Is My Skimmer Broken, Adjusted Wrong, or Just Wrong For My Tank?

[Darth_Tater]

I have an older Eshopps 120 or 150 (I can't remember and it doesn't have any markings on it anymore) that is having issues. First off, it's a little bit big for my tank (40 breeder display + 20 long sump + 20 long fuge). I have it in water depth that the manufacturer recommends, but it's never really produced much foam. But for the past couple weeks I would get it adjusted just right and then all of a sudden it would go nuts and the water level would shoot up and it would spit saltwater all over the living room floor and wall until I found it (of course it usually did it in the middle of the night).

My first thought was that maybe something was partially blocking some part in the intake, so this weekend I took it out and scrubbed it down with just regular water and a soft brush. There wasn't anything in it except detritus and it's pretty clean looking now. But now it's being a different kind of weird. It spits bazillions of tiny bubbles out of the discharge and won't really ever build any foam. Looks like this (the intake is on the left and the discharge is on the right):





So what do you think? Is it too big for my tank? Is it just old and something is not working right? Or did I just mess it up cleaning it and need to let it break back in?

Thanks!

 

[Mek84]

I can't quite see what is going on with the skimmer.. it seams to be producing a ton of bubbles but your not getting any head foam started.. I had a skimmer like this the pump was shot, I'm not sure that is your case though.. can you get some more pictures. Also there is a possibility of not having enough nutrients to create a large head of foam.
Sorry I can't help more

 

[Darth_Tater]

I woke up this morning and the skimmer was producing 0 bubbles. Not a one. So I pulled the air inlet hose off of the silencer and now it's producing bubbles again. It sure doesn't sound like it's pulling much air in through that hose though...

What would cause a skimmer to not pull as much air into it besides the venturi being blocked and the pump not running well?

 

[Sk8r]

A blockage is most likely, granted the pump is runnings. Take things apart, remembering how they went together and soak in straight white vinegar for a few hours. THis dissolves white calcium carbonate, the usual culprit. Also there are some mini-strombus snails that exactly fit some tubes and impeller intakes.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

I woke up this morning and the skimmer was producing 0 bubbles. Not a one. So I pulled the air inlet hose off of the silencer and now it's producing bubbles again. It sure doesn't sound like it's pulling much air in through that hose though...

What would cause a skimmer to not pull as much air into it besides the venturi being blocked and the pump not running well?

Salt will get into the nipple where the air hose attaches to the pump. Pull out the skimmer and check the hole in that nipple.

 

[Mrs. Music]

no matter how long I soak mine in vinegar there is a spot in the venturi where water and air meet that will not disolve and I must use a wire to knock the white build up out.

 

[Darth_Tater]

Well, last night I dumped a couple turkey basters' worth of freshwater through the air intake hose. It made a massive difference and I could clearly hear a huge amount more air flowing through the hose... for about a minute. Then it dwindled down again and instead of sounding like a vacuum just kinda sputters.

It's still dumping tons of micro bubbles from the discharge which it didn't used to do.

I think I'll pull the pump and venturi out this weekend and run them in vinegar as suggested. I'm not sure it will do much since it looked pretty clean to me last weekend when I tore it apart, but I don't see what else could be causing the issue.

 

[ericarenee]

Well, last night I dumped a couple turkey basters' worth of freshwater through the air intake hose. It made a massive difference and I could clearly hear a huge amount more air flowing through the hose... for about a minute. Then it dwindled down again and instead of sounding like a vacuum just kinda sputters.

It's still dumping tons of micro bubbles from the discharge which it didn't used to do.

I think I'll pull the pump and venturi out this weekend and run them in vinegar as suggested. I'm not sure it will do much since it looked pretty clean to me last weekend when I tore it apart, but I don't see what else could be causing the issue.

tear the whole thing down and soak in vinegar /water solution for a hour or so . re assemeble the pump and run it in the solution for a bit then rinse it all off and put back together make sure yo clean the air line and inspect everything for leaks and tears or holes in the lines..

 

[Darth_Tater]

I did as suggested and tore the pump down and soaked it and the venturi in 1/3 Vinegar/Water (I didn't have enough vinegar...) for a couple hours and then reassembled it and ran it in the solution for about an hour. During teardown I noticed what (I have to ask, is it Erica or Eric?) mentioned and there was a large salt blockage in the air tube. Guessing it is from the skimmer overflowing and sucking saltwater spray in the air tube.

Put the pump back in the skimmer and fired it up and I have foam and no micro bubbles! It's rattling like crazy now, so had to throw some rubber stuff under it, but that's no big deal.

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[ericarenee]

I did as suggested and tore the pump down and soaked it and the venturi in 1/3 Vinegar/Water (I didn't have enough vinegar...) for a couple hours and then reassembled it and ran it in the solution for about an hour. During teardown I noticed what (I have to ask, is it Erica or Eric?) mentioned and there was a large salt blockage in the air tube. Guessing it is from the skimmer overflowing and sucking saltwater spray in the air tube.

Put the pump back in the skimmer and fired it up and I have foam and no micro bubbles! It's rattling like crazy now, so had to throw some rubber stuff under it, but that's no big deal.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Your Welcome and its Erica...

if the pump is Rattling. you have the air shut off too much.. open the air some and close the gate or water control .. Hope this makes sense...

Its how it works with mine anyway..

Glad your back in business i hate buying new equipment when i do not have to.