Leaking protein skimmer

[Chikpeas]

I bought this used;
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/coralife-cone-protein-skimmer-150g
The light silver plastic ring you screw the cup down onto the skimmer with, will Not screw on completely and it causes my skimmer to leak heavily from the top/cup.

I’ve tried so many times. It just stops and that’s the end for it. My skimmer was adjusted, ran okay for a week—- and then the leak got worse and now it’s suddenly pulling 5+ gallons of excess water out, even with a cup with a nice foam when I initially set it. Third day in a row my brand new return pump was sucking air.

I understand skimmers have to break in to tanks for a few weeks; but I believe this is causing the skimmer to malfunction.

Of Course I got a nice surprise dental bill so it drained my bank. I can’t replace the skimmer for a while…

I just set this tank up. I really don’t want to run without a skimmer but I don’t want to burn my pump out over malfunctioning equipment.



Should I just shut her off and save for a new one, pray the tank will be ok for a minute?

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

You can run without a skimmer. :)

Do you have a video of it running? I'm not sure how the neck not sealing would cause it to skim wet and remove a lot of water. The little aquamaxx ws-1 skimmer I have just has the collection cup sitting on top of an o-ring for height adjustment. It is not tightered/screwed into place. It is not an air tight seal. I kind of think something else is at issue here. (but I could be wrong) :)

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

I'm not sure if you have it but here is the manual.
https://www.marineandreef.com/v/vspfiles/pdf/CL_ConeSkimmer-Instructions3-o.pdf
The recommended operating water height isn't that much.

 

[Chikpeas]

I'm not sure if you have it but here is the manual.
https://www.marineandreef.com/v/vspfiles/pdf/CL_ConeSkimmer-Instructions3-o.pdf
The recommended operating water height isn't that much.

This is the manual I used to set it up after I discovered the water line was Way too high! :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

It ran perfectly for a while , I got it to a frothy foam and left the foam below the neck. It didn’t even get to the cup, it’s a new tank so not much going on. Ran fine. Started foaming over the cup like nuts after a bit in, so I readjusted a little, fine again. I figure with upping the feeding amount it would kind of get temperamental. It takes weeks sometimes for the skimmers to adjust, which is also fine.

Then it started leaking at the neck, streaming down and unless you were practically choking it it wouldn’t create foam, that’s when I had problems. i get the cup can overflow but 5+ gallons in a single day…?

I read that o rings might be a problem with some of these guys? Idk why it would be such a pain but it’s the only thing I can think of. :loudly-crying-face:
Maybe I shouldn’t be tightening mine down…?

So— might try this-

I’m going to try to replace the o ring and then when I setup again, if it’s Still leaking, I might try to loosen it a tad. If that’s doesn’t fix it…

Cry a little and start setting money aside. :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

 

[Chikpeas]

You can run without a skimmer. :)

Do you have a video of it running? I'm not sure how the neck not sealing would cause it to skim wet and remove a lot of water. The little aquamaxx ws-1 skimmer I have just has the collection cup sitting on top of an o-ring for height adjustment. It is not tightered/screwed into place. It is not an air tight seal. I kind of think something else is at issue here. (but I could be wrong) :)

ACTUALLY I take it back!!!!!

Despite my tank being setup, I forgot I had “cleaned” really filthy rock and put in a ton of rock with a bit of die-off…. I let it all sit in a bin with 0 water change for a few weeks so it can seed quickly…. Sure did work. Lots of bacteria. :expressionless-face:

Could that cause the skimmer to be a bit more wild ? Heavy grossness overload? To be fair the water it’s removed so far is Absolutely disgusting. If a little bit of the cup water dripped into the tank my skimmer would LOSE its mind… Cleaning the cup currently because of how caked it is….

Could it maybe just be doing it’s job cleaning nasty rocks and kind of gross sand and it needs to remove a lot?

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Yes, that would do it! Based on that your skimmer is doing it's job. :D