new Reef Ocotopus SRO 3000int keeps overflowing?

[geaux xman]

i have it sitting in a standard 75g sump. i've tried about 10" and currently 6" of water and it keeps overflowing. My tank just got thru cycling so its just 1.020 SW with some nitrate. no livestock yet.

i have it running for about 2 days now. does it just take awhile to settle down and run right?

i have it sectioned return pump/skimmer/drain. return pump is a HY-7000 dialed in about 1000gph.

thanks in advance for any help.

[sjm817]

The depth should be that the output is ~ 1/2 submerged or fully out of the water. Did you use any water conditioners or epoxy to glue rocks together? Either will cause a skimmer to overflow.

[mojo~]

if everything is new then this is pretty common. I wouldnt worry about it. I would wait and do a water change and give it some time. This frustrates a lot of new reefers setting up a tank for the first time. All the new water and new Rock cause the skimmer to act like no ones business. lol. It just wants to over flow. Pull the drain on the skimmer cup and let the skimmer run and drain back to the sump. This will help the skimmer break in and oxygenate your water at the same time. I have no doubt that you will be fine. I would be willing to bet my tank on it.

The whole output thing isnt really a huge issue for this design. So many skimmers have the outlet under water now. Like Bubble king, Bubble magus, SkimZ ect... its the ones with an elbow where the air can get trapped that are an issue.

Mojo~

[geaux xman]

i had used jb weld and some gel superglue for the rocks.

yeah i've read about just letting it run and after a while it'll be okay.

[milkman55]

I have the same skimmer and found it runs better at about 6" with the outlet pipe completely out of the water. You should be able to back off the gate valve until the overflow stops. Dialing in a new skimmer in a new tank can be frustrating. Without any livestock, you don't really have much of a bio load to assist in dialing in the skimmer.

[cakemanPA]

i had used jb weld and some gel superglue for the rocks.

yeah i've read about just letting it run and after a while it'll be okay.

Those additions will make it go nuts for a while. Listen to Mojo. He is spot on with his comments.

[sjm817]

i had used jb weld.
That is the problem. Depending on how much of it you used, it can take quite a bit of time before the skimmer stops overflowing. The SRO skimmers can not have their outputs submerged like some other skimmers because of the non vented gate valve design. That is one thing I dont like about them. They have to be run in pretty shallow water.

[karsseboom]

you need to put the skimmer in 6inches of water. Then adjust the gate valve untill the bubble reach the neck and stop.

[cakemanPA]

That is the problem. Depending on how much of it you used, it can take quite a bit of time before the skimmer stops overflowing. The SRO skimmers can not have their outputs submerged like some other skimmers because of the non vented gate valve design. That is one thing I dont like about them. They have to be run in pretty shallow water.
Gotta disagree with you on not submerging the output. I have the output submerged on my sro-5000sss and have no issues with running it this way

[sjm817]

My XP 3000 could never run submerged nor could my friends SRO 3000. They both need to run with the outlets at least 1/2 out of the water or they will overflow even with the gate all the way open. This is the way that the mfgr specs them to run as well. Never used one of the SSS models.

The OP's problem is the epoxy. That will cause it to overflow no matter what the depth is.

[swoods140]

I had the exact same problem with the same skimmer after setting up a month today! I'm running in 9" in my sump and have plenty of play left and could probaly get away with 10 or 11"! Between the glue, silicone, and fresh live sand the thing goes crazy! Pull the drain plug as suggested for a couple days and let things settle. You also might want to feed just a little to settle things down(even though you have nothing to feed :-)