When food is added, skimmer cup fills up

StacyW

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Hello

My skimmer is a bubble magus curve 5, and is currently sitting in 8 1/4 inches of water whilst in my sump. The skimmer has been running now for approximatley two weeks and the tank has been running since 11/11 and has just finished cycling. Its setting is set to just under Max. Perhaps, the skimmer needs a little more time to settle down properly?

Everytime, I feed the fish, one percular clown, the skimmer over flows and fills up with a gunky looking liquid which is then chucked.

Then the skimmer seems to run fine for 24hrs, until i feed again.

Presently, the skimmer is sitting on two 8x8x1 marine pure plates to raise it two inches. Perhaps, if another plate was added then this might help with the overflow? On the other hand marine pure is expensive.

Now, I am not sure what to do, perhaps a bit of both, lower the height of water in the sump and raise the skimmer too?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 

Euphyllia97

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Hi!

I would give it another week as the skimmer could be doing its “break in period”. If it is still not performing well in one week, it would be a good idea to play with the settings/height in water.

also make sure the water intake is not partially blocked by something.

Good luck !
 
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StacyW

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Thanks for your reply.

I will give it a couple more weeks to settle down before racing ahead and changing settings.

The intake has plently of room and is not blocked.
 

fuelman

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You should turn the skimmer off when you feed it will make your skimmer go crazy mine has a pause option that shuts it off for 15 or 60 minutes for feed mode
 

Thaxxx

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If you've only got 1 fish and your tank is only a month old. It may be quite some time before your skimmer will produce any waste.
 
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StacyW

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Anything you put in the tank can make your skimmer go nuts. Mine runs pretty wet for about an hour after feeding Rods Original.

To be honest, when its not on a feed day, it seems to run well, depositing gunk in the top and the cup. Its understandble that it should go a bit crazy when the water chemistry changes. Therefore, i need to wait a little longer until it runs in properly.

If you've only got 1 fish and your tank is only a month old. It may be quite some time before your skimmer will produce any waste.

The DT is only 30G with one fish and the sump must be about 15G. So I will be patient, and wait longer before changing any of the settings on the skimmer.
 

SDK

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I just purchased a Curve 5 and did a fair amount of research on them. One of the things many users report is that the recommended water level in the manual is too deep. If you raise the skimmer up an inch it should perform better for you.

Most seem to be keeping them in 6.5 to 7.5 inches of water.
 

Perry

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Depending on food source, I have always found, with frozen, a collapse in my foam head, due to oils in food, like putting your arm in the tank, which too, collapses foam head. Raising skimmer will allow more air contact in skimmer body, thus a change in tuning. This, and getting to a dry skim would be the best bet, if a skimmer is even needed given bioload.
Cheers
 

Jimbo662

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Are you turning your return pump off when feeding? If so, like fuelman said you need to turn the skimmer off too. When turning off the return pump the water level in the sump usually goes up and when water is too high in the sump the skimmer will overflow.
 

Bryknicks

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I just purchased a Curve 5 and did a fair amount of research on them. One of the things many users report is that the recommended water level in the manual is too deep. If you raise the skimmer up an inch it should perform better for you.

Most seem to be keeping them in 6.5 to 7.5 inches of water.

I agree with this. My curve 5 sits in about 6 inches of water in order to function properly. When dialed in it works great. I have mine connected to an APEX so when I feed it shuts off for 45 minutes to prevent the issue your experiencing.
 

Octane13

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Depending on food source, I have always found, with frozen, a collapse in my foam head, due to oils in food, like putting your arm in the tank

I find that my curve 5 goes nuts with any food "specifically frozen" that has a gel-like consistency. Marine cuisine from SFSB does this bad for me. Any mysis has not had this affect. I have also not had a problem with any pellets/flake ive tried or homemade foods. Skimmer is sitting in about 7" of water
 

Perry

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I find that my curve 5 goes nuts with any food "specifically frozen" that has a gel-like consistency. Marine cuisine from SFSB does this bad for me. Any mysis has not had this affect. I have also not had a problem with any pellets/flake ive tried or homemade foods. Skimmer is sitting in about 7" of water

Sounds specific to the curve :) I would imagine if tuned in proper, this would be ideal from export standpoint :) Most skimmers I have used do opposite, and collapse foam head, with most any type of foods. Interesting indeed, just trying to offer experiences, but seems there are several users experiencing similar results with Curve skimmers.
Best regards :)
 

Octane13

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I just stopped feeding those specific foods. If the return pump goes off for any reason my Skimmer is off too to prevent over skimming. I did pick up a 7 elite for my new build. It seemed unaffected by the same foods when testing it in place of the curve 5 for a couple weeks. Not sure why essentially the same build, just a larger volume and maybe a better pump?
 

Bryknicks

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I just stopped feeding those specific foods. If the return pump goes off for any reason my Skimmer is off too to prevent over skimming. I did pick up a 7 elite for my new build. It seemed unaffected by the same foods when testing it in place of the curve 5 for a couple weeks. Not sure why essentially the same build, just a larger volume and maybe a better pump?
Larger volume would make a difference if using a similar amount of food during feedings.
 
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StacyW

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I just purchased a Curve 5 and did a fair amount of research on them. One of the things many users report is that the recommended water level in the manual is too deep. If you raise the skimmer up an inch it should perform better for you.

Most seem to be keeping them in 6.5 to 7.5 inches of water.

Thanks for the advice, I will definately raise it another inch.

I find that my curve 5 goes nuts with any food "specifically frozen" that has a gel-like consistency. Marine cuisine from SFSB does this bad for me. Any mysis has not had this affect. I have also not had a problem with any pellets/flake ive tried or homemade foods. Skimmer is sitting in about 7" of water

Presently, im feeding frozen mysis, only enough so there is hardly any left by the pumps restart. Additionally, maybe i should consider using a different food for regular feeds rather than the frozen foods.
 
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StacyW

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I just stopped feeding those specific foods. If the return pump goes off for any reason my Skimmer is off too to prevent over skimming. I did pick up a 7 elite for my new build. It seemed unaffected by the same foods when testing it in place of the curve 5 for a couple weeks. Not sure why essentially the same build, just a larger volume and maybe a better pump?

Hello, tonight (here in the UK), whilst i feed the skimmer will definately be turned off from now onwards. Perhaps, the over skimming happens when the skimmer remained on during feeding.
 

Octane13

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Hello, tonight (here in the UK), whilst i feed the skimmer will definately be turned off from now onwards. Perhaps, the over skimming happens when the skimmer remained on during feeding.
I don't usually turn the return pump off during feedings. If its a component in the food then turning it off wont help. It will just overflow once running again
 
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StacyW

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I don't usually turn the return pump off during feedings. If its a component in the food then turning it off wont help. It will just overflow once running again

The only reason for turning off the return pump, is to give the fish some time so they can eat easily. And, it keeps the food together whilst it is consumed.

Now, the return pump and powerhead are both switched off, including the skimmer and ATO!

The problem occured only when the DT emptied into the sump, when the skimmer was on. The extra water in the sump sends the skimmer mad for 10 min giving me a cup full of ugly fluid.
 

jason17star

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I usually take apart skimmer just to give everything a quick clean up might fix your problem.
 
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