Skimmer going crazy out of the blue?

[BgFish]

Woke up this morning to skimmer going crazy!
There has been no changes with the exception of a new flake food I fed yesterday.

could it be the new flake food?
After I cleaned it- I turned skimmer back on, turned it all the way down and still a lot of foam.

any suggestions? This skimmer has been running for months and months without any issues. Since the only change was the food- I’m pointed that way. But I fed all three thanks and only this one had skimmer over flow. I hope it’s not the food just bought it in bulk lol

 

[Nepenthes88]

Very weird that it popped up so suddenly after months of normal use.

I had a similar but not quite as severe issue with my Tunze skimmer. I emailed Tunze support and they said this is common if there is high cellulose levels in the water due to algae die off or feeding large amounts of algae based food.

They said it would most likely subside over time but also suggested to smear the inside rim of the collection cup with vegetable oil which pops the bubbles before they can escape. I tried this and it's like 90% effective but annoying in practice.

 

[BgFish]

I’ll give the vegetable oil a try, it’s just odd that only the one tank did this. When I get home today I’ll give it a shot and see how it does.

 

[Not an IT guy]

How is your water level? Did it change recently

 

[BgFish]

How is your water level? Did it change recently

water lever has been steady but when cup filled up ATO compensated for the difference but for the most part it’s the same as always.

I never really have water lever go up. It’s been slightly low a couple times when I didn’t fill ato container.

 

[Not an IT guy]

Does your Top off dump into the skimmer portion of your sump or in the return chamber? This happened to me on my old tank where my ATO dumped into the sock portion and was flowing through the skimmer chamber. I changed it to dump in the return and fixed the issue.

 

[s2k]

You can get a sensor for your skimmer cup to shutoff when it’s wet to prevent overflowing

 

[Dwizzle28]

when i tried a new food mine went berserk too!

 

[BgFish]

Does your Top off dump into the skimmer portion of your sump or in the return chamber? This happened to me on my old tank where my ATO dumped into the sock portion and was flowing through the skimmer chamber. I changed it to dump in the return and fixed the issue.

it fills in the return pump section.

 

[BgFish]

You can get a sensor for your skimmer cup to shutoff when it’s wet to prevent overflowing

yes I should get this. I have full apex so it would be an easy addition.

 

[BgFish]

when i tried a new food mine went berserk too!

im thinking this is the cause since it’s the only thing that changed. Just odd that the other two tanks the skimmers are operating like normal and I fed the new food to all three.

 

[Dwizzle28]

Unfortunately for me, my skimmage was about 1/4 and went all in the tank

im thinking this is the cause since it’s the only thing that changed. Just odd that the other two tanks the skimmers are operating like normal and I fed the new food to all three.

 

[BgFish]

Unfortunately for me, my skimmage was about 1/4 and went all in the tank

Yes my cup was dirty and all went back in the tank. At lease a week+ worth of went back in the tank. I’ll test nitrated and phosphates after work today- I tend to run fairly low numbers (5 nitrates- .09 phosphates last test) so we will see how much this made a difference.

 

[joseserrano]

Something probably spawned. It will go away in a day or 2

 

[BgFish]

Something probably spawned. It will go away in a day or 2

hey Jose, what do you want mean by spawned? Like clownfish? They do Lay eggs every few weeks. If this could cause it then that’s pretty likely. Although I’ve never had the skimmer go crazy before and the clowns lay eggs about every other week or so.

 

[joseserrano]

hey Jose, what do you want mean by spawned? Like clownfish? They do Lay eggs every few weeks. If this could cause it then that’s pretty likely. Although I’ve never had the skimmer go crazy before and the clowns lay eggs about every other two weeks or so.

More than likle snails .

 

[BgFish]

More than likle snails .

ah. That makes sense. Thanks man

 

[five.five-six]

Something probably spawned. It will go away in a day or 2

That was my first guess, a spawning event.

 

[lowbudget]

make sure the air lines are clean. usually change in water line makes the skimmer overflow. how much of that flake food did you feed?

 

[BgFish]

A decent amount lol. I’m a heavy in heavy out kind of guy- I like fat fish 😂