chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I have had an ASM G2 skimmer for about 2 years now. I bought it used, here on ARC. It has worked great, except about once every four or five months it will spontaneously start overflowing. It had been working perfectly for months then this morning when I woke up I heard the ATO pump sucking air. I went to look at the tank and found the skimmer overflowing and splashing water out of the sump. The ATO pumped in the last couple gallons of top off water in to replace the spilled water and now my SG is down to 1.21. I cleaned up the mess and turned the skimmer back on and it is working fine now. Any ideas what would make it behave like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKipf Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Are the venturi air lines clogged at all (or could become clogged?) That could cause the water column to rise in the skimmer. What are you doing to correct the issue every couple months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 I didn't check the air line. I just turned it off, emptied the cup and cleaned it, then turned it back on. It worked fine when I turned it back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 My suspicion was the venturi line as well. A cup of warm RO/DI water down the tube usually works for me to clear it out. My other guess would be something biological trips it out. Perhaps macro going sexual since that seems to be the hip thing right now, or a dying tube worm that is sending out eggs/sperm. I have the G3 and the G4+. I've only had it spill over when I used 2-part epoxy and one time when my tube worm did his swan song and released gametes into the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I agree, venturi line. My Nautilus EX had an overflowing fit the other day, when I pulled it to clean it I found a chunk of salt hanging out in the venturi line. Cleaned her up, running good now. Ty is right. A cup of warm rodi sucked through the airline intake will help a lot. Just stick the end of the air hose in the water and let the skimmer suck it up. Good to clear most venturi line blockages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 The air line does make sense. I just shut it off as fast as possible to stop the splashing, but I don't think I saw any bubbles in it. I think it was just water being pumped straight up through the top. I'll have to make sure and double check the air line and give it a good cleaning when I get home tonight. When it happens again i'll try to remember to check if there are any bubbles and look at the air line before shutting it off. Fortunately it rarely happens, but that makes it harder to troubleshoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Is there a chance your topoff faulted and raised the water level causing the skimmer to overflow? I have admittedly found my skimmer overflowing about 3 times in the past 2 years with zero changes in the tank conditions. 2 times it happened early in the morning, 1 time it was in the evening. None were around any addition including food, or even around the time I did a water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Spawning will also trigger skimmer freak outs. But it won't be just clear water running through the cup. It will be foamy, weird colored, stinky, nasty smelling stuff. If you had just water, then the venturi is clogged. either the airline itself, or the venturi fitting. Or, you could have accidentally bumped the adjustment valve, and turned your skimmer into Old Faithful (not that I have ever done that, no way, nope............did you know a coralife skimmer can shoot water all the way to the bottom of the tank?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 I guess it is possible, but as soon as I shut off the skimmer the water level in the sump went up and the ATO pump shut off. So it seemed to be working as it should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincent-Thai Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Have you tried letting the skimmer sit up higher ? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 My skimmer has a gate valve on the output that lets me adjust the water level in it. I have it set so the top of the bubbles are about halfway up the inside of the skimmer cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Yeah, I aim for 2"-3" below the rim for the bubble line so that sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woods Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Sounds like you need to plan on Skimmer maintenance every 3 months to make sure lines are clean and no blockages... If that works for the next 6-9 months, then that was your problem... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 Awww man, I have to start doing maintenance?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Um, every three months? You mean you can get away with that?! I have to pull mine every month and run them in acidified water. Skimmer cups get cleaned daily. What's the trick to every three months..........please do tell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKipf Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Um, every three months? You mean you can get away with that?! I have to pull mine every month and run them in acidified water. Skimmer cups get cleaned daily. What's the trick to every three months..........please do tell! Dang - cleaned daily on a 75g? Is it skimming really wet? Seems like a bit much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woods Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I only empty the cup once a week... I dry skim. The 3 months was the hot RODI water down the air line and checking to make sure all is clean. I wouldn't run a Skimmer if I had to do it as often as you Sherita. This is a hobby not a chore for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I empty the cups every 7 - 14 days. I probably clean mine every 6 months to a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 I empty the cup about once a week. I have only taken the skimmer out and cleaned it once since I've had it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Empty every 7-14 days as well and pull it out once or twice a year to clean. You'll be surprised how much efficiency you lose once things get caught in your needle wheel impeller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Reefer Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I agree w/ everything noted before and have just one thing to add. Skimmers will for whatever reason do this on occasion and should if possible be placed in sump in such a fashion as to not spill over causing an ATO to engage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 That would be ideal. This skimmer is way bigger than I need and just barely fits in my sump, but it usually works well so I haven't bothered to try and find a smaller one that would fit better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 use an e-collar. replace pictured dog with a not-pictured skimmer and it may route the overflow water back down the outside of the skimmer into the sump. unless you have mt. Vesuvius projectile vomiting out the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 That might actually work, but I would rather fix the problem at the source so I don't have an overflow to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I agree that it could be a water level issue or a clogging issue. I notice that the neck of my skimmer builds up gunk like artery walls collecting cholesterol you see in commercials.I take a toothbruth to some of it, while the skimmer is running, everytime I clean the cup. It just attaches to bubbles and goes into the cup. I clean my collection cup about once every 14 days and clean the skimmer every 6 months. Sherita, if you want to clean the cup less, then you can drill a drain line in the cup and attach it to a milk jug or 5g bucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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