Skimmer help

[shawnaus17]

So I have a reef octopus skimmer HOB. I love it and it does great. But it keeps over flowing and I come home to a puddle of water almost every night. I have been running it just when I'm at home. I don't know what else to do. My tank really needs 24/7 skimming but I can't do it. The only thing I can think of is using an piece on the air diffuser to decrease the amount of air going in the skimmer. Any other suggestions or easy fixes?

 

[Larson]

Does it do it all the time ? Or only when you make a change to the tank, ie had your hands in it, water change etc. You can change the water lvl so it's a little lower than normal for a dryer skimmate and see if that helps. You can get a little air valve to put on the hose to reduce the air input. There are lots of possible fixes or problems.

 

[Rudolph]

Is it new? If so, mine took a few weeks to break in and be consistent. I had to adjust up and then down, then up a bit, then down a bit. Eventually it broke in and I found that magic point where is worked 24/7 without varying (unless I have a water level issue - see next paragraph).

The other potential issue is the water level. I have never used a HOB skimmer, but if your water level in not consistent, it will most likely impact your skimmer. If you have an ATO and you adjusted the skimmer when the water was at a lower level, when the ATO filled it back up (or you manually filled it back up) it could cause your skimmer to overflow. If I overfill my sump past my magic mark, it will overflow (fortunately just overflows back into the sump).

Of course it could also be as Larson pointed out, recent changes to the tank (heaving feeding, water change, hands in water, etc.).

If it is new, keep making minor adjustments and you will find the right mark. If you have had it a while, I am betting it is a water level issue.

Those are the most likely senerios. Let us know how it works out....

 

[Inexplicable]

If it were me I would drill the collection cup near the top and insert a piece of airline tubing that drains to the tank, so if the level in the cup gets to that point it will just go back to the tank and not on the floor. Another option would be to use something to shim up the whole skimmer so it sits at a higher level, like a spare piece of PVC pipe that can fit on the lip of the tank.

 

[ihavtats29]

where is the water coming out of the skimmer? is there anything blocking the flow out of the skimmer? adjust the collection cup higher...... these skimmers are designed to where if your collection cup is full it should not overflow. it would simply drain back down the skimmer neck back into the body , the only thing i can see in the design of the skimmer that would allow it to overflow would be something blocking or restricting flow out of the drain pipe leading back into the tank. i looked up the skimmer and it looks like there is a piece of sponge in the bottom of the skimmer the sits against the drain pipe if this sponge becomes stopped up or restricted in any way it will cause your skimmer to flood. solution would be to remove this piece of sponge and either clean it or remove it as long as it is not dumping a ton of micro bubbles into your tank, odds are if this sponge is in your skimmer that is the issue

 

[ihavtats29]

just thought of something else .... loosing air flow to the skimmer will cause it to move more water check and make sure your air line tubing and venturi are free and clear of debris

 

[shawnaus17]

I tried everything there was nothing blocking the outflow no sponge or anything the skimmer cut was as high as I could go and it still over flowed I gave up. I'm taking it off I can't trust it. I just going to put a HOB refugium since I'm not doing an overflow. I just don't have luck with skimmers at all

 

[ihavtats29]

something is happening to cause the issue, did you buy this skimmer new ? does it have the correct pump on it? when was the last time you cleaned the pump , have you dosed anything into your tank like red slime remover it will cause any skimmer to overflow. here is a link to the manufacture with a list of the skimmers and their instructions. if that dont help contact them and im sure they can find you a solution http://coralvue.com/troubleshooting/manuals/

 

[OneReef]

Did you use any epoxy lately? That stuff used to make my skimmer overflow for days. Now I only use super glue gel, for literally everything. There's not one piece of epoxy in my tank