Frustrating protein skimmer

[liljohn]

I have a eshopps psk100 hang on protein skimmer. The skimmer works great but, for whatever reason the cup will fill up with water. I cannot get the skimmer to restart without the cup overflowing with water when this happens. I have blocked(raised) the skimmer higher with the same problem. Because of the raised skimmer and removing the adjusting tube the skimmer still overflows. Eshopps has helped but I need to get the skimmer going and they are closed for the weekend.

How can I get the skimmer to restart?

My water parameters are
Amonia 0 or a trace(might be the test kit)
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
salinity 1.026
KH 9.1
PH 8.3
posphate .03 or less

 

[Bifferwine]

How long have you had it running? Do you use any additives like tap water conditioner/stress coat/ammolock, etc.?

 

[liljohn]

Four months and I use ro water and 7 gal saltwater changes. To keep the KH and PH up I use Alkalin 8.3. For phosphate I have used red sea no3po4x. I do not turn the skimmer off when I add these and have not had overflow problems. I have overflowed the skimmer with lemon juce for aptasia but, have not used that in about a month.

Something has changed but with the test kits I have I do not know what it is.

 

[liljohn]

I cannot get the skimmer to restart without overflowing.

Help please!

 

[Bifferwine]

Turn it all the way down (so that it's not overflowing) and let it run like that for several days. It sounds like one of your additives is making it overflow. Have you been using those additives the whole time you've had the skimmer, and was it working before? Did you change something recently that coincided when it started overflowing?

 

[Bifferwine]

Oops I reread your previous post. So you've been using those additives all along and didn't have problems with the skimmer overflowing before. Is the skimmer getting enough air? Check the pump to make sure it's working properly -- maybe it needs to be cleaned.

 

[liljohn]

Finally, the skimmer is working correctly. My daughter noticed the outlet filter foam was clogged and not letting the skimmer water to return to the tank(overflow problem). Thanks for all the help.