Frustrating protein skimmer

[chuboy]

Hi,

I have an ETSS Reef Devil (RD – Aquarium Skimmers Protein Skimmers Commercial Skimmer) that I've been using for a few years now. About 4 months ago, I had a sick Koran angelfish with body lesions that I couldn't catch, and took the risk, and treated the whole tank with Melafix. Knowing the medication messed with your water, I decided to turn off the skimmer.

After a week, I turned it back on, and of course, there were tons of bubbles, and it was just skimming clear water. So I started a regiment of reef carbon and water changes to try to pull out the chemicals I might have added.

I've run carbon for about 4 months now (both in bag and using a phosban reactor), and have done at least 6 15% water changes. I have also cleaned the skimmer with hot water. I've been forced to remain skimmerless for the last 4 months and have relied on Chaeto and live rock for filtration, which have done a pretty dang good job.

However, it's time that I want to use my protein skimmer again. When I turn it on these days, it skims good thick skimmate for the first half day, but inevitably by the end of the day, the collection cup is full of clear water and overflowing. After hearing the Cleaning and Maintenance episode, I'm tempted to pull out the entire skimmer and run it in vinegar-water. Because the Reef Devil has a large mixing cavity I can't access, I suspect there's stuff or slime in there I couldn't really access when I cleaned it out with hot water. So I'm thinking about just running the whole thing in vinegar-water. I've tried everything, and am wondering if you guys think that is a worthy next step, and if not, what else might I try.

Thanks
Conrad

[Phurst]

Sounds like a solid plan. You should give your skimmer a good cleaing every now and then anyway.

[vince_z]

yea, skimming isn't my cup of tea either. 'new '' 'old' i have yet to really found one that has all the features that i would like one to have .in just one skimmer ,i may just bulid a frankenstein out of the pile of (6) skimmers that i used a few months,and then tried another...! the one i use now ,is'nt that bad,wish i could tell you the name but it has none.local supplier has them in plain white boxes,with photo copy instructions,((go figure)) I paid 175$,they say it handles 300g,no problems so far 4mo and going strong,it has a strong per gallon pump ,hard fitted, but i dont think its a quality pump.

[lReef lKeeper]

I'm tempted to pull out the entire skimmer and run it in vinegar-water. Because the Reef Devil has a large mixing cavity I can't access, I suspect there's stuff or slime in there I couldn't really access when I cleaned it out with hot water. So I'm thinking about just running the whole thing in vinegar-water. I've tried everything, and am wondering if you guys think that is a worthy next step, and if not, what else might I try.

that sounds like a good plan to me too. skimmers can be pretty tricky sometimes.

yea, skimming isn't my cup of tea either. 'new '' 'old' i have yet to really found one that has all the features that i would like one to have .in just one skimmer ,i may just bulid a frankenstein out of the pile of (6) skimmers that i used a few months,and then tried another...! the one i use now ,is'nt that bad,wish i could tell you the name but it has none.local supplier has them in plain white boxes,with photo copy instructions,((go figure)) I paid 175$,they say it handles 300g,no problems so far 4mo and going strong,it has a strong per gallon pump ,hard fitted, but i dont think its a quality pump.

try looking into octopus skimmers or i can give you the number to one of my LFSs that does custom acrylic work and could build you anything you want.

[CarmieJo]

Conrad, I think that is a good plan. What I did was take my skimmer apart, put the pieces in a 10 gallon Tote and covered the whole thing with water and a couple cups of vinegar. I don't think the exact vinegar:water ratio is important. I left the pump connected to the skimmer, plugged it in and ran the pump in order to force water through the skimmer. The pieces that weren't connected to the main body still had the benefit of water circulating around them. After an hour or so I used my various scrubbers and brushes to clean off any stuff that was loosened and then let it run for a bit longer to try and remove the stubborn stuff. While a bit of residual vinegar won't hurt your reef, I gave it a good rinse and reinstalled my sparkling clean skimmer and it has never ran better.

Vince, to TR.

[Phurst]

Yeah, I just took the AquBee off my skimmr and let it run in a bucket of straight vinegar for an hour or so last weekend, and the thing is running like a champ now. I had to dial back the air on the venturi.

[chuboy]

Thanks, I'll give that a try, and let everyone know how it goes.