Tales of the Psycho Foamer

[wardworld]

My skimmer's been running since Saturday (1/6) - it's Sunday evening and there doesn't appear to be any change in its "behavior." It's my new 120, and as far as I can tell, there wasn't anything unusual about the water I used (all RO/DI). There was some new "old" base rock - could that cause excess foaming???
See pics below. Any ideas? Does it look set-up correctly?

Thanks,
The container on top has rocks in it so the skimmer won't "blow its stack!"

 

[W Ellis]

Is that a new skimmer? If so did it come with a valve for the air intake tube? I have an rs250 that has the valve and with out it i believe it gets to much air.

 

[wardworld]

It's new and it does come w/ the valve...I was told by EuroReef (in an email) to take it off, but I'll put it on and play with it....thanks,

 

[W Ellis]

Yo could try lowering the overflow tube until the foam is like a 1/2"- 1" below the inner rim of the cup. Then as time goes on you can slowly move it up.

 

[flfirefighter13]

push the overflow tube all the way down and give it a few days, once it stops running crazy then slowly raise the tube to get the water level like ttrex said

 

[wardworld]

Good News / Bad News:
First the bad news:
1. ER TOLD me I didn't really need the airvalve at all - so I didn't use it.
2. The riser pipe has been at its lowest position.

The GOOD NEWS:
TTRex, you're a stinkin' genius! I put the valve back on and began messing with and it instantly began controlling the foam (removed the rock weight and everything).
Now I'm going to let it run and adjust itself...Again, TTRex, you rock - however, now I've got microbubbles out the ying-yang...will they eventually go away?

 

[GlobaLPimP]

you are more than likely getting the micro bubbles from the skimmer return water getting to your tank return pump. You could run the skimmer return hose into a filter sock to get rid of the micro bubbles

 

[Aquatic Hamster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8922589#post8922589 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GlobaLPimP
you are more than likely getting the micro bubbles from the skimmer return water getting to your tank return pump. You could run the skimmer return hose into a filter sock to get rid of the micro bubbles

I completely agree with this statement. I had constant problems with micro bubbles in the tank cause by the skimmer. I tried several mods to the sump to make bubble traps etc. A simple $5 filter sock took care of the bubble problem.

 

[wardworld]

So looking at the pictures above, if I put some type of hose on the riser pipe and then run it into a filter sock, you guys think that would do the trick?
It has one of those foam filters on it, but that doesn't seem to be stopping the bubbles....

 

[W Ellis]

From the look of your pics it looks like the overflow sponge is high up on the tube. slide it down to where the top of the overflow is close to the top of the sponge. It will help break up the bubbles as the water travels through it and it will help keep the water from having a far drop back into the sump.

Glad i was able to help. As time goes on you should be able to remove that valve like ER said. I removed mine when i started helping you and i have had no problems so far.

 

[Aquatic Hamster]

I never had much luck with those sponges reducing bubbles that excape from the skimmer. I'm sure you can make a better looking implementation for your skimmer extension to a filter sock, but it only cost me $1.14.

 

[wardworld]

Good idea, Chad...I'll keep your "thrifty" mod in mind if the bubbles don't dissipate on their own...I did help it somewhat by moving the overflow to the opposite end of the skimmer section of my sump - this puts it at the farthest point possible from my return pump...
Thanks again guys!!!!