Very overactive skimmer

Hey, ive finally got my saltwater tank setup and I loving the saltwater! Everything is thriving and happy as can be... Except my skimmer!!!

I have had my liverock, clowns, coral, clean up crew and equipment setup in a 30litr for a few days and everything was fine and my skimmer had nearly broken in. Ive put everything in my 30 gallon and now my skimmer is going heywire! With no exaggeration my skiimer has filled its cup within 5 min and the foam is out of control... Is this apart of the breaking in process or is the new water chemistry making it go nuts? All I want to see is some brown smelly stuff -_-

I have tried adjusting the air intake but the less air I let in the more it foams so its open fully.

Any imput?


Oh yeah my skimmer is an Kent Marine nano Protein Skimmer rates for 120litrs

 

Larger water volume to clean and more trace elements and higher water lvl can do that try lowering it in the tank if you can or make it higher.

 

The min and max depth of the skimmer is very close together so it has very little effect. TBH I think it may be due to my gravel/sand. It gave off a lot of scum/muck when I added it to the tank. Any ideas on how long it will take to get back to normal?

 

It could take a few hours to a few weeks every skimmer is different and seeing you are almost at max for that skimmer you may need to upgrade it. It is rated up to 30 gallons but you normally want a skimmer with two times the rating of your tank. I have two skimmer which puts me at 30 times the rating.

 

You could also try using some fine filter floss to "pre-filter" some of the particles out while the skimmer catches up.

Or.... can you get a bigger cup for it?

 

I don't feel like that is the problem because its not pulling anything out of the water column, just water.

When anything changes il update you guys.

 

Also, I have just tried raising my skimmer well below its minimum water level and now it behaving like a normal skimmer. Would it cause any harm to run it like this until it settles down?

 

Any problems with...

Hello, as mentioned in another thread my skimmer is going nuts.

I have managed to get it working as should be but to do this I have had to raise my internal protein skimmer well above the minimum water level and I was wondering what are the possible risks with doing this?

 

Also, I have just tried raising my skimmer well below its minimum water level and now it behaving like a normal skimmer. Would it cause any harm to run it like this until it settles down?

If it is still getting water to skI'm into it. It should be fine as long as it has water going into it.

 

Yeah the skimmer is still taking in water but not as much as it was. Il leave as it is then until it calms down. Thanks alot!

 

Great that you've found a solution



Looking at the above linked instructions, it suggests you can adjust the water flow into the skimmer? You should be able to adjust this so that it doesn't over skim.

Also, when making adjustments, be sure to give plenty of time for everything to adjust before making the next adjustment.

 

Ok hI again A quick update after around 24hours in the new config. I have just emptied my collection cup and it was only half full which is a huge improvement from the previous full in less than 5 min The water was slightly light tea colour, had small "bits" floating in it and has a very light earth smell to it. The skimmer seems to have calmed a little aswell which I guess is great news!



Il update with any more improvements

 

My skimmer seems to be fully opperationaly now, only kicking in when I feed a such XD Last night I wiped some algae off of my glass and I wake up to lovely GREEN frothy juice in the collection cup. YAY

 

Awesome, where are your parameters at?