entire canister fills with millions of bubbles. after a few minutes if I pinch the air tube again, the warter level has dropped to half full. So I guess I have no idea how to do this. #2. You said, "Let the water run out the siphon pipe from the cup with it set to minimum." By "siphon pipe", do you mean the collector cup's overflow tube? By "set to minimum", does that mean set the water flow to the minimum flow? Because when I Do that, the bubbles go CRAZY!!!

03/03/2014, 05:47 PM	#5
ska d Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: toronto Posts: 508	Every new skimmer has a break in period. Trying to fine tune it while it is still breaking in is frustrating to say the least. As with any new piece of equipment it should have a vinegar bath to remove the oils from the manufacturing process. I would remove the skimmer get a 5g bucket with a mixture of 3-1 water and vinegar and hang the skimmer on the bucket running for a few hours. Dump out the vinegar mix and replace with fresh plain water. (Doesn't have to be ro) run this for an hour or so to clean out the vinegar. Place the skimmer back o the tank and run it at a lower setting for a few days. Then start fine tuning it up. But as mentioned above, check that everything is together as it should be. Any little thing not installed properly can affect the performance.