9005 Skimmer Help

[Banania]

I've had the 9005 skimmer running in the sump of my 90 gallon for a year and a half now.
The past few months it hasn't been skimming as much as it was. The collection cup would be watery, almost clear and the dark skimmate would only be on the bottom inside of the neck of the cup.

I took the skimmer apart and cleaned it. I found salt build-up in the thin flexible tube that connects the pump to the air-adjustment compartment and so I cleaned it out with hot water.

I also noticed something inside the air-adjustment compartment; It seems to be a very thin sheet of hardened sand with the same size & density of a flake of fish food. I tried to get it out by pouring hot water through the compartment but could not get rid of it.

I then put the skimmer back together and reinstalled it into the sump and the results are more or less the same. Is this thing stuck inside the compartment effecting the performance? It moves around and does not seem to clog the openings on both ends.

Also my bio-load is low, but again the skimmer had been pulling out more skimmate previously.

Thanks.

[rvitko]

I would submerge the entire skimmer in a bucket of 25% vinegar 75% warm water (RO is preferred) Remove the blue screw, make sure the screw hole is under water and plug it in. A big salt bucket is perfect for this, you will need a full gallon of vinegar. This will clean all the deposits out within 6 hrs or so, let it run overnight.

[Banania]

Sounds good. Thanks, Roger.

[Banania]

Hi Roger, I let the skimmer run in the vinegar & water for about 7.5 hours and put it back into the sump. It has now been running for about 10 hours and still the foam is not rising. I tightened the blue screw all the way and then turned it left about half way.

Is there anything different I should be doing?

Also when I ran the skimmer in the bucket I kept the sump kit pipe on. Just want to make sure that was ok.

[rvitko]

Has anything changed in the tank? Do you have another tank you can test it in?

[Banania]

Well now that I think about it, I have been cleaning the prefilter sponge in the overflow box more frequently. Perhaps there is just isn't much to skim? I only have 6 anthias, a clownfish, a dwarf angel with a deep sand bed and live rock, some corals- (90 gallon)

Still I worry that the skimmer's performance decreases because sand often makes its way into the sump.

The skimmer is foaming at top force and water is coming out of the pipe normally. It just isn't climbing up much. Whenever it does, there is just clear water in the cup w/ skimmate on the inside of the neck.

Still the sponge on the sump pipe on the 9005 had been collecting dirt & grime. I've been opening the air adjustment slowly so I'll wait and see what happens.

[rvitko]

If there is a lot of suspended sediment right now this does tend to impede skimming. I imagine the Anthias require a lot of food, but an older tank with a DSB can process a lot of waste biologically. I think the likely culprit is suspended sediment.

[Banania]

I'll try to give it a good cleaning and the sump too.

BTW, I've been thinking of upgrading my skimmer but not sure if I have enough room. What's the vertical clearance/how much height do you need to lift the cup off, for the 9010 and the 9015?

Would it be possible to intall the hydrofoamer for the 9010 in the housing of the 9005?

Thanks for the help, Roger!

[rvitko]

The 9010 is only 2" taller. I would get the 9010 if you upgrade. A 9005 with a 9010 pump will work, but will tend to produce very watery skimmate.