Protein skimmer problem

W

wilkins115

AC Members
Dec 14, 2006
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Hello all.
I am suddenly having a problem with my protein skimmer today. I have a 65 gallon tank with about 50 pounds of live rock and some fish.

I had to move the aquarium today to make room for my new 125 I will be starting up in the next week or so. To move the tank, I put all the live rock in a 55 gallon and all the fish in a cooler to reduce the weight in order to move the tank across the room. In doing so, I had to add about 8 gallons of new saltwater.

After getting the whole thing back together, the fish are doing great, everything seems to be working properly, except the darn protein skimmer. It is an 'Aquarium Systems' protein skimmer, and has been working fine since I got it.

Now, after the short move, the reservoir is filling up in about 15 minutes with pretty much clear water. I have tried messing with the air valve and nothing changes, it slows it down a little, but not much. When it is slowed down a little, it generates a lot of tiny bubbles into the tank.

Any suggestions on how make the skimmer act normal would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
Time, would be my bet. I'd imagine that there isn't enough ,"technical term" gunk in your water yet for it to remove. If you used all old tank water etc. it might just require more fiddeling with.
hth
oh, I moved this to marine diy they should be able to help you a bit better mate.
WELCOME TO AC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Chek the salinity? Protein skimmer become effetcive at lower salinity. My protein skimmer would take about atleast an hour before going back to normal operation after massive water change. This due to the time it take for the sg to stablize.

Rohn
 
Are you saying that the lower th salinity the more efficient the skimmer? I am not looking to argue I am truly interested in that statement and the facts behind it as it may explain some issues I have been having.



rohnds said:
Chek the salinity? Protein skimmer become effetcive at lower salinity. My protein skimmer would take about atleast an hour before going back to normal operation after massive water change. This due to the time it take for the sg to stablize.

Rohn
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I am having the same problem as yourself. Although my problem is a little diffrent. I have 55-gal tank and a Coralife Super Skimmer. I have had this skimmer since last july and about three weeks ago, I began to have problems with it. It appears to act up only when I add freshwater to compensate for the evaporation loss. The skimmer starts to produce way to many bubbles and the collection cup rapidly fills up. I end up having to turn off the skimmer, in fear of it overflowing. I know that changes in water chemistry can effect the skimmer in this way, so I tested the water quality and noticed that my salinity is at 1.019, which is too low. I think this may be the cause of the problem. It would not surprise me if the same problem occurs due to having to much salt in your tank, however if the salinity is too low the skimmer may become ineffective also.
 
interesting. I suspect our Problems are similar yet quite different as my skimmer went from skimming perfectly for a year to not skimming anything now for two months. Just to test I borrowed a friends skimmer and his does skim in my tank but not as much as in his. I wonder if it has to do with the salinity because I do keep mine higher than his as he is FOWLR I am at 1.025/6 and he is at 1.018


TrevDizzle said:
I am having the same problem as yourself. Although my problem is a little diffrent. I have 55-gal tank and a Coralife Super Skimmer. I have had this skimmer since last july and about three weeks ago, I began to have problems with it. It appears to act up only when I add freshwater to compensate for the evaporation loss. The skimmer starts to produce way to many bubbles and the collection cup rapidly fills up. I end up having to turn off the skimmer, in fear of it overflowing. I know that changes in water chemistry can effect the skimmer in this way, so I tested the water quality and noticed that my salinity is at 1.019, which is too low. I think this may be the cause of the problem. It would not surprise me if the same problem occurs due to having to much salt in your tank, however if the salinity is too low the skimmer may become ineffective also.
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