Aquamaxx HOB Skimmer

Hey guys, I've had my skimmer up and running for about a day and a half now, and its been working fine, finally starting to accumulate some light tea colored skimmate. All of a sudden it just quit making as much foam as it was all day. There is still foam but it is right at the bottom of the collection cup, and the foam head is only about a 1/4 inch thick, where before it was quite a bit higher than that. It wont even make its way up into the cup. The pump is running fine, I even pulled the whole unit out to check if something happened with the needle wheel, everything is okay. Its seems as though its not getting enough air intake, but nothing is blocked from what I can see. Any suggestions?

 

new skimmers often do not perform as expected right out of the box
there are oils etc on the materials that can either cause a soda pop effect where the skimmer fills up rapidly with what looks to be clean saltwater
and the reverse is often true in that no foam is produced at all for a few days


as long as the box section under the overflow cup, looks like a solid wall of bubbles then its just a matter of time IME

If on the other hand there are very few bubbles in the unit, then this could be a blockage on the intake like

so if unit is not full of bubbles, remove the intake tube and check that there is no obstruction between inlet and pump

when 1st starting these units, its best to fully close the air and let the pump operate for a short time before gradually opening up the air and allowing it to mix with water

you can just fold the airline in half and hold it tightly to restrict air if you do not have a valve you can close on the end of the airline (with the Reef octopus I have you have the option of using air line control valve or the back plastic muffler - on the Aquamax unit I know the black muffler is provided but not sure about the air control valve)

Steve

 

I understand that It won't run perfect on a newer tank, my main question is why was it working fine then all of a sudden not?

 

why it would do that, I cannot say for certain

excess bubbles can be as a result of water softening agents in the water which can cause excess froth and may have caused your skimmer to operate faster than typical until these are removed and thereafter a settling in period of a couple of day or so until normal skimming efficiency is achieved

could be, but I cannot say for certain

if the box is full of tiny bubbles, then IME, it will start running again properly in a short time - maybe today or within next 2 or 3 days


Steve

 

Ok, thanks, I appreciate the help.

 

Welcome

give it a couple of days and let us know, if its performing properly again

Steve

 

could be that there is just not anything to remove, how are your nutrient levels?