Skimmer question

[lynardskynard12]

I have a Asm g4x skimmer. Every time my Ato comes on it seems like I need to retune it again. Any thoughts? Or is this normal

 

[asbauto]

Does the water level change where the skimmer is located?

 

[lynardskynard12]

Nope...

 

[snake1]

whats it doing ....overflowing in the cup ....or the bubbles disappear ...what does retuning it mean exactly

 

[lynardskynard12]

I'm sorry should have given more detail, it will skimmer hard and just start to overflow out of the cup

 

[CrazyEyes]

So the skimmer is not in the same chamber as the ato? This might seem really silly but, check the salinty in the tank. I know my skimmer gets really fickle when the salinity drops to anything below 1.022.

 

[aguila88psi]

Crazyeyes is right, try putting the ato after the skimmer

 

[CrazyEyes]

Well, my ato is in the same compartment that my skimmer is, just because I have no other way around it and mine stays consistent as can be.

 

[lynardskynard12]

The Ato fills into the return and the skimmer sits in the first compartment/ where the water drains into

 

[lynardskynard12]

How could the salinity affect the skimmer that way?

 

[rogergolf66]

How could the salinity affect the skimmer that way?

I don't have the scientific reason but run a skimmer in fresh water no salt. It dosnt work, so for some reason salinity will definitely change how a skimmer functions. I would move hose from ato out of skimmer chamber to where the return pump is instead. C if it helps. That being said your corals didn't show signs of a salinity problem. So I think the tank salinity is good. How fast does your ato pump water in? I use a 50 ml per min pump on my ato it's very slow.

 

[lynardskynard12]

It's super fast dumps water in quick

 

[janes_mw]

ATO after skimmer pick up and if possible dump ATO into last chamber before return to display tank.

 

[rogergolf66]

It's super fast dumps water in quick

That's ur problem. Move hose to last chamber in return. Next tank use slower pump. BRS 50ml/min is what I use love it for ato.

 

[lynardskynard12]

Yea the Ato dumps into the last chamber with the return pump. So what your saying is it dumps RO water to fast and when it mixes with the water it makes the skimmer go crazy until it mixes completely?

 

[rogergolf66]

Yup either that or water level is changing just enough where skimmer chamber is. U could try a slow pump for ato so not so much new water is added so fast

 

[lynardskynard12]

Okay thanks I'll try a smaller pump

 

[CrazyEyes]

How could the salinity affect the skimmer that way?

Surface tension.

 

[sirrealism]

Stupid question are you using Kalk in your top off water? I know when I do my skimmer gets a little more aggressive

 

[CrazyEyes]

Stupid question are you using Kalk in your top off water? I know when I do my skimmer gets a little more aggressive

It's actually pretty common for people to run kalk in their ato vs using a kalk stirrer.