Coral life 65g skimmer going nuts.

so i have had this skimmer for a while. Works well and pulls out great gunk. However sometimes it just wont stop skimming at all. I keep it on the lowest setting possible so that it only skims when necessary, to reduce how much water i keep changing. But within these past few weeks, it occasionally will continually produce bubbles/really wet skim and I am losing a large amount of tank water through this. In fact it is drainging so much water I have modded the skimmer so that the collection cup drains into a 5 gallon bucket. Just last night it drained about 2.5 gallons. Anyone got any idea on whats going on?

 

raise it up in the sump mine does this from time to time and this helps, also does it have the sponge on the outlet if so try tiking it off and cleaning it this also helps

 

its not in a sump, its in the Display tank. Also there is no sponge filter, i have modded it with pvc piping for the outflow and it has about a good 8" of piping horizontally with drilled holes to release the water slowly back int he aquarium reduicing micro bubbles.

 

i would say it may need a cleaning

 

how would cleaning affect it at all? if it was dirty, which part would be the problem? the water/microbubble chamber, or the pump?

 

yes mine has those issues and when cleaned it starts working better

 

+1.....even with HOB application, the skimmer height will affect water level in the skimmer and in turn bubble/water in the collection cup...

Raising your skimmer will help lower that level, making it harder for water/bubbles to reach cup. That skimmer is adjustable--if you can figure out a way to make it stay without sliding down the plastic clamp ring.

 

I think i understand what your saying. I was hoping i wouldnt have to mess with the pump because it is such a pain in the butt to get the skimmer on/pump in the tank. The tubing im using is 5/8" however the pump/skimmer connections arent perfectly 5/8" and the person i bought it off never gave me that tubing so its really hard to get it connected (i have to really force the tubing on). So do you think if i stacked some books or wood underneath the skimmer to raise it, the bubbles would have to travel further? or r u meaning to raise or lower the pump?

Thanks for the help everyone!!!!! this problem has made me waste so much sw, well i guess on the brighter side im staying ontop of water changes.

 

You shouldn't have to mess with the skimmer pump. Yes, anything you can find to raise the skimmer body will help--I promise! Good luck.

Also, next time you're at Lowes, HD, or a similar hardware store you can find a pretty large selection of flexible tubing by the foot. In Lowes, it's with the plumbing, all kinds of sizes available... Take your skimmer pump, or fittings, or w/e you want in the store with you...you can test the sizes b4 you buy.

 

PS. You can try plastic hose clamps or tie-wraps too--if you ever need to snug up a connection that's a bit loose....(if you have to up-size your hose a bit)