Skimmer went Nuts

[speedstar]

My skimmer went crazy bubbling over and dumped about 4 days worth of skimate back into the tank. Pretty nasty experience I was watching TV and wondering what the smell was.

The tank water went cloudy and a lot of the corals retracted polpys. Anyone else been here before? wondering what my SPS impact might be.


John

[ReeferRob]

Been there for sure but didn't have SPS then.
I was fine hope nothing bothers your collection

[speedstar]

think the big problem is the small water volume, this made a huge change in parameters. the SPS all look like crap right now. Skimmer still going crazy when trying to bring online. I reduced the water level and air to get it to skim without over flowing. im guessing this is now because of all the waste dumped in.

remembering why FO was so much nicer.

[jojo22]

Have you added any chems lately, I know a few that make skimmers act like that.

[speedstar]

Just the normal Vodka and MB7 nothing new. This is flowing like if you ever tried red slime remover. Just bubbles and pours going crazy trying to figure out what is in the tank. Did a 20% water change still have same issue. Just added carbon to hopefully help pull out whatever it might be.

[ReeferRob]

I've got a POS skimmer on my DT right now that does this often. I just set it up to skimm extra dry and it kinda warms it's self up and through out the day I can fine tune it to skim a bit more wet. Its very tempramental.

[Rabidgoose]

Maybe check your volute and airline to make sure they are not partially blocked....

[speedstar]

and 2 corals rtn'd overnight. what joy i have to look forward too.

[speedstar]

death count, rommels incredible hulk, purple chesterfield with orange polyps, myagi tort, purple monster and tricolor milli. why can't the cheap stuff ever die first.

Still at a loss as to what caused the problems. If it was something that was added to tank sucked in from my outside fresh air skimmer feed, or if it was all the skimmate added back to the tank.

Bout to just join the Mud Club

[Werdlone]

sorry to hear about the coral losses. I wonder what got into your water from the start to make the skimmer go nuts??? I would put some extra MB7 in to help clean the water. how much vodka are you dosing and what is your water volume???

[speedstar]

65g pf water, .43ml (point) twice a day. Not a hole lot only started a couple weeks ago taking it slow.


i wish I knew also, i am suspect of my skimmer air line that goes outside to get fresh air to aide a higher PH.
Still have a half dozen corals that are usually polyp'd out that are not. Hope they live.

[jojo22]

May want to look at bringing the airline in the house, just in case. Never know what some punk kids looking for fun could slip in there if they knew where the hose went.

[speedstar]

May want to look at bringing the airline in the house, just in case. Never know what some punk kids looking for fun could slip in there if they knew where the hose went.

id to remove that factor, i might be going crazy but my family room where tank is seems to smell like exhaust fumes. Can;t locate the source and the GF doesn;t smell it. Just froze out the house turned on attic fan pulled in all new air and the smell is back. The furnace hadn;t yet turned on as i turned it off to rule it out.

[jojo22]

do you run a gas water heater??

[speedstar]

do you run a gas water heater??

yes, but that is in my furnace room as well, no signs of problems there. Perhaps i'll shut it down just be sure it isn;t a venting problem on way to roof.

[jojo22]

Could be, now is about the time of year animals will start nesting in the chimney to stay warm, and they usually build the nest before you need to turn on the furnace (furnace and water heater are vented separate in most newer homes, and some older ones with new water heaters), you may want to check the guard on top of the chimney to make sure nothing can get in.

[speedstar]

death continues lost 2 more today, added an active carbon chamber to perhaps pull out what could be causing this. Also did a couple more gallon WC.

[ReeferRob]

Are all your fish accounted for?

[jojo22]

WOW dude, have you done a complete water test, if there is ANYTHING you don't have a test for I would get a sample to an LFS that can do a one time test cheap and have it ALL done.

[speedstar]

WOW dude, have you done a complete water test, if there is ANYTHING you don't have a test for I would get a sample to an LFS that can do a one time test cheap and have it ALL done.


have done the complete palette.

Copper
Silicon
Mg
Nitrate
Nitrite
Ammonia
Alk
Ca
PO4

nothing out of ordinary.

[ReeferRob]

No shizzy Rio pumps or anything leaking oil in there right?

[speedstar]

No shizzy Rio pumps or anything leaking oil in there right?

Checked the heaters and pumps. Gave it the old hand in the water while standing on bare cement also to just be sure :blackeye:

[Tom@HaslettMI]

My skimmer was acting similarly not too long ago. It ended up being coralline and Ca buildup inside the body. A long vinegar soak took care of the problem.

As for your coral issues... if you dialed back the skimmer as much as it sounds like, then you're probably not removing the four days worth of skimmate (plus all the new nastiness from recent deaths) and that may be what's affecting your coral. I would bring skimmer back to its original setting and use an air hose siphon to continually empty the collection cup (but don't leave it unattended). The skimmer may pull a few liters of water but it should eventually settle down. This scenario assumes that the skimmer is functioning properly and that there is an abundance of organic materials for it to remove. If the skimmer is not functioning properly then cleaning or replacing faulty parts will need to be done before attempting this.

Another thought... temperature swings? You listed quite a few water parameters but perhaps you didn't check temp. I'm sure you did but I just wanted to make sure.

Good luck and I'm sorry for your losses.

Tom

[speedstar]

Thanks for the thoughts, just checked the reefkeeper 77.9~78.4 is the only temp swing. Also verified the digital with a good old drop in.

I was bale to bring the skimmer back up fully sunday late afternoon. Set it up to skim wet, have now had to empty collection cup twice. Hopefully things are getting caught up.

Things do look better this evening, a few torts look kinda rough still, but all in all it looks healthier not great but better. Crossing fingers as i had to frag a milli also hope it survives and the torts start to polyp out again.

Wierd thing is my pink lemonades all three and also shades of fall seem unaffected through this whole event.






My skimmer was acting similarly not too long ago. It ended up being coralline and Ca buildup inside the body. A long vinegar soak took care of the problem.

As for your coral issues... if you dialed back the skimmer as much as it sounds like, then you're probably not removing the four days worth of skimmate (plus all the new nastiness from recent deaths) and that may be what's affecting your coral. I would bring skimmer back to its original setting and use an air hose siphon to continually empty the collection cup (but don't leave it unattended). The skimmer may pull a few liters of water but it should eventually settle down. This scenario assumes that the skimmer is functioning properly and that there is an abundance of organic materials for it to remove. If the skimmer is not functioning properly then cleaning or replacing faulty parts will need to be done before attempting this.

Another thought... temperature swings? You listed quite a few water parameters but perhaps you didn't check temp. I'm sure you did but I just wanted to make sure.

Good luck and I'm sorry for your losses.

Tom