Sump foam

TwoFrogs

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Hi everyone. Setup a new system and the sump is foaming like crazy. Skimmer is off. The drops dramatically when I remove the filter sock. I’ve rinsed that sock multiple times. Not sure what to do.
 

SpecificGravity120

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That foam is protein. No (excess) proteins =no foam.
If you cant run the skimmer, try a partial water change, and try reducing any water flows / objects causing excess turbulence in the sump until you can get the skimmer back on.
 

nukemdanno

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If that was a brand new filter sock I always wash in the machine with bleach before i use it. Otherwise it will foam like mad.
 
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TwoFrogs

TwoFrogs

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That foam is protein. No (excess) proteins =no foam.
If you cant run the skimmer, try a partial water change, and try reducing any water flows / objects causing excess turbulence in the sump until you can get the skimmer back on.
Skimmer creates more foam. I’ve removed the socks and the foam has decreased but there is still some. I’ll try reducing the flow. The tank is a couple of days old. All the foam started after adding Fiji pink sand. Next step I guess is to do a 25%? water change. ?
 
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nukemdanno

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Aldo as I'm thinking of it you will need to babysit the Skimmer until foam production drops to normal for your tank. When this happens I make a gallon or so of salt water to add back into the tank so you don't have a salinity drop
 
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TwoFrogs

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Aldo as I'm thinking of it you will need to babysit the Skimmer until foam production drops to normal for your tank. When this happens I make a gallon or so of salt water to add back into the tank so you don't have a salinity drop
Reducing the flow helped dramatically. I can’t get the skimmer to stop overflowing even on the lowest setting. Will try raising it and see if this helps
 

nukemdanno

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Can you pull the ruser off and let it run? Then as the level drops add the river back in. I have literally had to run the Skimmer for a minute or so until the Skimmer cup fills. Then empty turn back on rinse repeat until the bubble level lowers. Then it may go to an hour or so then empty the cup. I had this happen a couple times over the years. Its total babysitting lol
 
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TwoFrogs

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So I have the skimmer running. It’s set real low and is push bubbles through the blu adjustment pipe. The cup has a drain I am using to shorten the number of times the cup needs to be emptied. This is an SCA -302 skimmer
 

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