Two Days until Vacation and I Broke my Skimmer...Need Some Help

Dempsey941

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I accidentally snapped off the airline connector elbow to my Aquamaxx HOB 1.5 Protein Skimmer. Theoretically leaving for 2 weeks on Sunday (unless destination travel restrictions occur). Currently waiting on MD to let me know if they have the replacement part in stock and how quick they can ship (doubt they could overnight it, at least not for cheap).

I was originally going to do a water change today, but now I guess I'll wait until Friday or Saturday for the water change, and in the mean time I am going to fill the emergency aquaclear 50 with some polyfilter just to have some non-biological filtration going on.

I was originally planning on having my tank sitter feed my tank every other day while I was away anyway, so I imagine there isn't a need to change that aspect of the plan and I will just have to deal with not having the skimmer while I'm away. Any other thoughts on what I should do over the next couple days?
 

Duncan Tse

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I think you will be fine. Just feed lightly. Every other day would be a good plan. What's the size of the tank and what kind of corals do you have right now?
 

Hugh Mann

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If it's just an airline connector, doesn't need to be watertight, can it not be temporarily fixed with superglue or something in the meantime?
 

MoreReefPlease

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I'm in the camp of, feed lighter for a little bit like some of the people above. Shouldn't effect it too much especially if you've got a bag of Chemipure or something along those lines.
 
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Dempsey941

Dempsey941

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Can it not be glued back on?

wouldn’t the tank be ok for 2 weeks without a skimmer? Add some floss if you don’t already.
If it's just an airline connector, doesn't need to be watertight, can it not be temporarily fixed with superglue or something in the meantime?

This is the second time the connector has busted on this unit I tried superglue the first time but it would still fall off.

Although I do have some aquarium silicone around here somewhere I could silicone the connector to the pump and see if it holds.
 

Reef.

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This is the second time the connector has busted on this unit I tried superglue the first time but it would still fall off.

Although I do have some aquarium silicone around here somewhere I could silicone the connector to the pump and see if it holds.

rough up the edges if you can, and clamp it if that’s possible.
 

Hydrored

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Can you drill and tap it for a new connector? I’ve had good lick doing that on all sorts of things. Lowe’s and HD sells threaded connectors of all types in plastic
 
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Dempsey941

Dempsey941

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Just a quick update. Marine Depot got the part out to me Friday morning. Skimmer is working like a charm. When I get back I'm going to call them up and have them send me like 5 more just to avoid this situation in the future.
 

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