Skimmer Went Crazy

[ReefRacer]

When I checked the tank Friday morning I discovered that my ASM G2 skimmer was blowing bubbles like crazy and overflowed the collection cup which was at least half full. It dumped everything from the collection cup into the water. I think a piece of duct tape got in the water and made it go crazy. I had foam six inches high in the sump. Everything looked fine in the tank but I was worried because it was almost a weeks worth of skimmate dumped back in the tank. I lowered the riser tube until it quit going nuts and went to work. When I checked it again 12 hours later the cup had about an inch and a half of dark skimmate already. My skimmer had never pulled so much so fast. I have read a lot about skimmer performance and mods, and have tried to make mine do more but now it is clear to me that the skimmers performance was limited by the amount of junk in the water. No mods or giant skimmers will pull junk that isnt in the water.
I think it would be interesting to come up with a skimmer test fluid. You could put your skimmer in a bucket of saltwater and dump in a measured amount of some sort of gunk, and then mod it until it performs the best. Maybe somebody already has done this?

 

[gflat65]

I think there may be too many different variables to make that work (premeasured gunk, etc.), but I could be wrong. However, you can create an auto shut off for your skimmer, that will stop the air/foam fractionation in case the collection cup and overflow reservoir fills. First, you have to have a drain fitting on the collection cup. If you don't have one, use a unibit and step it up to the size fitting you want to use. I have been using a 3/8" NPT nipple that allows a 1/2" OD tubing to attach. Then hunt down a 3/8 NPT tap (or whatever size you decide to go with) and tap the hole for the fitting. Once the fitting is in place, run tubing to an overflow reservoir. Where the tubing connects to the overflow res, you will have to build a small contraption that connects to the lid of the res inside the res (and will have to use bushings to bring the tubing size up to match the 2" inside the overflow res). Using 2" PVC and a ping pong ball, put the ping pong ball inside the 2" and put a cap on it (cap will be on the lower end of the vertical 2" PVC). Drill several holes near the top of the 2" PVC. This allows the overflow from the collection cup to drain into the res. As the res fills, the ping pong ball will float up and eventually close off the drain for the over flow from the collection cup. The air will stop in the skimmer, reducing the chance of overflowing. I'm not using one right now, but will be constructing a few of them shortly, as I have heard they work wonders and are easy to construct. HTH

 

[cee]

I just put my drain line below the top of my collection container. Then, when the level in the collection container gets high, the end of the drain line will be below the water level and the head pressure, albeit very little, will be enough to reduce the amount of bubbles in the skimmer riser. Never had an overflow this way in 3 years, just too many other things to do to build a auto-shutoff device, I guess.

Dave

 

[gflat65]

Dave,

Do you mean the drain tubing is installed in the side of the overflow reservoir? Just trying to picture it. I can see how, if you ran a tube from the collection cup to the side of an overflow res, the pressure from the rising water (once it reaches the level of the tube) would function much the same way as the auto shut off. Just want to make sure I understand what you're saying.

 

[cee]

My overflow reservoir is a 2 gallon pitcher. The overflow tube just goes into the pitcher and is cut about 1/3 of the way from the top. When the pitcher is 2/3 full, the end of the tube is underwater and starts to blow bubbles. The resulting head pressure reduces the foam head in the riser section of the skimmer (the collection cup area is air-tight).

Dave

 

[gflat65]

Gotcha.