Overflowing problem with reef octopus protein skimmer

[MrineLfRlz]

How high is your water level inside the skimmer? I know when I first started, I kept the skimmer in too much water and this caused it to overflow. After raising it up an inch, I was able to skim much better


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Before the mods i lifted the skimmer up higher it ran ok for a couple days and it started overflowing again.

 

[MrineLfRlz]

skimmate is much darker now because its skimming drier

 

[MrineLfRlz]

here is what i did for the water intake

 

[MrineLfRlz]

Mind the tape please this is temporary i just need the connection sealed this i what i threw together for the air intake adjustments

 

[MrineLfRlz]

 

[wildman926]

So far no overflows!
I did go ahead and make adjustments to the incoming air and with all my tweaks i have been skimming much drier, before i never could get it to skim drier and it would be a wet skim all the time.

As I said earlier, this line of skimmers are notorious for overflowing, and it is due to the shape of the body, and too much air drawn. Putting the skimmer in the correct water depth, and restricting the air intake, is what makes these skimmers shine. The other mods are for your pleasure, not the performance of the skimmer.

I'm just curious, wouldn't limiting the air intake cause it to overflow even more because there is more water going into it then air?
The reason I ask this is because on my SRO3000 it always tends to overflow when the air intake gets calcium buildup in it causing the water level inside the skimmer to rise.

Yes, that is correct. But you compensate by opening up the gate valve to lower the internal water level. If you want to avoid the calcium build up, plumb your air intake hose into your collection cup to draw moist air, and you will never have to clean it again. Here is a pic of how I did it to my Aquamaxx EM300. If you decide to do it, be sure to put the hole above the bottom line of the lid, so it does not draw anything other than moist air. See the moisture in the air line?

 

[lagatbezan]

As I said earlier, this line of skimmers are notorious for overflowing, and it is due to the shape of the body, and too much air drawn. Putting the skimmer in the correct water depth, and restricting the air intake, is what makes these skimmers shine. The other mods are for your pleasure, not the performance of the skimmer.




Yes, that is correct. But you compensate by opening up the gate valve to lower the internal water level. If you want to avoid the calcium build up, plumb your air intake hose into your collection cup to draw moist air, and you will never have to clean it again. Here is a pic of how I did it to my Aquamaxx EM300. If you decide to do it, be sure to put the hole above the bottom line of the lid, so it does not draw anything other than moist air. See the moisture in the air line?

That a great advice about the inlet of the skimmer! Thanks, gonna have to try that.

 

[ant123mon]

I’m starting to wonder if my skimmer is just to large to run daily my tank is relatively new after my water it’s just been overflowing. I think mine may be overflowing just because it’s to clean I get 0 phosphate and I’m starting to think my corals are starving. Idk but over skimming sounds possible in some of these cases?? Idk live to hear people chime in on subject.

 

[ant123mon]

So after my last reply I watched a video on YouTube with some guy using olive oil near the top of the skimmer to reduce overflowing. Worked like a charm google the video.

 

[Louis suffer]

I was using the octo 2000 hob. Sometimes it over flowed and sometimes it didn't. But it always stopped when it ran out of water. I guess that's a plus? Contacted there service dept and explained that it was over flowing the cup even if it was as far up has it could be. It did pull protein out of the water but it also filled full of water tell it over flowed. They said it's how I had it set up. But failed to explain why it only did it sometimes. After talking with a few people we discovered it's a common problem. CoralVue Was more then happy to allow me to send it back. Btw, if you smash it with a hammer, you can send it back in a small less expensive box! Best I've felt in years. No noise, no wet floors, no insurance claims. Life is great with out a octo 2000

 

[Dave & Monica]

This thread is the magic secret to getting these skimmers working correctly. Secret is lowering the air intake. I struggled for a long time, messing with height, output water flow all with the same result... overflow watery skimate or none at all... Once I started restricting the air intake, I finally found my seat spot. I have a SRO SSS-3000. I'll take pics and post later but if you just tune the air in, you'll find your setting in no time.

 

[lagatbezan]

This thread is the magic secret to getting these skimmers working correctly. Secret is lowering the air intake. I struggled for a long time, messing with height, output water flow all with the same result... overflow watery skimate or none at all... Once I started restricting the air intake, I finally found my seat spot. I have a SRO SSS-3000. I'll take pics and post later but if you just tune the air in, you'll find your setting in no time.

what did you use to restrict the air intake? I'm thinking of doing something similar on mine.

 

[Dave & Monica]

what did you use to restrict the air intake? I'm thinking of doing something similar on mine.

The skimmer came with a small black cap for one of the two air silencer holes. For the longest time, I had it open full throttle = overflowing all the time. This means my skimmer container was either nothing - or filled with water, not ice tea or thicker skimmate as desired.

What I ended up with was the cap on, then used electrical tape to cover about 25% of the other hole. So one of the two is open only 75%.

Part of me feels this is like having an 8 cylinder car and taking off 4 of them. Yes the skimmer is working now, but some how feel it's not pulling as much gunk out as it should. I was thinking of ordering this neck extension, https://fragtasticreef.com/reef-octopus-stackable-neck-extensions/ and seeing how it works. Also, I get my Ozone in today, plan to run that at night so I am sure that will make this even more challenging.

On my old set up, I've owned skimmers by ETSS, Remora, and AquaMaxx. This is by far the hardest skimmer to tune. I played around with height, output mods, and finally the air intake seems to be the best. For the $, I wish I would have went with the AquaMaxx but trying to make the best of what I have.

 

[MrineLfRlz]

Just thought I would throw in a update since putting the valve on the air inlet and adjusting I have never had another overflow problem!

 

[wildman926]

This line of skimmers are known to overflow. The problem is too much air is induced into the body. Put a valve on the muffler to adjust and restrict air flow, and watch your overflow problems go away.

I will give this a try thank you very much for the info.

So far no overflows!
I did go ahead and make adjustments to the incoming air and with all my tweaks i have been skimming much drier, before i never could get it to skim drier and it would be a wet skim all the time.

Just thought I would throw in a update since putting the valve on the air inlet and adjusting I have never had another overflow problem!

Awesome to see this...