Funk odor smell from skimmer - MSX

[jmccown]

I have had an MSX skimmer online for a couple months now. It is by far the best I've ever had. Anyhow the smell of the skim is just horrid. Every evening when I come home from work my house smells like skimmate (yeah, pretty gross). It is the MSX 250 which is NW. Is there some way to knock down the odor some way, besides emptying the cup every single day. Maybe like the beckett skimmers use a collection cup with a carbon filter on top or something?

[GT3000XX]

I Dont know of one. The smell is probably coming through the holes in the lid on top of the cup. Someone should make a 2nd cup that could be placed over the top filled with carbon to filter the odor out.

[jmccown]

Dang I like that chrysurus GT! I thought of trying to make something like you are talking about. I don't think you can seal the holes up.

[Yogre]

I can't remember if it was melev or Richard Durso, suggested putting a little kalkwasser paste in the waste collection cup to keep the stink down. Haven't tried it myself.

[sjm817]

As above, put some kalk powder in the bottom of a clean cup. It will kill the bacteria that causes the smell.

[GT3000XX]

Chrysurus is my favorite fish. No, you can't seal or block the holes. I had, years ago a Red Sea skimmer that had a lid with holes and a screen so you could put carbon in it. I used this for a ozone reactor. Carbon was a must to keep my house from smelling like ozone.

[BigJay]

That smelly skimmate means it's working extremely well. :)

+1 on the kalk powder in the collection cup, it will only take a teaspoon or so to do the job. That way if the skimmer goes nuts and overflows, you won't get a kalk overdose in your tank.

Edit: If one teaspoon isn't enough to cut the odor, you can always hook up an external collection chamber and use a lot more in that.

Also: Change out your carbon and remove some more of those nasty DOC's from your tankwater. :)

[Mr_Harry]

Cleaning it more often helps

[jmccown]

I clean it about once every 5 days, actually it is full of thick gunky stuff in that 5 days. Would baking soda do the same as kalk?

[BigJay]

No, baking soda doesn't have a PH of 12 like kalk. The worst baking soda can do is raise the alkalinity of your skimmate a little.

[jmccown]

so the baking soda wouldn't kill the smell?

[fourzero]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14837198#post14837198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmccown
so the baking soda wouldn't kill the smell?

It won't kill the bacteria, which are causing the smell. Try the kalk.

[jmccown]

I'll have to get some, I'm not a reef guy, I'm FOWLR, so I don't keep Kalk on hand.

[Mr_Harry]

Mrs Wages pickling lime = Kalk

Wal-Mart should have it