Skimmer Question

[robertfah]

I've got a red sea berlin skimmer and it's been on my tank for 6 months, producing very little froth (sp?). I shut it off for a month because I was treating my tank for Cyano. I turned it on yesterday and it's producing froth like MAD. I mean at the rate of 2&1/2 gallons an hour and yes, it's all froth. I didn't realize this until this morning when my living room had been flooded b/c the bucket was overfilling.

At any rate, is it possible to have too big of a pump on your skimmer? I've got a 500gph pump on it and it sits in my sump (30g). Is it supposed to be producing that much froth?

TIA,

RDF

 

[morgan24]

i don't think so, what coler is the froth?

 

[robertfah]

i don't think so, what coler is the froth?

White....and when it comes out of the tube, it's a white foam as well. But once the bucket is filled (about 2 gallons) the water is tinted green.

 

[emorrison33]

too much IMO. From my reasearch you should have about 3/4 inch in the collection cup a day...unless you have a huge bioload.

 

[zuzecawi]

Yes, you can have too big a pump on your skimmer. You can alleviate this with a ball valve between pump and skimmer, or just get a smaller pump. Ball valves are handy for adjustments though.

 

[zenn]

Yes, you can have too big a pump on your skimmer. You can alleviate this with a ball valve between pump and skimmer, or just get a smaller pump. Ball valves are handy for adjustments though.

i always was under the impression that there's no such thing as too much skimming...so there is such a thing?

 

[robertfah]

Yes, you can have too big a pump on your skimmer. You can alleviate this with a ball valve between pump and skimmer, or just get a smaller pump. Ball valves are handy for adjustments though.

i always was under the impression that there's no such thing as too much skimming...so there is such a thing?

That was my opinion, I didn't think it was possible. But it's weird b/c I've had the pump on there for almost 3 months and it was producing very little froth. Then my tank got Velvet and I took everyone out (except inverts) and treated with Kick Ich and Chemi-Clean. Both products state to shut off any skimmers so I did. I left it off for about a month and now I just turned it back on it it's producing like mad.

Is it possible that the combination of not running for a month and the chemicals in the tank has it working OT?

 

[zenn]

Yes, you can have too big a pump on your skimmer. You can alleviate this with a ball valve between pump and skimmer, or just get a smaller pump. Ball valves are handy for adjustments though.

i always was under the impression that there's no such thing as too much skimming...so there is such a thing?

That was my opinion, I didn't think it was possible. But it's weird b/c I've had the pump on there for almost 3 months and it was producing very little froth. Then my tank got Velvet and I took everyone out (except inverts) and treated with Kick Ich and Chemi-Clean. Both products state to shut off any skimmers so I did. I left it off for about a month and now I just turned it back on it it's producing like mad.

Is it possible that the combination of not running for a month and the chemicals in the tank has it working OT?

How big is your main tank?

I run a 295g maxi-jet on my Remora skimmer for my 75g setup. And IMO that's on the low end of what i should have...a bigger skimmer would probably help me out with water quality.

THe reason your skimmer is working overtime definentally has to do with the chemicals you put in the water. Your skimmer is taking out dissolved solids...so yes...it's pulling all those chemicals that are still in there out.

 

[robertfah]

How big is your main tank?

I've got a 155g tank.

THe reason your skimmer is working overtime definentally has to do with the chemicals you put in the water.

I thought that was the reason. It seems to be getting reasonably better as the days go by. Like today it's only produced about 3g of waste over a 7 hour period, whereas before it was producing 3g of waste every 2 hours or so.