I have a Hang On Back Corallife65 protein skimmer on my tank. All was well until about a week ago. What happens is it will stop sucking air through the tube attached to the silencer. If i remove the silencer ( or whatever its really called ) and suck water through it until its almost in my mouth then blow the water back into the pump until i manually cause it to start sucking air again, it will work for anywhere from 1-5 days. ( with excessive bubbles introduced into the tank ). Sometimes it will work well, with minimal bubbles in the system, but its sparatic and aggrivating. Any suggestions? Im avoiding taking the whole thing off and cleaning it out but if thats all the problem is i guess it could be worse. Thanks for any input/advice.
Protein Skimmer Help
- Thread starter Graham670
- Start date
RDHDDRAGON
New member
We have had several coralife skimmers.
You need to take the pump apart and clean it like Paul suggested.
Make sure you clean inside the impeller area and the air intake area.
You need to take the pump apart and clean it like Paul suggested.
Make sure you clean inside the impeller area and the air intake area.
In addition you may want to start thinking about a new skimmer. Coralife skimmers are one of the worst skimmers out there. I'm not saying they don't work but they are over rated on what they can handle and need lots of attention.
There are some affordable skimmers out there that blow the coralifes out of the water.
There are some affordable skimmers out there that blow the coralifes out of the water.
Jedidad
New member
i have a coralife 65 and it has been a great skimmer for me. i run it in the sump and get good skimmate, no microbubbles and i rarely have to do anything but empty the collection cup. no skimmer is maintanence free and i haven't found this one to be any more work than any other. maybe it just works better in sump than hanging on the back though. just my experience with them.
dkerns06
New member
Try cutting that center baffle out if ur running in sump. It'll increase the inside area of the reaction chamber a lot. That's what i just did and it works even better than it did. They are way over rated though. I have a 220 on my 54 gallon. Next I'm going to strap a sedra 3500 on it.
Yeah i know that its not the greatest out there but im still relatively new to the hobby and it was recommended to me by LFS, knowing no better i went ahead and got it. Im not unhappy with it but this problem ive had is making me doubt it. Hang on Back is also not my favorite option but unfortunately i have yet to upgrade to a drilled tank with a sump ( i have a 90 gallon tank and a 55 gallon for the sump, but just no $$$$$$ to get it all set up! ) but thanks for all the advice and information, this weekend i will be taking it apart and cleaning everything, hopefully that will do the trick!
chaderic26
New member
Should work fine once cleaned. You dont have to have the latest and greatest to have success at this hobby.
I used to have a knock off Chinese skimmer I used. It was a pos but did the trick.
Chad
I used to have a knock off Chinese skimmer I used. It was a pos but did the trick.
Chad
Ok just an update. I took the whole skimmer apart saturday and cleaned it all up. The hole where the air is sucked in was so clogged, with what im guessing is calcium deposits, that i had to use a drill bit to break it loose. After i did all that and ran it in vinegar for about an hour then cleaned it with RODI water, then ran it in RODI water for about 3 hours. Its back in the tank and workin better than ever. Thanks for all the suggestions and advice.
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