Stupid MSX200 going nuts!

[Wrench]

This is beginning to frustrate me. I have an Octopus MSX200, unmodded. It will be fine for a day or two then all of a sudden it will go crazy and start to overflow the cup. Usually happens while I'm at work and there are no additions to the tank that would cause it. Anyone know why?

[Garage1217]

Which do you have, the MSX or the Octo specifically? Also something is causing it to go nuts, does not do it on it's own.

Fish must be regular and only crap when you are not around :D

You say unmodded.... not many mods for this skimmer really. The two main options are a meshwheel or a pinwheel. Which are you running..?

[Wrench]

It's the Octopus version and I'm using the pinwheel impeller. It will go nuts after a couple of days without me touching it at all or adding anything to the tank.

[johnnyblaze313]

Is the water in the sump a consistent level? Also maybe could your airline be plugged or getting a kink in it?

[joncat24]

how long has this skimmer been running? If it is new, it could be breaking in.

[GSMguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14001374#post14001374 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by johnnyblaze313
Is the water in the sump a consistent level? Also maybe could your airline be plugged or getting a kink in it?

thats most likely it, do you have an ATO?

[JVB]

I have an SWC 160 with the mesh wheel that would run fine for a few days, then overflow the cup. I could never catch it doing this and I have a very stable water level in the skimmer area of the sump. When I discussed it with the guy at my LFS, he said he'd been having the same problem with the SWC 200 in the store and after watching it, determined the water exhaust arm could sometimes cause either a siphon effect or a back pressure issue(probably back pressure) that would jack up the water level in the skimmer body. He solved this by drilling a 1/4" hole right at the top of the elbow of the drain pipe as it turns downward to the last length of pipe that goes into the water and said that it fixed the problem by acting as a sort of "siphon break/pressure release". I did the same to mine and haven't had any more overflows in the past two months. Something to try and worst case, if it doesn't work you can always pop some silicone into the hole you drilled to block it back up.