Runner
Active member
Looks like I replaced my razor caulurpa with chaeto and had my skimmer lose ~90% function all at the same time. That's probably why cyano almost took over my tank until I took some steps over the last week or two. Now chaeto is gone and 5 types of caulurpa are back in my sump. Last night, I turned attention to my skimmer...
...I have rarely had to empty it over the last three months. Cleaning perhaps once a month has been all that was needed. I used to do it once every 3 or 4 days. So I pulled the skimmer out of my sump and took it apart and found the problem inside my Mag 5 pump along the impeller guard. Four nassarius snails were snuggled up against it and wedged in so tight they couldn't move. And they were still ALIVE! They would have had to crawl up inside my main tank into the internal overflow through the U-tubes over the external overflow wall up my Stockman silencer through a 3/16" hole and down the overflow tube to the sump to get inside that mag pump. Pesky little critters.
Anyway, I cleaned everything out and put the skimmer back in service. The foam was overflowing the riser tube without 3 minutes. I'll probably have to clean the durn thing out daily for a few days until it catches up with all the accumulated bio-load.
I suspect one causualty in my nitrate spike over the last month -- the pistol shrimp that was paired with my watchman goby. I haven't heard him "pop" since January. Plus, the maintenance on their shared hole complex is being done by the goby -- who is quite sloppy compared to the shrimp. Ah, well. He will be missed, but his annoying habit of dragging screaming snails and corals into his lair for termination won't be...
...I have rarely had to empty it over the last three months. Cleaning perhaps once a month has been all that was needed. I used to do it once every 3 or 4 days. So I pulled the skimmer out of my sump and took it apart and found the problem inside my Mag 5 pump along the impeller guard. Four nassarius snails were snuggled up against it and wedged in so tight they couldn't move. And they were still ALIVE! They would have had to crawl up inside my main tank into the internal overflow through the U-tubes over the external overflow wall up my Stockman silencer through a 3/16" hole and down the overflow tube to the sump to get inside that mag pump. Pesky little critters.
Anyway, I cleaned everything out and put the skimmer back in service. The foam was overflowing the riser tube without 3 minutes. I'll probably have to clean the durn thing out daily for a few days until it catches up with all the accumulated bio-load.
I suspect one causualty in my nitrate spike over the last month -- the pistol shrimp that was paired with my watchman goby. I haven't heard him "pop" since January. Plus, the maintenance on their shared hole complex is being done by the goby -- who is quite sloppy compared to the shrimp. Ah, well. He will be missed, but his annoying habit of dragging screaming snails and corals into his lair for termination won't be...
