coralife skimmer over flowing

So I woke up this morning and my coralife skimmer was overflowing. I did not add anything to my tank either. The same thing happened to me a couple weeks ago. When I turn down the pump and plug the air intake it does not overflow. However, it does seem to be sucking at least some air when it is not plugged.

So i am thinking that the air intake is just a little plugged up. However, the last time this happened i just kept the pump turned down for about 24 hours and it seemed fine after that.... Anyone have any thoughts on what is happening? If it is clogged, how do i unclog it? How do i prevent this from happening again? anyone else experience this problem?

 

Sorry buddy, i have no advise to offer because i never dealt with a coralife skimmer, give it a couple of minutes, im sure someone will adress your problem!!!

 

I turned my pump down for about 30 minutes, turned it back up and now my skimmer is not overflowing anymore. Anyone have any thoughts on what is happening?

 

Read my answer in this post for a suggestion on how to prevent overflowing...
http://www.3reef.com/forums/protein-skimmers/coralife-super-skimmer-help-mods-39053.html#post355283

 

one side note.

HI,
There is a small hose that goes down to the injector it has a bulb like thing on one end that has a small plastic film like box, this is used to regulate the air injection a bit. if it is allowed to hang below the water, water will siphon backwards in to the plastic box and may also leak on the floor.
when this occurs the air flow pulses due to the water in the box. this allows the skimmer water/foam level to pulse I took a plastic tie and attached the box to one of the pipes above the pump above the water, the pulsing of the water level stopped.
I did find some salt build up in mine after I allowed it to back flow a few times and then it dried out leavin salt which changed the diameter of the regulator, I would soak the device in DI water and dry it well and then re-attach the air hose and attach the little film looking box to the unit so it stay dry above the water now its clean and dry.
been there had the same problems.
Doug
see the little grey box that's attached to the down tube it help regulate the air flow if it gets wet it will cause the skimmer to surge a bit. filling the cup.

 

my..

Mine came with a clip that holds the air silencer at which ever hieght you prefer.


Travis

 

Yea mine too,

HI,
my clip broke and I didn't understand the importance of the position of the air box. just changing the position of my bubble trap seems to change the water flow to the skimmer. yikes.
I fianlly disked MY BUBBLE TRAP the skimmer is in the sump and the bubbles don't make it back to the tank.
Doug

 

I let my air diffuser hang on the side of the tank, is this a bad position for it- it does not get wet or anything.... My skimmer will just start to overflow, i will turn down the pump for about an hour without changing anything at all. then i will turn the pump back to full blast and everything is fine... sounds weird to me as well

While i am at it, I have my skimmer mounted on the inside of my tank and it is at a slight angle so when it does over flow it goes back into the tank... is it all right if my skimmer is at a slight angle?

This is probably a stupid question but do skimmers add a lot of oxygen to the water? I have a maxijet with an air intake, would it be redundant to aerate my tank with my maxijet when i have a skimmer?