Skimmer gone haywire!

[wbholwell]

Does anyone have any idea what might make a skimmer go haywire all of a sudden? I haven't added any supplements, haven't even fed the fish today or put my hands in the tank. All of a sudden my octopus NW-150 has gone haywire, quickly filling the collection cup. I've opened the gate valve all the way and the thing continues to slowly overflow. Before now, the skimmer has been <u>super reliable and constant</u>. The only thing I can think is that I painted an upstairs room today w/ water soluble latex, and I didn't really vent the fumes.

Should I just turn the ****ed thing off???

 

[wbholwell]

I think my clam was spawning. Anyone else ever have a similar experience?

 

[wbholwell]

rlmblm21;97812 wrote: When you say "quickly filling the collection cup", do you mean with clean water, or with skimmate? Are you still getting the air mix in the reaction chamber?

Excessive foam, fairly clean. (Although it did dump about 1/3 cup of nasty skimmate back into the sump:mad2: )

 

[skriz]

Paint fumes can collect on water and can drive the skimmer nuts.

Also, under certain conditions, livestock can spawn. There is a time in the reef where all the coral spawn in unisen; they release their gametes in masses so that most of them will survive and they can successfully spawn. If they released them slowly, most would be consumed.

Now, none of this solves your problem. When you can't find anything, I would just take off the cup and let the skimmer flow back into the sump. When things subside, put the cup back on and keep on truckin'

 

[jessezm]

Did you use any epoxy to place any corals? That's the only time it happened to me.

 

[wbholwell]

No, Jesse- haven't put my hands in the tank in days. Could be the fumes, but I'm pretty sure I saw white stuff spewing from my clam. Thankfully the skimmer is not still overflowing (barely).

 

[cameron]

Nassarius snail spawns do this to my tank all the time (every few months). I usually get some clowdy water to along with it though. If it isn't a spawning, IMO it is likley some strange interaction with the surface air exchange. I would open up a window, turn on a fan for an evening and see if it corrects itself tomorrow.