Skimmer not foaming correctly

[den75]

Can someone tell me why my skimmer is doing this. I removed the entire skimmer from the sump and gave it a freshwater/vinegar bath. It produced a normal foam for about 6 hrs then started doing this again. No clogs in the air intake or anything like that. It's a reef octopus 3000int.

 

[samba_dad]

I have a Reef Octopus internal protein skimmer and this occasionally happens to me as well. Any chance you have accidentally changed your air intake setting? This situation usually occurs when I have not turned the skimmer on in a while or if I have just fed the tank. I have also had the bubbles get into my display tank if I have recently used putty to anchor some new corals onto the rock. What I normally do is keep a 5-gallon bucket by the protein skimmer and just dump the container every time it fills for half a day or so. I usually have to do this 3-4 times over the course of a day or so until skimming returns to normal.

 

[den75]

That's just it, nothing changes as far as air intake or anything else. It just starts doing this.

 

[samba_dad]

What are you feeding your livestock? Do you see the behavior in conjunction with feeding time? How long have you been running the skimmer? Is it broken-in yet? Have you checked the pinwheel to make sure it is clean of any debris (e.g. chaeto)? All of these topics have changed my skimmers performance over the past year. The only other item I can think of is the rubber hosing getting clogged. If these don't point you in the right direction, I would contact Reef Octopus tech support. They have always worked with me until the problem got resolved.

 

[Scubabum]

My skimmer does this when I give it a bath and needs a mini break in period to get the slime in the neck going. I have to force myself not to mess with it and in about 2 days it's normal again.

 

[den75]

Feeding NLS pellets once a day and LRF Frozen once a day. That hasn't changed recently. Skimmer has been in service for 2 years. Checked the pinwheel and all that when I cleaned it and it's free of debris. It just starts doing this for seemingly no reason out of the blue.

 

[samba_dad]

I think scubabun has a good point. It could just be another mini break-in period.

 

[Jeremy@CoralVue]

Every time the skimmer is cleaned (acid bath) you strip the bacteria that helps the skimmer run normally. It usually takes several days to get back to normal. As scubabun stated it is best to leave the skimmer settings as they were for a few days.

 

[TWT5011]

I cleaned my skimmer (different skimmer brand) a few days ago and it behaved the exact same way... give it a few days and I think it should return to what you're use to seeing/collecting.