Skimmer overflowing after using water conditioner

[willandmelsreef]

So I think I made a major mistake. I cleaned my sock filter the other day in the washer with a little bleach. I rinsed it and let it dry out and put it back in. A couple of days later some of my sps started fading out its color. I figured that I didn't get all the bleach out of the filter, so I had the bright idea of putting a water conditioner in my tank to remove the chlorine bleach (about 40ml). I turned off the skimmer and let it mix threw over night. I turned the skimmer back on this morning and now its spewing white foam (tons of it), it flows into the cup and turns back into water and fills the cup up in about 30 secs. Will this eventually stop or do I need to do a major water change. I have a 90 gallon tank with about 135 gallon total volume

 

[ehren78]

With a little bleach! I'm not gonna get into that, but if it were me I would do a major water change and pray for the best. That can't be good for the system, remove the sock and only use warm water next time or buy a new sock. You could try dialing down the skimmer then hope for the best. All skimmers go crazy when something is in the tank that shouldn't be. What kind of conditioner did you use?

 

[willandmelsreef]

This is what i used tetra aqua safe water conditioner. link to product. any advice

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3295903#prodTab1

 

[Inexplicable]

That particular product provides a protective slime coating for the fish. Products containing these slime coatings have been known to overflow skimmers. Generally it isn't anything to worry about and will calm down eventually. As to you using bleach - it is fine to use bleach to clean your filter socks, just make sure to completely rinse it and let it dry out in the sun for a couple of days or put it in a bucket with dechlorinator to make sure there is no residual bleach in the sock. Hope this helps and good luck with your sps.

 

[disc1]

Even if there was bleach left on the sock, a "couple fo days later" it would be all gone. At that point it's way to late for water conditioner.

 

[willandmelsreef]

That particular product provides a protective slime coating for the fish. Products containing these slime coatings have been known to overflow skimmers. Generally it isn't anything to worry about and will calm down eventually. As to you using bleach - it is fine to use bleach to clean your filter socks, just make sure to completely rinse it and let it dry out in the sun for a couple of days or put it in a bucket with dechlorinator to make sure there is no residual bleach in the sock. Hope this helps and good luck with your sps.

How long do you think it will take to calm down??

 

[willandmelsreef]

:sad2:

 

[coralnut99]

How long do you think it will take to calm down??

Could take quite a while. I think you're in for a rough ride, I'm sorry to say. A good thing to do may be to remove your more prized corals and see if you can find foster homes for them for a few weeks. They'll suffer the most. Major water changes and running carbon in a reactor would seem like the best strategy. I'm not a big fan of WC above 15%, but in this case 25% would seem in order, but there's no science behind that statement. Not sure anyone can come up with the right formula here.

Those water conditioners have tons of phosphates in them. There were threads on the stuff years ago. Also if you feel them, they are slimy to the touch. In essence molecularly similar to soap, hence the skimmer going nuts. Most skimmers are sensitive to certain things in the water. Some epoxies will do the same thing. Those things just weren't formulated with SW tanks in mind.

Having bleached and dried out the sock was nothing to worry about, as long as it wasn't one of the newer scented varieties and it was rinsed well. Lots of folks bleach hardware to get it clean with no ill effects at all as long as it's straight bleach, rinsed very well, and left to dry completely.

Best of luck.

 

[willandmelsreef]

I think this is the biggest mistake ive made. this thing is a volcano. i could just kick myself

 

[coralnut99]

I think this is the biggest mistake ive made. this thing is a volcano. i could just kick myself

I know it doesn't help you any, but I'm sorry to see you're going through this.

In general terms, additives for the FW and SW hobbies aren't always interchangeable and most often lead to problems like what you're experiencing.

 

[allsps40]

That particular product provides a protective slime coating for the fish. Products containing these slime coatings have been known to overflow skimmers. Generally it isn't anything to worry about and will calm down eventually. As to you using bleach - it is fine to use bleach to clean your filter socks, just make sure to completely rinse it and let it dry out in the sun for a couple of days or put it in a bucket with dechlorinator to make sure there is no residual bleach in the sock. Hope this helps and good luck with your sps.

100% true. :bounce2:
I dont think you made a HUGE mistake, just goofed a bit. Chlorine was a no no. The Tetra dechlorinator will be a PITA for about a week. We used this at Petco when I worked there. It would make the skimmers go nuts and overflow like crazy. I just let them run overflowing back into the sumps and emptying the cup when I could. I feel emptying the cup even though the skimmer was overflowing helped to get the stress coat out. I would also do a few small water changes over the next week to help things along. The solution to pollution is dilution.

 

[kissman]

I had a problem like this once and was told to cut the water back coming into my skimmer till there was just a little flow until it started foaming which was the next day i think. At that point turn it up just a little at a time and eventually it will be back to normal

 

[NickC5FE]

My SWC 160 Cone says not to skim when using water conditioners..........

 

[willandmelsreef]

My SWC 160 Cone says not to skim when using water conditioners..........

I have a octopus 150, how long does it say until you hook skimmer back up