Protein Skimmer foaming excessively

N

Northstar24

The Tang Herder
About two weeks ago I dosed my main tank with Pimafix to take care of a sick fish. Ever since then, my Lifereef Skimmer has been foaming so badly that I can't run it. The foam fills the collection cup with water in 2-3 minutes. I've done water changes as fast as my RO unit makes the water, and in the two weeks since dosing the tank I've changed out 40-50% of the water.

Tonight I hooked up a hose to the collection cup and let the skimmer run for 45 minutes, and the foam did not decrease at all. I've run carbon since the Pimafix dosing stopped, and I still can't get a handle on this.

Has anyone else ever run into this? Should I just keep changing the water as fast as my RO unit makes it?
 
Thanks Biff!

Cageburn, I turned the skimmer off during treatment, it started freaking out once treatment was over and I tried turning it back on...

How long can I run skimmer-less before I should be worried about water quality?
 
just seen you said you've been running carbon too that helps. +1 with what biff said, water changes water changes water changes
 
Okay, so we're at 75% water change since the skimmer started foaming, and I still cannot get it to run without foaming to the point of flooding. I'll continue the water changes and running carbon to get rid of the Pimafix (dosed for a few days almost a month ago now)

Is there something mechanically that could be causing this with venturi skimmer? It doesnt look like I can really do anything with the venturi, its enclosed in a piece of pvc tubing (its the Lifereef VS3-24 Skimmer)

I'm getting nervous running without a skimmer, I've started to see algae build up that I didn't have when the skimmer is running.
 
Northstar24 said:
Okay, so we're at 75% water change since the skimmer started foaming, and I still cannot get it to run without foaming to the point of flooding. I'll continue the water changes and running carbon to get rid of the Pimafix (dosed for a few days almost a month ago now)

Is there something mechanically that could be causing this with venturi skimmer? It doesnt look like I can really do anything with the venturi, its enclosed in a piece of pvc tubing (its the Lifereef VS3-24 Skimmer)

I'm getting nervous running without a skimmer, I've started to see algae build up that I didn't have when the skimmer is running.
Click to expand...

essential basics, you have dosed your tank with an oil, acrylic absorbs oil, remove skimmer, disassemble and wash everything with vinager, if possible run skimmer on a couple of gallons of water and 2 qt's of vinegar, flush well with clean water, reinstall
 
Not using any water conditioner, its RODI water. I don't think the skimmer comes apart to clean the body. Even if it did, with the way it plumbs into the Lifereef sump, I dont see how you could take it out without the water running out of the sump
 
Unfortunately everyone is correct. I would do a large (as in 50%) water change and then continue with 20% changes once a week. If you have a canister filter then I would run it with the basket full of carbon. Good luck. It won't hurt to run your system without the skimmer, especially with all the water changes you're doing.
 
If you are worried about the skimmer being the problem you could always try blowing through the line that the skimmer sucks in the air from, but it is still probably the medication if the line is partially blocked it will still have air to create foam, but will make it rise up more causing it to overflow. Just a thought.
 
For those that have been following, and for the sake of not leaving the thread hanging, it appears that there is a thin film of oil on the top of the water in the return section of my sump. This would explain why the skimmer has been acting the way it has. What I need to figure out is how to get rid of the oil. I have been running carbon the last week or so, and I started running Chemipure 24 hours ago, still no improvement in the oil.

I'll keep up with water changes and keep everyone posted
 
I got the skimmer running last night! I took a rag and wiped out the return chamber of my sump (for like the tenth time) and the oily film went away

On to the Cyano....
 

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