Anyone from the ASM Skimmer Club, I need help!

[coker98]

Okay, so a few months ago I bought a used ASM G4X. I thought that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Turns out that this thing is either extremely touchy and extremely stubborn. Or this could be just user error. This is where your help would be greatly appreciated. How do I make this thing stop over reacting? It doesnt do it directly after a water change or when I feed, I will just wake up one morning or be on my way to bed and the skimmer is trying to explode with water. It is regular except the pump was mesh-modded. I am thinking of putting through a vinegar bath for awhile to clense it of "reef demons". If anyone has any other tricks that would help as well. Can anyone help me fix this problem?

[coker98]

Can anyone help me?

[printedpaper]

I don't have an ASM but my Euro-reef will act that way from super glue. Is there anything you are putting in the water like chemicals epoxy or anything else that isn't natural?

[mfinn]

I used a asm g4x for about a year before I got rid of it and bought a different skimmer.
They are just a pita.
If it wasn't overflowing it wasn't skimming.

[coker98]

All I put in my tank is food, water, calcium and alkalinity. Other than that just water changes. But like I said it doesnt do this after water changes.

[MSX-Rob]

How deep is the water it is sitting in? Are you dosing with anything?

[coker98]

I just figured out that it was sitting in about 14 inches of water. So I made a PVC stand for it so it sits in about 8 inches ofwater. I have also heard of using a larger Sedra pump on it. Is this true? And which one?

[MSX-Rob]

The G4x comes with a Sedra 9000, it is a pretty good match for the skimmer. As I recall, they seem to run best in about 10 inches of water.

Set your skimmer stand for about 4 inches, then let us know your results.

[coker98]

I went and measured and I think that I actually have the G4+. It is not 30 inches tall. It is around 25 inches and 9 inches wide.

[MSX-Rob]

You should still shoot for about 10 inches of water for the skimmer to sit in. It is important to pay attention to the recommended water depth to run skimmers in for in-sump models. The back/head pressure changes based on the depth of water you are running in.

[coker98]

Does the head pressure get better as the water depth gets lower or higher? How does head pressure affect skimming efficiency?

[MSX-Rob]

The higher up out of the water the skimmer is, the less head pressure. Skimmers can usually draw more air with less head pressure on the pump, however some pumps require a certain amount of head pressure in order to operate best. There is usually a sweet spot in there somewhere.

[coker98]

Okay, I have it set up right now for 8 inches of water. What do you think? If this doesnt work good I can adjust it to sit in deeper.

[coker98]

I just thought about the fact that if I have a skimmer with the body size of a G4+ and a sedra 5000 then that means that I actually have just the regular G4. So with this being said, should I swap my pump out for the 9000 and mesh mod it?

[sasharotty]

I would definatly upgrade to the 9000.Also i keep mine at 8"-10" of water.Do you have an ato or do it manually.Before i did it manually and walked away from it came back to the basement and it would overflow like crazy even though it was set real low.I would get an ato and keep a constant water level.

[MSX-Rob]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14308273#post14308273 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coker98
I just thought about the fact that if I have a skimmer with the body size of a G4+ and a sedra 5000 then that means that I actually have just the regular G4. So with this being said, should I swap my pump out for the 9000 and mesh mod it?

The Sedra 9000 is twice the pump of the Sedra 5000. The output height on the 9000 is slightly higher than the 5000. You would probably have to patch the hole for the inlet from the 5000 on the side of the skimmer and put a new one in an alternate spot (at the correct height) for the 9000. It sounds harder than it is.

[coker98]

But it does sound doable. And for the topoff, I have a water line hooked up to a timer that goes into a Kalk reactor then to my tank. I usually hit it for about 20 minutes each day.

[coker98]

I changed the water height for the skimmer and it does look like bubble production increased and I will report stability results. It is sitting in about 9 inches of water.