BK Deluxe 200 Foaming Over

[Overboard]

Hi!

I have owned this skimmer over a year and recently had a problem develop. About a month ago, my skimmer started foaming over pretty badly. After trying various adjustments without success, I broke down the skimmer and cleaned it. It was time anyway. There was definitely gunk in the needle wheel, but it cleaned up well.

After reassembly yesterday, it is now a foam monster. I know it need to break it in again so I am letting it run. Maybe I have forgotten a critical adjustment? The water depth in the sump is 8 1/2 inches. The wedge pipe is wide open. The skimmer discharge pipe is angled to be half out of the water and is oriented with the flow through the sump. This model has the 50 watt DC pump so there is no nozzle to adjust on the intake of the pump and I have tried various pump speeds. The higher the speed, the more foam I get.

It seems like I need to reduce the air intake, but cannot find an adjustment to do so.

I guess I can't rule out some sort of condition in the tank, but the bio load is still very light with just a few corals and fish. Just a couple of snails and conchs.

I appreciate any ideas.

Thanks!
Mark

 

[slief]

Hi!

I have owned this skimmer over a year and recently had a problem develop. About a month ago, my skimmer started foaming over pretty badly. After trying various adjustments without success, I broke down the skimmer and cleaned it. It was time anyway. There was definitely gunk in the needle wheel, but it cleaned up well.

After reassembly yesterday, it is now a foam monster. I know it need to break it in again so I am letting it run. Maybe I have forgotten a critical adjustment? The water depth in the sump is 8 1/2 inches. The wedge pipe is wide open. The skimmer discharge pipe is angled to be half out of the water and is oriented with the flow through the sump. This model has the 50 watt DC pump so there is no nozzle to adjust on the intake of the pump and I have tried various pump speeds. The higher the speed, the more foam I get.

It seems like I need to reduce the air intake, but cannot find an adjustment to do so.

I guess I can’t rule out some sort of condition in the tank, but the bio load is still very light with just a few corals and fish. Just a couple of snails and conchs.

I appreciate any ideas.

Thanks!
Mark

Did you check the venturi port where the hose connects to the nozzle for salt buildup? If the venturi port on the pump gets clogged, the skimmer will likely overflow. What speed is the pump set to? The ideal range for a 200 sized skimmer is typically between 28 and 32w but every system is different. Slowing the pump speed down decreases air and water flow and will stop the overflowing. Beyond that, could be some sort of a spawn going on in the tank in which case, just reduce the pump speed to get the skimmer dialed in for the conditions. If it’s just a case of really thick foam but not an overflowing issue, adding a tiny bit of silicone grease to the underside of the lid or even a tiny bit vegetable oil to the lid will break the foam up as it exits the skimmer. If you use oil, just apply a little bit to a paper towel and wipe the underside of the lid down with it above the neck. It won’t take much.

 

[Overboard]

Hi Scott,

I cleaned the nozzle well including the intake port. It did have a little salt build up before cleaning. It should be good, but I will double check it.

The pump is as low as it will go, about 18 watts. I can attempt to adjust it with the arrows on the controller, but when the actual wattage shows up, it is 17-18 watts.

I have not tried the silicone grease on the lid trick. I will try that too.

I just don’t think I have enough fish or corals in the tank yet for that to be the source. Only have 5 frags, one carpet anemone, and 6 small to medium fish in a 360 gallon. I am not ruling that out completely though. I do think I have a water quality issue to some degree, just by the way the anemone and frags look.

I am running GFO to get the phosphates down. Could that be it?

Thanks for the ideas!

Mark

 

[slief]

Hi Scott,

I cleaned the nozzle well including the intake port. It did have a little salt build up before cleaning. It should be good, but I will double check it.

The pump is as low as it will go, about 18 watts. I can attempt to adjust it with the arrows on the controller, but when the actual wattage shows up, it is 17-18 watts.

I have not tried the silicone grease on the lid trick. I will try that too.

I just don’t think I have enough fish or corals in the tank yet for that to be the source. Only have 5 frags, one carpet anemone, and 6 small to medium fish in a 360 gallon. I am not ruling that out completely though. I do think I have a water quality issue to some degree, just by the way the anemone and frags look.

I am running GFO to get the phosphates down. Could that be it?

Thanks for the ideas!

Mark

That’s pretty low as far as speed goes and if the wedge pipe is in fact wide open, then I’d suspect it’s something in your water causing the skimmer to go nuts. It’s not all that uncommon for some sort of a spawn that you can’t see to cause skimmers to go crazy. GFO won’t cause the skimmer to go nuts unless you didn’t rinse it properly. If it’s just really thick foam, try the silicone grease on the lid. That will turn the foam into skimmate. If the skimmer is bubbling over with fast moving bubbles and not foam, then you might consider raising the skimmer up a bit or lowering the sump level until the issue subsides. Probably a stupid question but did you use epoxy in the tank recently or red slime remover? Either of those will cause the skimmer to go nuts. If not, I’d chalk it up to something in the water that needs ot run its course. Make a level adjustment to the skimmer or the sump and skim it out or apply some silicone grease to the lid and see what that does for you. You can also apply some to the lid ring and outside of the neck along to up edge.

 

[Overboard]

No silicone or red slime remover. I will try the grease idea and try a water change and see what happens. Thanks for the help!

 

[slief]

No silicone or red slime remover. I will try the grease idea and try a water change and see what happens. Thanks for the help!

Glad to help.

 

[Overboard]

Added the grease to the lid and performed a 10% water change and it is doing better. Really think the grease helped. That will give it time to break in again and hopefully it is back to normal.

Thanks!

 

[slief]

Added the grease to the lid and performed a 10% water change and it is doing better. Really think the grease helped. That will give it time to break in again and hopefully it is back to normal.

Thanks!

Glad to help. One other thing. If it's running really wet, you might have the telescope tube set to high.