First Blow-out.....

[Kalied20]

I got home today to find my new T5's on the porch. That was nice. So....I went in to check the tank and when I stepped up close....carpet wet. I added an autotop this week too. This enabled me to start up the skimmer..... Which in turn overflowed and the autotop kept runner to fill the tank as the skimmer was emptying it......SIGH....

Took me about two hours to clean the carpet and soak up as much as I could. Lucky, I guess that I have a carpet cleaner that sucks up water.

I then began to install me new T5's....nothing wrong with those thank the maker! Tank looks good though. The 10k 54 watts are very nice. I got 3 of those and 3 of the 430n blue. Came with the fixture.

So I go to post a picture and can't find my camera. So gave up on that. Came to the computer to post and look around and no internet. Cable modem went down......SIGH!!!!!!! again.....what a day.....and all that after 10 hours of work....and I got to go again in the morning on SATURDAY!!!!

But the tank looks good and the skimmer is OFF OFF OFF.....

SO anyone got a skimmer or suggestion of a skimmer that will fit under a 90 gallon RR. (that won't overflow easily) My tank is beginning to have a lot of floaties.....

 

[ct_vol]

I know some people run their skimmer on a timer... This might help with your problems, so that it only runs while you're home and can at least make sure nothing is overflowing... I run my skimmer continuous, but don't see anything wrong with putting it on a timer... Sorry about the bad day, hope this helps...

 

[gflat65]

What kind of skimmer do you currently have and what kind of tank (softie/LPS, or SPS)? I love my MRC MR2, though it did overflow on me while I was in Montreal (I think there were other factors, too, though). That is the only time it has gotten me in about a year.

 

[Kalied20]

mostly softies and a couple of Monti caps. I have all the fish from my nanos.....I think that is causing the floaties without a skimmer. The skimmer is a finnex? Don't know the model. It came with another tank and it worked great on that tank.

But anyways....I think I will look up the ones you mentioned and see...

Thanks,

The timer thing is a good idea too....might try that

 

[Sir Knight]

I am not familiar with the skimmer you have but I do have a couple of ideas that will stop/ prevent overflowing.

With external skimmers like MRC you can get a waste collector. What this will do is when it fills up it will stop the skimmer from producing anymore skimmit. to add even more safety you can also place the waste collector over the sump so if it overflows it will go back into the the sump. The other type of skimmer that you can get can get is for either internal use or can be placed inside a sump (even if it is for external use like the corallife, remora, etc.) if it overflows it goes back into the sump again no floods. If you don't have a sump then that should be the only time you run the risk of overflowing onto the floor.

Even with the MRC which is for external use you can still set it up without the waste collector by putting it inside the sump and still if it overflows it overflows into the sump.

Just some ideas

Joe

 

[Angela Short]

Any time you first set up and turn on a skimmer you should always have it set way down. I learned this from many floods myself. It seems to need to be on full throttle to get the bubbles in the right spot then after a few hours to a day or so when the skimmer gets the initial film of oil out of the water BAM it goes nuts. Once the skimmer gets the main oil out of the water it has nothing to weight the bubbles down so they just flow out and cause a flood. EVERY time I clean my skimmer I start off with it on the lowest setting and turn it up as needed to keep the bubble head where it needs to be. If I leave it set where it was before a cleaning after it gets the film from the cleanning out of the box it would overflow. Same with my other air driven skimmer. Hope that makes sence and helps.
Sorry for the flood, been there only on hardwood which was not a good thing. The wood is cupped now .
It took days and days to dry the carpet out from a flood downstairs a few months ago. I also used a shampooer to suck up the water, a fan and a dehumidifier. I would get some air flowing on the carpet so it doesn't sour.

 

[Kalied20]

So here is what I am thinking.......? The skimmer is in the refuge/sump in the last chamber with the return pump right now. What if I move it to the middle chamber. This would put it in the refuge part with the LS, LR, and cheato. Is that OK to put it there. I am thinking that if I can put it there, if it overflows again, it would flow right back into the refuge.

Can I do that? I would have to create a sponge type filter to put over the inlet (mainly for the cheato) to the skimmer's pump, but would it work there?

Thanks all for the advice. I was looking also at the AquaRemora C Pro hang-on. It could be run like this too could it not? And will it be enough for a 90 gallon plus 25 gallon refuge/sump?

 

[Sir Knight]

Moving the skimmer to the middle chamber would be fine. I don't think that size refuge is doing much on exports but that is just my opinion and will start a major discussion.

I would say the the Remora Pro would be a little small for the amount of water you have, even though it is rated for up to 120 gallons. For smaller tanks they work great. Why not look at one of the bigger skimmers like you first talked about (the MR2 or maybe an MR3 if you have the room). There are many other larger skimmers on the market that will also work, but you talked about the MR skimmer which I have used in the past and still think they are very good. I think a guy in East Tennessee maybe selling one.

 

[DMBillies]

You definitely shouldn't have a skimmer in the same chamber as the return pump because, even with an auto-topoff, the water level in that chamber is going to vary (and therefore vary the skimmer level). Putting it in with the cheato might be alright, but you need to make sure the pump doesn't get clogged. If the pumps input is restricted, that will also cause variation in the skimmer level. The clog itself would lower the level in the skimmer, but if you then turn the skimmer up and the clog breaks loose, you'll have an overflow.