PDA

View Full Version : Skimmer no longer Pulling Skimmate


Avgou
12/30/2008, 10:33 AM
Hi Everyone,

My tank is 10 months into it's life, conditions are perfect, I have great growth of coralline algae, a refugium teaming with pods and macro algae, 2 filter socks in my sump and then my EV-120 Skimmer with Mag 5 pump.

I have recently noticed that my skimmer barely pulls anymore simmate out of the water, if it does it's very little, the tower does not foam much either.

I have 8 fish and only a couple corals right now.

I've also placed a MP40 Vortech in the system and removed my 2 K3's.

My sand bed is much cleaner since this.

What's going on? I clean the pre-filter for the pump and clean the collection cup and tower frequently for the skimmer and regularly change the filter socks.

Should I clean out the pump, water is flowing very well out of the skimmer...

Thanks a bunch,

John Avgou

stuccodude
12/30/2008, 11:14 AM
every 4-6 months i need to clean my pump for my skimmer and every 10 - 12 months i need to pull my skimmer out and clean it very good. im sure your pump is clogged even though water is passisng through its not enough.

Avgou
12/30/2008, 02:27 PM
Thank you, any advice on how to clean a Mag, do I dissassemble or do I just soak in vinegar?

Michael
12/30/2008, 02:30 PM
there is a small chance your tank is so clean the skimmer hasnt much to pull out at present, just a chance this could be the case

svynx
12/30/2008, 02:41 PM
My skimmer was doing the same thing a little while ago. One suggestion that was made to me was to turn my return off and pour a little of the skimmate out into the skimmer section of the sump. If the skimmer didn't pull it back out, then something was wrong. If it did, then there isn't much for the skimmer to pull out. The return was shut off to keep the skimmate from going back into the DT.

chewie
12/30/2008, 02:46 PM
Sometimes the injector gets clogged on the Aqua-C skimmers.

Unscrew the barbed fitting that the pump hose attaches to and check for debris.

To clean the mag: disassemble, scrub all parts with a toothbrush and soak in vinegar if there are calcium deposits.

Avgou
12/30/2008, 11:07 PM
Thanks everyone,

I pulled the pump out and to my shock it was a lot dirtier than I thought...sponge crystals all over the place, soaking in vinegar, then will disassemble.