Oh Crap!
 

So hear is my story.

So I get home from work yesterday and I hear the pumps and power heads running dry in my sump! :eek: When I run over to the tank my sump was totally empty and the floor around my tank was soaked. What the hell happend? :evil:

Two days ago I'm changing out some water in my tank after treating for cyano, and doing some equipment cleaning. I have this modified Sea Clone skimmer that I've been using for some time, with ok results. I soak it and clean it and put in two new air stones, they are bigger than the diffusers I have used in the past. I have also modified the collection cup to have an overflow drain, which drains into a pickle jar. (never needed any more than that) Well apparently it skimmed over 8 gallons of water out of my tank, which overflowed the pickle jar on to the floor. What a mess, now damage to the inhabitants thank goodness. The skimmate has thickend up a lot over night so hopefully there is no mess today.

Looks like I'll need to get a steam cleaner now. :mad:

I thought you were buying a new skimmer?

:confused: Bummer about the mess.

For some reason my wife banished me and my tanks to the basement, concrete floor and all. Something about carpet replacement budget or along those lines.

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I'm not done procrastinating about getting a new skimmer yet. :razz: I'm working on it though. Unfortunately I have no choice with the carpet thing right now, unless I move the tank out to the patio! I hope it cleans up good because my appartment is starting to smell like the LFS. :mrgreen:

Just a note for anyone that has their skimmer draining into a jar.

I have learned by the same way that Danny had problems with. I now keep my skimmer skimmate collection bucket in the sump. If it goes crazy than it oveflows into the sump and that's it.

just a FYI :biggrin:

Such a simple idea, but its brilliant!

My solution was to build a auto shut off collection cup that uses a ping pong ball float to seal itself off if it gets full. I don't have room in my sump for the collector, so that wasn't an option. Would have been simpler if it did. I also have a flood alarm under both my tanks to warn me of flooding before it gets bad... assuming I'm home when it happens.

Chemi-clean makes skimmers go nuts.

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I did upgrade to a 2L pop bottle before going to work this morning. For this overflow I drilled a hole the exact size for the tube, so it won't spill over.
I still have my fingers crossed. :redface:

Jack said I used Red Slime Remover by Ultra Life, its probly the same stuff though. I had no idea it was the cause for the skimmer freak out. Good to know in the future, thanks.

usualy it states on the instructions to make sure your skimmer is turned off... Even after doing the water change (after the treatment is done) the skimmer acts up for at least a few hours.. Thats been my experience.