skimmer help

[EBR]

[ Many thanks for the help re: LR sources ]

Hi -- I've got a protien skimmer hanging off the back of a 55 gal, and all has been well for about 6 months. Recently, however, it is just pumping out a ton of bubbles, no matter how much I tweak the venturi tube inlet. The manual said to close it off for three days if that happens, but that has had no effect. I rinse out the foam block whenever I do a water change (say, every month), and all appears OK with it (but then again, I'm not sure what to look for). Does the foam need to be replaced regularly? or the tube?

What might I be missing?

TIA.
Matt

 

[scuba_steve]

what kind of skimmer do ya have ?? lets start there

 

[EBR]

Of course -- my bad. It's a Sea-Clone.

One thoughts I've had since my post -- should I clean the skimmer every once in a while to remove any slime buildup on the inside walls? I'm really at a loss, as this thing was working beautifully for the first 6 months or so.
Thanks.

Matt

 

[scuba_steve]

ok the prob i found with the seaclones which i own two are that imo there isnt enough pump when the venturi is opened enough to get good foam all the time like ya should !! what i did and makes the skimmer work 100 x better was drilled a /16th hole right in the middle of the cap and added a hard undergravel air tube with a small wood airstone !! then ya can have the air pump pushing air in and back off the venturi off a bit !! it takes some playing with but with this design of a skimmer it kinda hard not to get some air escaping !! it kinda a bad design imo but does work !! but with this change it help a ton and like i said play with it and ya can limit the air getting in ya tank at the same time get alot more out of it !! other wise imo if ya dont want any bubbles then a sump is needed so ya can hide it !! was thinking of a way to keep in on the back but make a bubble trap to the return ! but i lost focus and just made a better one so use it now as an extra

 

[24 hours? NE!]

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drilled a /16th hole right in the middle of the cap and added a hard undergravel air tube with a small wood airstone !! then ya can have the air pump pushing air in and back off the venturi off a bit !!

Steve, could you describe that further? I just added a Sea Clone 100 and I don't know what is working and what isn't, but I'll look for any advice to help my system. Thanks.

 

[scuba_steve]

basically by adding an air stone to the bottom of the skimmer ya can back off the venturi which will allow more water flow !! i found that with out if ya crank the venturi open to get alot of air the water level drops to far in the chamber so little or no foam will rise out into the cup !! but adding the air stone ya can get more water into the chamber which then will lead to alot more foam which is the goal were looking for !!
so all i did was get a hard 3/16th air line tube the same ones sold for undergravel filter tubes and drilled a hole just big enough for the tube to fit in !! so basically when ya clean the cup ya will pull out the whole airline and stone out along with the lid !! dump cup and ya good !!