Problems with Tunze 9011 after water change?

[reef rottie]

I bought a Tunze 9011 about a week ago. It was working well and just started really skimming good about 3 days ago. I needed to do a water change tonight, so I turned off my powerheads, pumps and skimmers. Did my change and turned everything back on. My skimmer turned on, but I had lost all my foam! I hadn't moved or touched the skimmer during the change so have no idea what changed. I took it apart (at least 10 times!) and checked and rechecked the connections, made sure there were no blockages, the pump was in right, everything...now I have no idea what to do. I went from a skimmer I was very pleased with to one I want to throw out the window in the matter of a half hour.:mad2:

 

[gillies]

Might have nothing to do with your water change at all. Been running this type of skimmer a long time. See here - might just help you:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1967770

 

[rvitko]

No air or no foam? If you had not changed anything, we could be sure it was only from the water change, it is not uncommon for a skimmer to take a couple days to start producing foam again after a water change, especially if sediment was stirred up or it was a change of more than 20%. With all the disassembly and reassembly it is now possible something else is wrong. Be sure the airline is not kinked. If it worked before, it will work again, it just needs time and you need to be sure it is put together properly. Next time, don't panic, unless a physical change is made to the assembly it should work the same as before, it just needs time. The foam is produced by an interaction of bubbles and proteins and cellulose, it is not much different from whipping egg whites or cream, it takes time for a foam to build and rise and sediments and different colloids will impeded this process, you also reduced the quantity of proteins and cellulose through the water change.

 

[reef rottie]

Got answers-up and running!

Got answers-up and running!

I was a bit panicked because anything that could go wrong did this weekend as far as mechanical failure :spin2: Had to buy a new return pump very unexpectedly after a big mess in my dining room then trying to get the PVC fittings for the different sizes without making the return pipe too high...ugghhh!!

Anyhow, took the skimmer in to our LFS and they checked it over. Everything was good and they told me to give it 24 hours. It is working fine again as of later last night. It backed off when I fed, but is doing great again this a.m.

Now, if things go as they are, I'm thrilled with how it skims. Very happy I get to stay with the Tunze, everything else I have from them I'm pleased with.

Thanks for the help, I now know my skimmer is a bit sensitive to changes in the tank, but will return to normal within a few hours. I'm pretty new to this whole thing and it became a money pit quickly.:fish2: