I had my first leak....Can you explain?

[BlackTip]

325g DT, 100g sump...few days old.

I installed the skimmer on Sunday evening(SRC-5000 SSS). I had the bubbles rise below the neck (the removable top part). The neck was connected with a hose to a jug.

Sunday night it was running fine no problem and the foam is still below the neck. I checked on Monday morning before I went to work, and everything looked OK. I checked after I came back from work at 5:00, and again, everything was OK. I went to my office, and at 7:00 I went to work on installing some probes, and I found flood.

The skimmer flooded, filled the overflow jug, and kept on pumping water out, until the return section was almost empty. The bottom of the stand held most of the water, but about 1G made to the floor.

Can someone explain to me why the skimmer overflowed?

 

[sbeason]

Possibly the air intake side to pump got salt clog in it......this would cause the skimmer to overfill. Check the venturi for salt clog.

 

[BlackTip]

Possibly the air intake side to pump got salt clog in it......this would cause the skimmer to overfill. Check the venturi for salt clog.

A salt clog after 24 hours of operation?!

After cleaning, I added more water and it has been running since last night without problem...so far. I have the overflow hose pointing back to the sump this time.

 

[Webmanny]

This is normal during the break in period. You said that this whole system is a few days old. You should let the skimmer break in, by tuning the water level inside lower than normal and let it build up that layer of slime. Eliminate the overflow until you have tuned it and it is broken in. Once you get a few weeks of constant skimmate, then you can add the overflow jug.

 

[BlackTip]

This is normal during the break in period. You said that this whole system is a few days old. You should let the skimmer break in, by tuning the water level inside lower than normal and let it build up that layer of slime. Eliminate the overflow until you have tuned it and it is broken in. Once you get a few weeks of constant skimmate, then you can add the overflow jug.

I thought that what I was doing by keeping the bubbles very low and opening the output wide open.

Is it normal for the water in the skimmer so spike like this? It all happen in 2 hours period. I check at 5:00 and it was ok, and I check at 7:00 and there was flood.

 

[Webmanny]

You got it, you just can't do the overflow, because another flood will inevitably happen. Just let it overflow to your sump. It is mostly clean water for now.

 

[805reef]

You should add a float switch to your overflow jug so that it turns off the skimmer when full. I use an avast marine skimmate locker which has the float switch built in, but you can rig up something else to use on your existing jug.

 

[cichlid1098]

Did the power flash off at all? I know when I get a quick power flash my skimmer will sometimes overflow if I don't pay attention. especially if the sump level rises and the power comes back on.

 

[slief]

New skimmers need a break in period. They can take up to 1 week, sometimes more to break in. It's very common during the first 24 hours to not get much foam and then after 24 hours to start picking up. Some companies such as Bubble King suggest running the skimmer without a cup for the first 24 hours to avoid just the same scenario. It gives the pump and skimmer body some time to settle down.

That said, I am not surprised you encountered this. You obviously had the skimmer set much wetter than you realized and that is an easy thing to do with a new skimmer. I know it's counter intuitive but when you first setup a skimmer it's best to open gate valves and wedge pipes all the way up and also insure your sump level is not at the higher end of the range for the skimmer. I normally suggest erring on the side of caution and setting the sump level or skimmer depth to the middle to low end of the range. That helps to avoid flooding the collection cup and is always something that can be changed once the skimmer is fully broken in.

As others have said, you can add a float switch to your collection cup although I've never had to do that. Some like to because they experience frequent overflows. In my experience, a properly sized skimmer that is properly setup should never be that sensitive and I always monitor how full my cup is as I check it every day.

Now having said that, skimmers are sensitive to sump levels and if you don't have an ATO and topped off your water in the last day or so, you may have added too much water and increased the level of your sump to the point that it caused your skimmer to overflow.

 

[Webmanny]

One very important thing I forgot to mention that slief eluded to. You should also put your skimmer on a delay timer. I, for example, have mine connected to my Reefkeeper with a delay of 3 minutes. This delay gives the return pump enough time to pump the water back to normal levels before the skimmer even kicks on.

This may very well be your issue.

 

[BlackTip]

One very important thing I forgot to mention that slief eluded to. You should also put your skimmer on a delay timer. I, for example, have mine connected to my Reefkeeper with a delay of 3 minutes. This delay gives the return pump enough time to pump the water back to normal levels before the skimmer even kicks on.

This may very well be your issue.

I have already done that. It is connected to apex.

The system didn't restart before the flood, and if it did, it wouldn't empty my entire return chamber. I was on my computer at the time, and if I had spike in power, I would have known, and Apex should have sent me a message.

Something happen; a spike. And I don't know why other than a brand-new-skimmer syndrom.

 

[ca1ore]

Hard to say for sure why it overflowed. IMO any external skimmate collection vessel should have some kind of shut-off switch (mine has two).

 

[BlackTip]

Hard to say for sure why it overflowed. IMO any external skimmate collection vessel should have some kind of shut-off switch (mine has two).

I will difinitly do something like that down the road. Right now, I don't have anything to skim. And, I was not skimming anything. I was just trying to break-in the skimmer by have the output wide open.

It is a mystery, I guess..