Feb 16, 2017
Jeff Hatfield
wrote
Since I'm brand new to this I don't really know what to look for to determine if my skimmer (k2-50) is working correctly. I'm on day 4 of a brand new tank with sump and still cycling. I understand the the skimmer does take time to break in but should it be overflowing?
The gate is wide open and sitting in the sump in 8 inches of water. I've raised it up about an inch or two and after about 10min it's back to overflowing. I'm leaving the drain cap off to let it overflow back into the sump. Any ideas?
The gate is wide open and sitting in the sump in 8 inches of water. I've raised it up about an inch or two and after about 10min it's back to overflowing. I'm leaving the drain cap off to let it overflow back into the sump. Any ideas?
Reply
1 Answer
Feb 17, 2017
Jeremy Rykiel
agent
wrote
The skimmer is overflowing likely to do with something in the water itself. There are several common reasons a protein skimmer will overflow but the most common is a chemical within the water itself.
Chemical Reaction - Some chemicals react with the air that the skimmer produces and causes the skimmer to over produce foamate. Chemicals known to cause skimmers to overflow are, red slime remover, medications, reef/frag putties (epoxy Putty) frag glues, water conditioners, dechlorinators, stress coat, NEW filter socks, newly mixed salt, bacteria (seeding) additives as well as other dosing medias. In order to remove these chemicals from the water column we suggest that you do several 20% water changes over the period of a month and add a good amount of fresh activated carbon to the system and change out every week till the skimmer has returned to normal operation.
Chemical Reaction - Some chemicals react with the air that the skimmer produces and causes the skimmer to over produce foamate. Chemicals known to cause skimmers to overflow are, red slime remover, medications, reef/frag putties (epoxy Putty) frag glues, water conditioners, dechlorinators, stress coat, NEW filter socks, newly mixed salt, bacteria (seeding) additives as well as other dosing medias. In order to remove these chemicals from the water column we suggest that you do several 20% water changes over the period of a month and add a good amount of fresh activated carbon to the system and change out every week till the skimmer has returned to normal operation.