Why is my skimmer going nuts?

[jason604]

Yes it's in the sump of my new system. I bought it used but almost new. Gave it a vinegar bath and scrub.

[WarDog]

I just had the exact same learning curve as you. My skimmer was running for one month with no bio-load and didn't seem to be working either. Added 1 damsel, fed twice, and boom... Now its starting to make sludge. Just need to tune it perfectly now.

Give it more time. Your system sounds too new. Once you start adding fish waste into the water you will start to see results, guaranteed.

[dcw1sfu]

I have the Vertex 150 and its a great skimmer however can be touchy at times. If I add anything like epoxy to the system it goes nuts and will continue to overflow for days. I find the way to fix this is let it skim out what it wants by overflowing into a pale and replacing what its drained with fresh salt mix. Basically a water change via skimmer.

[jason604]

Picking up a blue tang and a blue throat trigger today to start the skimmer off. Does any1 have any experience with keeping blue throat triggers? I did some research on them n majority of the people who had them doesn't rly havr a problem with them eating either clean up crews(shrimps, nails, and hermits). I have 4 shrimps n lost of hermits n few snails. Would it be a smart idea to keep this trigger in my tank? They look so cool lol

[jason604]

Ur right Warhog. Been 1 day since I bought two fishes for the new tank and the skimmer is working perfectly right away.