Skimmer on roids

[U Ben Fishin]

I just got some reef roids and made up a mix of reef roids, zoo plankton, and some brine shrimp and feed the reef (Maybe one fluid oz). My skimmer went wild. I mean WILD! It flooded and over ran my catch cup with clear skimate. It was running like a hose with a constant stream of a heavy drip. Skimmer is adjusted like it always is. Normally I get about 4 oz of a light green skimate a week. Why is it doing this. Its skimming off about 1/4 gallon a hour right now. I just took the over flow hose and stuck it into the sump, instead of the catch cup. I would unplug it, but, due to my current wiring setup I am not sure which cord to unplug clear back in that corner. LOL Why is it going crazy? Nothing is dead and all corals look normal.

[FullBoreReefer]

Why not just adjust it?

[U Ben Fishin]

Doesn't anybody have anything? So far have skimmed off 3 gallons. I've just been adding new mixed water for top off. Doesn't anyone have a guess?

[cvore2004]

I would venture a guess that your mix has a lot of proteins and aminos in it and that's exactly what the skimmer is made to filter out. It's going to pull a lot of water out alongside though, since it's not just pulling aminos and protein, so the volume is going to much greater.
I've never done roids, but I do notice increased output if I don't rinse my mysis before feeding.

[Dan_P]

Guess 1: One or several of the things you fed the tank is causing the foaming. Adjust the skimmer until the foaming agent is digested or skimmed out.

[bertoni]

You could try some water changes, as well. Other than that, all you can do is wait. If you turn off the skimmer, decay might take care of the problem, but the water column might be rather dirty.

[dendrite]

why not just drain the overflow into a bucket instead of the sump, and replace with fresh salt water every couple of hours. This way you do a nice slow water change until the skimmer calms down then dial it back. You could then experiment and feed the different components singly and see which triggers the reaction, and then vary the amount. I have had that reaction if and when I use polyfilter or have inadvertently overdosed vinegar

[U Ben Fishin]

why not just drain the overflow into a bucket instead of the sump, and replace with fresh salt water every couple of hours. This way you do a nice slow water change until the skimmer calms down then dial it back.

That's what I ended up doing the next day when I had the time to keep up with the top off. I changed the sock also and after about 4 hours the skimmer was running as normal. Thanks for the suggestion, you were spot on. I normally do a 5 gal water change every 2 weeks. After everything returned to normal I only had to change 2 more gallons.

I was kinda hoping someone would reply with an explanation why the skimmer was doing that, that I would have had to read about 4 times before I started to understand why it was doing that! LOL

[bertoni]

This article covers skimming:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/rhf/index.php

It's possible that one of the foods had something that acts as a surfactant, as well as the issues with protein and other amphipathic compounds.

[oseymour]

I do notice that when I feed certain kinds of foods my skimmer goes crazy, I can't remember what type as I stopped buy it. My skimmer goes crazy and overflows and fills a 5 gallon bucket if I use any of that putty to glue frags, even a little piece.

My skimmer goes a little nuts after each feeding so I have it come on an hour after my feed cycle is done, it skims heavy after feeding but calms down.

[U Ben Fishin]

My skimmer goes crazy and overflows and fills a 5 gallon bucket if I use any of that putty to glue frags, even a little piece.

I think you have it! I did mix some plumbers putty and glue down an acan that the snails or crabs were knocking off. I cant remember for sure times and dates but its right there. I try to write things down but sometimes I don't write down things like that. Lesson Learned!