Bubble King Issue

[Ken Good]

I am having an issue with my Bubble King protein skimmer and I am hoping that someone has had a similar experience. I have a Bubble King 180. Over the last week or so, the protein skimmer has gone crazy at night and filled the cup and bubble out through the lid. In the morning when I feed, the skimmer settles back down to regular operations. What would cause the skimmer to go crazy at night when there has been no feeds and settle down rights after feeding. Today, the overflow spilled over into one of my controllers and started a fire which I caught and put out without incident. Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ken W. Good

 

[Ken Good]

Could this be caused by a salinity of .027 or high salinity?

 

[Ken Good]

I got to the office this morning and the skimmer was overflowing again. The skimmer cup was completely full of clear water. I pulled the plug to just drain it and it was overflowing so quickly that it kept 2-3 inches of fluid in the cup even with the plug pulled. I pulled out five gallons of water to try to lower the salinity some. This slowed down the overflow a little but not much. I am not even sure that it did anything. Then I fed and the skimmer quickly settled down. My paramerters are as follows: alk- 6, cal-420, mag.-1400, nitrates- 10. Salinity is high at .27 kg. Anyone have any ideas what would cause the skimmer to go haywire when there is no food in the tank and then settle down after feeding?

 

[Jeremy B.]

The skimmer is reacting to something in the water column, or the air inlet in the skimmer is clogged up causing the water level to significantly increase within the chamber. Have you used any glue, epoxy, slime coat, or any other additives within the tank at all recently? Then when you feed the tank the oils from the food knock the skimmer down, which causes it to stop. I would also recommend pulling the air silencer apart and cleaning it out, removing the gray foam that is in there. Also clean the venturi out completely, as well as pull the front cover off of the pump and clean the pinwheel.

 

[Ken Good]

Thanks we will do that. I am a stickler for not putting anything in the tank except two part dosing daily.

Ken W. Good

 

[Ken Good]

It turned out to be a mechanical issue. I think that the additives that I was using caused a film to form on the inside of the pump and we were not getting it cleaned well enough. Cleaned it and now it is working like it should.

Ken

 

[Jeremy B.]

Good to hear!