9 months, no skimmer problem... now what???

do you use the cup that it comes with for carbon? thinking back that cup caused me problems with water level to,also that little nipple to let air out on the return needs to be on top pointing up or air can build up in there.the return setup itself could be the problem to?

 

I haven't used that bubble diffuser basket that came with the skimmer since the first week it was on there. It caused nothing but problems. I experimented with different elbows and attachments, then with and without a filter sock over the end. Now I have no microbubbles and don't use the filter sock, just the pvc elbow.





Have some funky stuff growing inside here:


I think overall, the coralline and algae buildup was just getting to be too restrictive on the inlet. I willl blame the problem on that for now . I scraped off the majority of it. Now it's been working conistently for a half hour. But then again, it worked consistently for 24 hours before it started freaking out earlier tonight. We shall see...
Thanks to those that read all this and gave input. You are appreciated.

 

LOL ;D. It's been working great again for the last 20+ hours, so I gotta guess it was something that caused a sudden change. Even with coralline building up on the inlet, the problem would get bad slowly... So now (it's a reach, but) I'm accusing a snail or two, maybe 3 of climbing over the inlet and blocking off enough area on the inlet to the pump to cause the super skimming.

 

I have the 65 of that version and also had a problem with loss of bubbles and also over flowing. loss of bubbles were just calcium build up on the inlet hole and a toothpick solved that. The over flow as an astira snail that like the out let and made his home in there. I would pull him out and he would go back up in there. I had to pull the out let out of the water and let it fall into that basket they gave me. I filled the basket with blue foam netting to kepp the splash down. But since that I haven't had any problems.

 

I have the same skimmer on my 58g Bogie, for about the same amount of time and I've been having consistent issues with the venturi valve on it clogging up and it not pulling any air, if it's not that it's overflowing with the same issues your having with the exception that I've taken the entire thing out of my sump, put it in the sink and cleaned the crap outta it (literally) and it's started doing the same thing a week later starting to think the pump is messing up or something is causing the water flow to vary in the chamber.

At this point I'm about sick of working on it going to probably order an ASM G1 to replace it

 

Since you are using that plastic barrel with the 2 nipples, that may also be getting clogged as well. When mine stopped producing bubbles and was spitting water like mad, that little piece was the culprit. I know coralline algae looks great, but I would highly recommend clearing all of it off your skimmer pump inlet at the least. As cool as it looks, the health of the tank is more important. An efficient skimmer will mean a healthier tank. Make sure no coralline has made its way into the impeller chamber.

 

Pull the end tube out of the water so nothing can cause it to clog, if you have to cut the tube or make it short

 

Don't know if you guys realized it, but I did away with the whole "stock" bubble diffuser basket a month after I had that skimmer. Like I said above, I cleaned the coralline algae build up off the inlet, and it's been running fine since. I think a snail or two just must have been on the inlet and blocked the flow momentarily. You should try making a pvc elbow instead of the basket. You'll get much less salt creep and no problems with outlet restrictions.