Thoughts on over skimming

[Canadian]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Well I have an update but it's not good

All I changed was the skimmer which was set to a 0.5 duty cycle (12am to 12pm). Sunday night was fine and no problems where presented but last night proved different. I never checked the tank this morning so I'm not sure when this went down but I can home from work today to find that the skimmer had overflowed, it was off by the time I got home but the sump was still foamy and the skimmer cup was full of clear water. I emptied the collection cup Sunday and virtually nothing was in the skimmer on Monday so I don't think a lot of skimmate was dumped in the tank.

The bad part of this story is that virtually all my fish are dead, including my seahorse and lionfish which I've had for close to 20 months. All corals, clams and other inverts seem the same. Overall the tank looks normal, I'm going to test amonia and nitrite right away but I'm guessing these will be normal.

Skimmer is back on regular full duty cycle but I'm completely clueless what happened. This is likely the last straw for me and this hobby at this time, obviously I don't have the proper time and patience to spend on it right now and I just can't handle the extra stress. More than likely everything will be up for sale soon enough but if you have any ideas on what happened please still share them because I would still like to know.

Sorry to hear about your skimmer problems and subsequent losses. This is exactly the kind of thing that prompted me to install a float switch into my skimmer cup over the weekend. I've had a couple episodes of my skimmer overflowing for no apparent reason (one time while on vacation leading to some nasty damage). I don't know if it's a BK thing because I get the same intermittent fizzing then skimming thing you described earlier as well. I'll never run a skimmer without a float switch in the collection cup again.

Don't bow out yet. Take it as an opportunity to install some new backup hardware - new toys are fun

[Coleus]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Well I have an update but it's not good

All I changed was the skimmer which was set to a 0.5 duty cycle (12am to 12pm). Sunday night was fine and no problems where presented but last night proved different. I never checked the tank this morning so I'm not sure when this went down but I can home from work today to find that the skimmer had overflowed, it was off by the time I got home but the sump was still foamy and the skimmer cup was full of clear water. I emptied the collection cup Sunday and virtually nothing was in the skimmer on Monday so I don't think a lot of skimmate was dumped in the tank.

The bad part of this story is that virtually all my fish are dead, including my seahorse and lionfish which I've had for close to 20 months. All corals, clams and other inverts seem the same. Overall the tank looks normal, I'm going to test amonia and nitrite right away but I'm guessing these will be normal.

Skimmer is back on regular full duty cycle but I'm completely clueless what happened. This is likely the last straw for me and this hobby at this time, obviously I don't have the proper time and patience to spend on it right now and I just can't handle the extra stress. More than likely everything will be up for sale soon enough but if you have any ideas on what happened please still share them because I would still like to know.

Sorry to hear your lost.


What level nitrate is considered high nutrients?
________
Marijuana sativa

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by Coleus

Sorry to hear your lost.


What level nitrate is considered high nutrients?

Nitrate levels over 25 ppm will adversely affect coral health. Anything above 10 ppm will cause nuisance algae growth. I would shoot for 2 ppm.

Phosphates should be 0.05 ppm. Corals will be adversely affected if it goes above 0.10 ppm.

Nutrient levels on natural reefs are zero, but they are always bioavailable. Captive reefs don't have as much organic phosphate and nitrogen available due to a lack of plankton. As a result zero nutrient tanks are only suitable for sps corals. Good lighting and heavier feeding must also be implemented.

[Doug]

Sheez Steve. Sorry for your losses. Figured it had to be something besides the skimmer & oxygen, as many dont run skimmers and IMO, the overflow/down stack provides more than enough o2.

Sometimes I look at my controller, {RK2} and wonder.