Skimmer not skimming - BM Nac 3.5

[ph123uk]

Hey all,

Im not 100% sure this is classed as a super emergency, so apologies if ive posted in the wrong section.

Bubble Magus Nac 3.5

I'm having a poor week to be honest, things just keep going wrong!

So, after fitting my x-aqua overflow and new 40mm return hose (drained the tank a little and also filled sump) - took skimmer offline but still sat in sump, It has stopped producing foam.

The pump starts but in the chamber, it isn't white, like it used to be, its a translucent "traditional lemonade" (more grey) kind of look.

I've had the skimmer out, cleaned it, checked the air feed, the plastic lug going into the venturi also, all clear, I can blow down it with no restriction when in and out of the water.

I've had the pump apart to check the impellor for stray bits of floss / dirt / muck - all good.

The symptoms are akin to not having enough air going into the venturi.

I am also seeing a vast amount of microbubbles in the display, they are coming from the water return from the skimmer - like carbonated pop but much much smaller.

The bubbles are actually falling below the bubble plate and back out of the wateroutlet - they used to rise!

If I blow down the airline I get massive bubbles, but still no foam.

Could there have been a coating on the X-aqua that has disturbed the water? Like an idiot I just put it in without a rinse! (maybe release agent or similar??) I have swapped some fresh carbon in a media bag into my reactor, water seems clearer on the whole but hasn't reduced the bubbles (this was a quick check this morning)

Anything else i've not tried?

 

[TheEngineer]

It sounds like the adjustment valve is in the wrong position. Have you tried tuning?

 

[Retro Reefer]

If skimmer was operating correctly before you added new overflow and you hadn’t made any other changes or adjustments it must be some kind of contaminants from it.. doesn’t take much for your skimmer to act up I would just give it a few days and see if it straightens out, running extra carbon is probably not a bad idea.

 

[ph123uk]

Thanks all, the adjustment is simply water level on these, that simply raises or lowers the water level in the chamber, there is sadly no air adjustment, although I have put a valve on it to no avail.

Genuinely looks like not enough air is getting through, but I've triple checked the little sausage and it's all good.

Literally has to be a water "thing" I have a 25l container with old tank water in I'm gonna try it in tonight, if it skims in that, we know it's the water

 

[TheEngineer]

The water level adjustment is what I was referring to. The other thing to check is that there aren’t salt deposits where the air line meets the Venturi.

 

[ph123uk]

AH ok, in that case, yes and yes, no salt deposits at all and ive adjusted the water level adjustment numerous times, the height of the water is fine, just no "foam" instead they are very VERY tiny microbubbles which sink past the bubble plate and go into the dsplay via the water outlet

 

[TheEngineer]

Is the pump fully seated?

It certainly could be some surfactant from the new equipment, but I would expect just poor bubble production or over production. Not weird sinking ones. Can you post a video?

 

[ph123uk]

Yea Adam,

The pump is seated correctly, I'm in the UK so just at work at the minute, but I will fire up a video when I get in - thanks for all the suggestions

 

[TheEngineer]

Yea Adam,

The pump is seated correctly, I'm in the UK so just at work at the minute, but I will fire up a video when I get in - thanks for all the suggestions

OK. I'll take a look when you post it.

 

[ph123uk]

Will be in around 4 hours - the wife just informed me it was still throwing microbubbles into the tank and no skim / change in anything since throwing new carbon in last night, around 15-20 hours ago.

Might just be a faulty pump? or crack in the skimmer somewhere from moving things around slightly? - would that affect the air though

 

[TheEngineer]

Depends on what went into the tank whether or not carbon will pull it and how fast. How big is the tank?

I doubt the pump is faulty, although it could be. One thing to try is raise the water level adjustment to the max. Can you flood the collection cup? You should be able to do that by just blocking the air line going in too.

 

[ph123uk]

Yep! Can flood it by both water adjustment and also blocking the airline (or squishing it)

 

[TheEngineer]

Yep! Can flood it by both water adjustment and also blocking the airline (or squishing it)

Good! The pump is fine then.

 

[ph123uk]

Sorry, also the tank is 120L ish including sump - SO about 30-31 ish US gallons (if my quick maths serves me)

Was working brilliantly before this - tank thread here, only a few pictures, but contains on of the skimmer going well:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tmc-signature-450-45cm-cube.535851/#post-5550783

 

[TheEngineer]

I speak metric too

Really nice looking tank! I'm going to guess that this is just from painting and adding the new parts. It should subside on its own in a few days to a week.

 

[ph123uk]

Yea, no paint entered the tank, was all nicely masked off, my corals and fish are all poncing around same as before, just the skimmer it playing heck - It cant be the doubled turnover of the tank can it? i.e. Water is now moving through the tank MUCH faster? so less contact with the skimmer - mind you I would have thought that would merely slow the skim down, not kill it completely.

 

[TheEngineer]

Unless the extra flow means there isn't water to get into the skimmer at all, that wouldn't be it.

Even if you masked off the area, there are still VOCs in the paint that go into the air and some invariably will get into the water. They shouldn't be an issue for the fish, but good you're running carbon. I'm still thinking this is just some funky stuff in the water that needs to be cleared out.

 

[ph123uk]

To be honest, I think it is that also - but, always best to check - My main problem is the unsightly microbubbles, looks like its snowing in the tank (100% not cal precipitation or a bac bloom) I can literally see the tiny bubbles escape the skimmer and go to the return area (and it stops if I turn off the skimmer)

 

[TheEngineer]

Doesn't look like you have a bubble baffle into the return section from the pictures. Hard to keep them in place without one

You could try rotating the skimmer so the bubbles are further from the overflow, it might help slightly but it won't stop them completely.

 

[ph123uk]

Yea, before this escapade, literally had no bubbles at all get to it - but I don't mind the odd one - i'm literally half a CM of being able to fit the skimmer in chamber "2" which is pure torture.

Might just say to the wife its broken so I can buy a new one - liking the look of the Bubblemagus Z5