someone help me please

[jloschen]

i have a problem i had a cheap skimmer that went crazy on me and started overflowing bad so i bought a new reef octo (in sump) brand new it took about 2 weeks to settle into the sump and worked great then last night it just started overflowing real bad can anyone tell me what the hell is wrong
i moved it alomost to the top of the water level because i heard the back presser was to much and it did help for about 2 min then went back to overflowing.

[jloschen]

update i took it out and have been messing a little and it seems that its not geting enough water and to much air does anyone think that the bubble wheel is going bad if so does this happen alot i have only had this thing for 3 months and for 300 i thnk this is bull

[Guttungen]

If it overflows, it seems like too much water and too little air. If the air tube gets blocked somehow (eg salt) it flows over. Cleaning of skimmer also prevent flooding.

[SimonSKL]

If it overflows, it seems like too much water and too little air. If the air tube gets blocked somehow (eg salt) it flows over. Cleaning of skimmer also prevent flooding.

+1 on too much water and not enough air. When I started my new tank 2 months ago, my BM skimmer overflowed badly despites moved to the highest point. I had to partially block the intake and it finally settled down. Do you get very fine bubbles in your skimmer? If not check your air tube as Guttungen suggested.

[crumbs217]

Is there an adjustment valve to control to control the amount of air/water?

[hounddog01]

Is there an adjustment valve to control to control the amount of air/water?

You can never have "too much" air. you need to adjust your water level in the skimmer to a place that will skim the color of skimate you like ie. light green to dark muck. if your over flowing then there is other factors. one could be if your main pump turns off then more water in the sump less pressure on the skimmer=overflow. also if there is another element going into the tank cleaners or even new or change of filter socks can do it. water changes also can cause it at times. I would skim dark on a normal basis and then move it to lighter over the next few weeks. My skimmer is 6 years old and at times i fine gunk all over the lid, it must of had fun that night. only good thing is your skimmer is in your sump and you will not have water on your floor.

[bobpiker]

I've found that whenever I stir up too much in my display (like when I was cutting and removing a bunch of anthelia) the water changes its cohesion and causes my skimmer to overflow. The last two times I did this it took about a week to settle down. Are you doing anything like that...stirring up the sand, adding chemicals, etc.?

Bob

[cioutlaw]

Exact reason I got away from in sump skimmers, got tired of water levels throwing them off.

[jloschen]

ok its still overflowing day 4 i have been cleaning up a little alge problem the past week and stiring the water but nothing to bad the only chems i use is iodine strontium and molybdenum but i have been using them for a while now i have tried moving the skimmer up and down with no change the bubbles i have are big not fine and i have been skimmeing dark black water since i got it if i block the air vent it does come down but as soon as i take my finger off about 30 sec later it goes back to overflowing i mean its flooding the bottom of the cabint after a while it not standing water but it looks like a overflowing bubble bath

[jloschen]

o ya and i do have a adjustment but it doesnt seem to move the water inside the skimmer it just makes the bubbles smaller and make the skimmer overflow even more

[DrewPalmer04]

Pics of the skimmer may help us help you

[rick rottet]

can you put a gate valve on the pump, or is the pump speed adjustable? slowing down the pump rate may reduce the water level inside the skimmer, and/or settle it down.
Can you put any kind of needle valve on the air supply? this may help also but would not be my first choice.
if you try both, then you can adjust either air or water hopefully to find a happy place.
my own preference is to run the air as wide open as it can get it, then adjust the water level, with the pump, as needed to get the skimate discharge i want.
the most common recommendation i have heard for bubble size is "somewhere in the 1 - 2 mm range".

[newreefer2]

Have you been adding additives just before the problems? There are a lot of additives that will increase the number and size of the bubbles causing overflow, the sort of act like putting soap in the sink and then putting air in.

[hounddog01]

take your pump apart something is blocking the air. you need to cleen your needle wheel and the air tube. run hot water thru it and clean anything out of the skimmer pump. Something is stuck in there. you are not pulling enough air only water is why you have large bubbles.