Why does my skimmer overflow?

[Aynesa]

I have a Euro Reef RS 135 Skimmer. It's about 2 years old, roughly. Normally I have no problems whatsoever with it. Occasionally, this happens:

For weeks my skimmer has been set up and perfectly tuned, no issue. It was pulling off a beautiful, dark green skimmate (Okay, a disgusting dark green skim) about a gallon every 2 days or so. It was adjusted so the riser tube was up about 6 inches.

About 3 days ago, the skimmer overflowed it's external 1 gallon resivoir. It was just bubbling pure, clean water out. I checked the tube, but it was still out of the water (I have it hooked under one of my sump fans), and I lowered the riser tube, like, as far down as it would go... It just kept bubbling over. The water it's pulling out is clear and fine, but I can't lower the riser tube anymore.

I had not dosed my tank with ANYTHING. I only dose with Calcium and Magnesium, a couple of capfuls every few days. This happed about 3 days after my last dose. I had not done a water change in the few days prior, I had not done ANYTHING to my tank. Frankly it's been a rough week so I just hadn't had time to do much of anything with my tank.

I just took the sponge off the riser tube, but still no affect whatsoever. It's overflowing like mad. It's not a gallon every day or two, it's a gallon every 15 minutes! It's only sitting in about 6 inches of water.

This has happened before. Not regularly. Just randomly every 3-6 months it seems to do this. Any suggestions? Again, the riser tube is already as far down as it'll go, there are no mods to the skimmer at all, and the tank is not chemically treated. It's RODI water that I get from the same source (my own unit) every time...

Many thanks!

 

[Shane Hoffman]

Have you checked your airline for debris/clogs??

Are you still getting bubbles?

 

[Aynesa]

I'm getting a storm of bubbles. Enormous amount. You can't even see through my skimmer cup because it's so full of bubbles. There are no debris or clogs in my airline, it's still passing air great.

 

[stanlalee]

so have you checked your airline for debri lol. My skimmer produces great bubbles and looks normal in the chamber too when its clogged. you wont know unless you pull the intake hose and follow the air path all the way into the pump. unless you have fluctuating water levels there can only be two things: restriction on the output (which is basically what a rising water level does) or a restriction on the air intake side.

 

[kgross]

You have lots and lots of bubbles and lots of clear water coming out of the skimmer, you have something in your water that has messed with the surface tension of the water. Could be from something sprayed around the tank, or even outside if you have a window open.

Just readjust the skimmer until it calms down and then get adjusted back to where you had it in the first place.

Kim

 

[Aynesa]

It's been beautiful out here, so I have had my windows open somewhat. I don't recall anything being sprayed around the tank, in fact, i go out of my way not to do that, and my husband is on TDY and has been for over a week, so he couldn't have done it without me knowing...

Is there anyway to control or predict this, or to fix it? This knocks my skimmer pretty much out of commission for days at a time, and seems totally unpredictable...

 

[kgross]

Without knowing exactly what it is that is getting into the tank, there is no way to predict it. Sorry.

Kim

 

[Aynesa]

and once it happens the only option is to wait it out? Fabulous

 

[kgross]

Once you find out what is causing it you can try to make sure it does not happen.

Now did you feed anything different the day of or before it went crazy? Did you cook anything different in the house? Clean with any different chemicals any place in the house?

Kim

 

[Aynesa]

heh, actually I hadn't cooked or cleaned much in a few days. Since my husband is out of the house, i sorta don't really cook much, and without a man around making half the mess, the cleaning is WAY easier. I did not use any new chemicals I can think of. I DID have the windows open, because we've had unseasonably nice weather here... this happens off and on. It's happened before. It comes on with no warning and always makes a mess *scowls*

 

[46FiatYamaha]

I've had this happen before when the water output on the skimmer was clogged with debris, after cleaning it was fine

 

[clownnrnd]

Is the RS a ext. skimmer or a Int? If it is ext. how is it being fed? are you using a pump? straight from overflow? can it get a surge of water that would cause the water level in the body to rise or be unstable? Does it have a wedge pipe drain or a gate valve? personally I like a wedge pipe style drain becouse I think they keep a more stabil water level in the skimmer.

Chad

 

[Aynesa]

It's ian internal skimmer sitting in my sump being fed by a Sedra5000 pump. I don't see it getting any surge of water, the pump seems to be working fine. No valves or wedges at all...

 

[clownnrnd]

I found what the RS 135 looks like and understand now how you have it running and I can't see what could be the proble.

It has a wedge pipe on the drain that you adjust the water level with. You could check it to see if anything is inside blocking water flow. I've heard w/ new skimmers people can get a packing peanut in the drain. Sorry I'm not much help. More than likely it is like mentioned earlier a surface tension thing w/ the water. Maybe open the drain a bit and run it more dry for awhile to see if the problem goes away. Alot of skimmers will do this when we try and run them too wet.

Chad

 

[Aynesa]

No, it's an old skimmer. Well, a year or two old anyway... No packing peanuts, I know that The outlet seems clear, as does the intake, including the air pipe...