Protein skimmer

[Greg P]

Take the venturi out of your setup and inspect it for calcium deposits.
When it gets clogged with calcium, it changes the air intake characteristics.

Most times it will cause your skimmer to overflow with clear water when fully clogged.
In your case, it sounds like it's partially clogged and allowing enough air bubbles through to get what I see in your pictures.

To be clear, I'm talking about the venturi assembly, not the airline going to it, nor the volute on the face of your pump.
The venturi is the piece which slips into the face of your pump and has a nipple for the airline to attach to.

 

[paul01]

Take the venturi out of your setup and inspect it for calcium deposits.
When it gets clogged with calcium, it changes the air intake characteristics.

Most times it will cause your skimmer to overflow with clear water when fully clogged.
In your case, it sounds like it's partially clogged and allowing enough air bubbles through to get what I see in your pictures.

To be clear, I'm talking about the venturi assembly, not the airline going to it, nor the volute on the face of your pump.
The venturi is the piece which slips into the face of your pump and has a nipple for the airline to attach to.

I will give it a try , should I soak it in anything to help because when I took it off I couldn’t see anything clogging it up

 

[Greg P]

I will give it a try , should I soak it in anything to help because when I took it off I couldn’t see anything clogging it up

If you inspect it closely, even with a flashlight, and see nothing, then it's not your issue.
If you see deposits, scraping with a small/jewellers screwdriver will do the job.
As per soaking, I have 2 and swap each 1 once per week. I soak them in straight vinegar as there are no metal parts to worry about.

I ran into this problem when I first started out and didn't realize I had a buildup in my Venturi.

Good luck !!

 

[Squirrellyman]

And once again, I learn that joining reef2reef was the best investment in reefing that I’ve made!

I was having the same issue and this solved it. Venturi was almost completely clogged. So much salt creep it looked like a little white plastic piece inside the Venturi.

Thanks @Greg P and all!

Take the venturi out of your setup and inspect it for calcium deposits.
When it gets clogged with calcium, it changes the air intake characteristics.

Most times it will cause your skimmer to overflow with clear water when fully clogged.
In your case, it sounds like it's partially clogged and allowing enough air bubbles through to get what I see in your pictures.

To be clear, I'm talking about the venturi assembly, not the airline going to it, nor the volute on the face of your pump.
The venturi is the piece which slips into the face of your pump and has a nipple for the airline to attach to.

 

[Coolcasino]

Is there anything blocking the outflow of the skimmer? If you adjust the level with the pipe does it go up and down? Check for blockage in the out flow pipe aswell.