What causes a skimmer to overreact?

AmberL

New member
My skimmer had been functioning fine for the past 7 months, when I bought it new. It's a Reef Octopus 180.

Last week it started overreacting (overflowing massive amounts of water and bubbles into the skimmer cup). I haven't changed anything (no new additives, water level is the same). What can cause this? We took the skimmer out and disassembled it. There wasn't a blockage or anything we can see. The only way it functions normally is if I drop the water level about an inch from where it has always been (it's marked with a line, so I'm not just guessing). What can cause a skimmer to just start over-reacting? It is time to change my media in my phosphate reactor (I use Sea Gel), but I don't think that could be the culprit, could it?

Thanks for your input!
 
If I reduce my sump level about a gallon and a half, about an inch below my marked line, the skimmer seems to function like normal. (I'll have to watch it to make sure it stays functioning normally.) Should I just move my line and chalk this up to something funky but not important?
 
I've had the same issue with my Coralife Skimmer. I have noticed that the water level in my sump is the cause. If it is too high, the skimmer goes nuts. It seems to like a certain water level.
 
That could be it. I have an ETSS and the water level in the sump was one of those items that needing tweaking to keep the output steady and constant. Can you raise your skimmer a bit? Lower the water level would be the next best thing.
 
The Reef Octopus Skimmers are very sensitive to water levels in the sump, they have a recommended depth, I notice quite a difference in mine when levels rise or fall, so I would say that was definitely your problem.
 
Thanks. I'll play around with the water levels. I dropped it about less than an inch last night and it ran great for a few hours and then started foaming over again. I guess I just have to keep at it.
 
I've also noticed that my skimmer will react funny when I add the distilled water to the tank. I'm guessing the water density or something like changes. I add it slowly. I'm not doing a big dumping of water. I used to add it directly to the sump but the skimmer didn't like that all. So, now I add the water in increments into the tank. When I do that, the skimmer will react some but not to the degree of over foaming. Maybe I'm doing the refilling of the water wrong altogether.
 
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