Neptune Aquatics

Skimmer Overflow

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My skimmer has been doing an awesome job so far. I've dialed it to skim darker...

This is the second time in last few weeks I come home to a wet-watery skim and overflow once. Absolutely no change in the system, params are all perfect.

So it ran for a week and cup was 20% full day before... and yesterday I came home with 100% and overflow and almost just water in the cup. So I assumed it could be that the collection cup neck has too much gunk so I completely cleaned the cup and placed yesterday night... today morning it was 5% full with some gunk and evening I again see 80% full and just water.

What could be the problem?
 
Any auto dosing that could make that skimmer go crazy ....I am just trying to just throw things out at you as I not sure how you run things....lol
 
I think your tank is going through a phase so you need to adjust the skimmer to skim even drier. Chemicals usually cause a reaction fast. I have almost the same skimmer on my 27 gallon with a small sump with a total water volume of 25 gallons. My skimmer is a SSA 3.5 which is the same as yours except with a Sicce pump. It is sitting at 8 3/4 inches of water and the setting is at 5. I believe the same thing happened to me as I had it at 9 1/4 inches. It now produces a skimmate that you can hardly see through the cup. The bubbles are very dry and sit in the collection cup. It is also collecting a lot of particulate matter even though I use a filter sock, change 2 gallons / 3 to 4 days and vacuum detritus once per week. Just my guess, hope it helps.
Skimmate.jpg
 
I need to tweak the height of my skimmer.

It's not pulling black stuff. But maybe that's because of my feeding :\

But the skimmate that collects on the neck is very THICK. Feel good washing it out :)
 
Thanks for inputs everyone... No I didn't frag anything, nor dose anything new but I just realized that I added a new Jebao RW-4 & a tiny magnetic acrylic frag rack last weekend. The powerhead ran in vinegar for several hours before I added it to the DT so I doubt if it was any oils from the new piece, the frag rack was also washed well before I added.

@Yippee I have it in 9" of water dialed a bit over #4. I just emptied again and made it #5... I'll see for the next few days and report back.
 
Make sure air intake not getting clogged up at all. I like to run some ro water thru the air intake every so often to keep salt build up down
 
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Mike, air intake looks good.

Today morning I checked and again its 20% full with #5 (max opening) so I guess my only next step could be to remove entire skimmer, give it a good wash and observe after my PWC which is due this weekend.
 
+1 for some kind of sump water level variation or clogging of the skimmer intake.

Things that have caused my sump water level to vary, and skimmer to overflow:
- System restart, sump floods and there's a delay until return pump pumps water down to normal level
- Clogged filter media in media chamber before return pump causes sump water level rise
- ATO fills in too much fresh water due to sensor misalignment

I also have had issues where the large filter sock can flop over the intake for the skimmer, causing reduced flow, which leads to turning up the flow, then overflowing when the sock is moved.
 
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Feeding frozen foods can cause it to go crazy or other liquidy foods. Shut it off for about 30 min to an hour.

Carpet cleaner or other chemicals in the air may linger for a while.

I made a a float switch that I hang near the top of collection cup to switch off skimmer power just in case. I've had a few overflows that splash water out of my sump and lose a lot of tank water.
 
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Nav, has this been happening since the magnesium dosing?

I also had an overflow recently, but after taking out the hose for inspection and reconnecting, everything was fine again. Strange.
 
Alfred, I haven't yet started the new mag dosing...

I've been feeding frozen food twice a week for months so feeding shouldn't have caused it.

I'm out camping... Will check how bad it is after I get back.
 
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