Chemiclean & protein skimmer

[bcwalz]

A couple weeks ago I had a cyano outbreak and went to my tried and true chemiclean to get rid of it which it did with no issues. During treatment my protein skimmer went nuts like always and in the past after treatment I put carbon in and within 24 hours I could run the protein skimmer with no issues. This time though something is different. I've had the carbon in for a couple weeks and the protein skimmer still goes nuts pulling out a gallon of water every 5 minutes (so the collection cup stays off), I tried adding a poly filter thats supposed to strip medications and it is still going nuts. I've read to just let the protein skimmer go and collect the waste water and it will eventually stop after a day or so. The issue is that it pulls out so much water from my 75 gallon tank, about a gallon every 5 minutes. The skimmer is a reef octopus 110-s, I'm out of idea of what to try other than stripping the skimmer apart and doing a thorough cleaning. Any suggestions?

 

[kharmaguru]

A couple weeks ago I had a cyano outbreak and went to my tried and true chemiclean to get rid of it which it did with no issues. During treatment my protein skimmer went nuts like always and in the past after treatment I put carbon in and within 24 hours I could run the protein skimmer with no issues. This time though something is different. I've had the carbon in for a couple weeks and the protein skimmer still goes nuts pulling out a gallon of water every 5 minutes (so the collection cup stays off), I tried adding a poly filter thats supposed to strip medications and it is still going nuts. I've read to just let the protein skimmer go and collect the waste water and it will eventually stop after a day or so. The issue is that it pulls out so much water from my 75 gallon tank, about a gallon every 5 minutes. The skimmer is a reef octopus 110-s, I'm out of idea of what to try other than stripping the skimmer apart and doing a thorough cleaning. Any suggestions?

I had a similar issue. My solution was to put the skimmer on a high enough stand that the foaming was more natural. It still wet skimmed but the cup would take a couple says to fill.

 

[bcwalz]

I tried lifting it 3 inches and it is slower but still fills the cup quicker than is safe. Maybe I need to lift it higher. I'll try that.

 

[bcwalz]

I lifted it another inch and that seems to be doing the trick. Hopefully it will return to normal soon with this going

 

[kharmaguru]

I lifted it another inch and that seems to be doing the trick. Hopefully it will return to normal soon with this going

I think it took almost a week like that for me.

 

[bcwalz]

Ironically overnight it pulled out an inch of a yellowish brown liquid then stopped working. I had to drop it back down to its original height and now its back to normal. I have to admit I didn't expect it to work that quickly

 

[kharmaguru]

Ironically overnight it pulled out an inch of a yellowish brown liquid then stopped working. I had to drop it back down to its original height and now its back to normal. I have to admit I didn't expect it to work that quickly

That's cool. Keep an eye on it though, mine appeared fine for a few hours but then would overflow again and I'd have to re-raise it.

 

[bcwalz]

Yeah its been rather eratic in performance moving from dry skim to wet overflowing all in the same day. I haven't had to change the height anymore but I am constantly having to tune it. Very frustrating.

 

[griss]

Yeah its been rather eratic in performance moving from dry skim to wet overflowing all in the same day. I haven't had to change the height anymore but I am constantly having to tune it. Very frustrating.

Hope you get it figured out soon. I know it can be frustrating.

 

[bcwalz]

The good news is I think its finally getting close. Foam has been very dry all day and no sudden overflows finally. Sadly too dry so still more tuning LOL