Help me fix my protein skimmer

[reeftivo]

Originally Posted by BlakDuc

You still havent said if you took the pump apart and cleaned it?

+1

If his perams are okay I'm thinking he's got a nice, difficult to see cake layer of carbonate salts built up right in the air intake nipple at the reducer. I've been fooled before after a cleaning and blowing into the line and it felt clear. I have no hands on with the diablo but many of the reducers hide the air intake holes enough to where you think they are clear when in fact they are not and there is still a considereable amount of solids. It doesn't take much of a blockage to render a skimmer useless unless cleared. I've had a few skimmers that frequently had that issue. They skimmed well but the build up was a constant issue. It's definately worth a look.

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by BlakDuc

You still havent said if you took the pump apart and cleaned it?

Originally Posted by reeftivo

+1

If his perams are okay I'm thinking he's got a nice, difficult to see cake layer of carbonate salts built up right in the air intake nipple at the reducer. I've been fooled before after a cleaning and blowing into the line and it felt clear. I have no hands on with the diablo but many of the reducers hide the air intake holes enough to where you think they are clear when in fact they are not and there is still a considereable amount of solids. It doesn't take much of a blockage to render a skimmer useless unless cleared. I've had a few skimmers that frequently had that issue. They skimmed well but the build up was a constant issue. It's definately worth a look.

Originally Posted by DeepThought

Since this picture was taken, it has moved from that chamber in the sump, to the return chamber and the output is going into the middle chamber. Since I moved and cleaned it, it has been generating more microbubbles in the display tank like it would if I had just purchased it.

When you cleaned it, did you take the pump's volute off, and verify there is nothing obstructing the venturi inlet to the volute?

[BlakDuc]

He never even said he cleaned it! He put a second backup skimmer on the tank that is working fine. I thought he wanted to fix this one, but he isn't giving us much to work with. Just skirting around with other issues and such. I would put money on it that its the venturi plugged somewhere.

[BlakDuc]

Or if it is a mesh equipped impeller, the mesh could have come off. He would probably have seen the mesh in the skimmer/sump of the pump would have stopped.

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by DeepThought

Since this picture was taken, it has moved from that chamber in the sump, to the return chamber and the output is going into the middle chamber. Since I moved and cleaned it, it has been generating more microbubbles in the display tank like it would if I had just purchased it.

Originally Posted by BlakDuc

He never even said he cleaned it! He put a second backup skimmer on the tank that is working fine. I thought he wanted to fix this one, but he isn't giving us much to work with. Just skirting around with other issues and such. I would put money on it that its the venturi plugged somewhere.

Yes, he put a second backup skimmer on, but he did state that he cleaned it when he moved it. How else am I going to quote him?

[BlakDuc]

Hmm, he doesn't say what he cleaned though. The venturi of the pump is the part he needs to clean. The whole pump really.

[Xtc_link]

Ever get the cyano under control?