Why is my skimmer going nuts?

[jason604]

Originally Posted by Ryanerickson

Too much soap

Lol it's like a whole bottle. Took my pump out n cleaned it as wel but still no luck. Pump didn't look dirty either

[intarsiabox]

Just let it run and overflow into the sump for a couple of days and the foaming likely stop.

[Myka]

Did you use a dechlorinator?

[freeze]

How new is the filter sock?

[jason604]

Originally Posted by freeze

How new is the filter sock?

I wash it daily. Using the easy washable nylon 1. There's litterly nth in my tank but very very clean rock and live sand

[Skimmin]

Same thing happened to me when i set up my eshopps s 200 with new Pukani dry rock. It settled down in a couple days. Now that I've gone with a recirc skimmer nothing, including dosing causes it to fluctuate. Just set it and forget it. I've also been dosing vinegar since day one.

[kien]

I would just let it overflow for a few more days as intarsiabox suggested. I don't know what it is but clearly some reaction has occurred in your tank. Another suggestion is to simply raise your skimmer a few inches. Create a shelf out of egg crate or PVC tubes. This will help with the overflowing and should allow you to adjust your skimmer water level better.

I've found that if a skimmer is too deep in water for its own good it can be more susceptible to overflow. Raising it can give you a larger margin for error and adjustability.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Myka

Did you use a dechlorinator?

Yeah, that. ^ You don't mention using RO/DI water. Many dechlorinators/ammonia blockers will make skimmers overflow like mad until they are entirely out of the system.

[asylumdown]

It looks like that skimmer cup has a drain line on it. I'd recommend directing it out of the tank to a large bucket and keep an eye on it for a bit. It will start to drain your tank, but if there's nothing in it right now you don't need to worry too much about a mild fluctuation in salinity, and you can just add some salt to the sump as needed. If you don't have an ATO system that will replace what's lost with fresh water, you can just make up a batch of new salt water and add as necessary (though if you add something like Prime to the new water, it might just make it go nuts all over again). The bacteria won't care much about a small drop then rise in specific gravity, if one is even detectable.

Whatever is making the skimmer go nuts needs to get out of the tank. Dumping what ends up in your skimmer cup until it stops going crazy is the fastest way to the do that.

[lastlight]

what i do when i treat my tank with chemiclean is i intentionally have my skimmer cup resting on the neck tilted with a huge gap so plenty of foam runs into the tank. this lets me skim the chemical out when under normal circumstances (cup fully on and skimmer already adjusted to driest setting) the thing overflows immediately. this will let you get whatever it is, out.