What am I doing wrong with the protein skimmer?

Hello all,
So, my aquarium has been up for about a month, and I started up my skimmer (the first time I’ve ever had one) about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks ago. The whole time it’s been bubbling over like crazy. I’ve tried everything that I‘ve read to make it work properly, but it won’t. After the first week I ran it in a vinegar mixture, about 10 parts water, one part vinegar. After the second week of bubbling over, I lowered the water level, and it leveled out for about half a day, and then started bubbling over again, and for the past week, I’ve had it at a lower water level. It’s still bubbling like crazy. I’ve done water changes, the valve is wide open... I’m just at a loss. The skimmer is a reef octopus 110int classic... any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Quick look says you have no control over the air intake ?
If so get a plastic air valve like one below so you can control and adjust the air .


Cut the airline between the pump and silencer, install and adjust it .

 

Thank you for the suggestion, I’ll try it. If this is fairly common, why don’t they include this in the box? Is it something that I’ll need to keep on the skimmer forever?

 

I always installed valves on my skimmers ..Red sea has them but E shopps doesn't ..
You will leave it on the skimmer forever ..
You got a good skimmer don't get discouraged ..
You need to control air and water ..
Another hack I used to stuff the silencr with cotton balls ..Filters the air and slows it ..Maybe not enough though ..You can do that with the valve also ..No harm in controlling dust from entering the skimmer and your water .

 

The reef octopus should have an air flow knob at the top to adjust air flow. Is it in the right level of water? I know they can take time to break in I don't know a lot though

 

But I would definitely listen to corals he knows what he is talking about.

 

I always installed valves on my skimmers ..Red sea has them but E shopps doesn't ..
You will leave it on the skimmer forever ..
You got a good skimmer don't get discouraged ..
You need to control air and water ..
Another hack I used to stuff the silencr with cotton balls ..Filters the air and slows it ..Maybe not enough though ..You can do that with the valve also ..No harm in controlling dust from entering the skimmer and your water .

Where could I get one that’s the right size for the skimmer’s airline? All I can find are 4mm, or buying them in bulk

 

Petsmart will have them in $5 pack of 6 I think