Skimmer help

[nukieuk]

Ok,

I have looked around the internet and I cant find anything on the skimmer I have. Its an old Oceanic series 6 skimmer has been working fine and all of a sudden its not. Anyone ever used one of these as only thing I can think is the pump has died inside if it even has one. Its hard plumbed so I cant just yank it out even to see. I generally adjust the flow on the little giant pump thats in-line downstream of the sump.

Any help is much appreciated thanks.

Mark

 

[flyingarmy]

Unless its an all-in-one skimmer there has to be a way to pull the pump off to clean it. Like dawg said..post some pictures and we'll take a look and see what can be done.

 

[nukieuk]

OK,

here is a pic of the setup I can pull the skimmer out. Thank heavens it has flex tubing for it to push water out. Bascially its bubbling way to low and as you can see from the pic I use a valve on the hard plumping to adjust that never have to actually touch the skimmer.

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I just pulled the skimmer out it is basically a box with no pump it does not even plug in its driven by the in-line pump.

 

[skriz]

post pics of the skimmer now that you have pulled it out.

 

[mufret]

Is it plumbed to your return? I've used these "back in the day" and they are venturi skimmers so there has to be a pump somewhere. They used to come standard with an eheim but you could plumb them to just about any pump. Do you have any pics?

 

[flyingarmy]

I'd do 2 things..first check the airline and make sure it's not clogged or kinked. Second pull the skimmer out and give it a good cleaning, soaking in vinegar to remove built up junk.

 

[nukieuk]

yea I will try that, I was planning on replacing it after christmas guess I will have to do that earlier. It has no pump its purely driven by the little giant downstream of it.

 

[skriz]

Clean the skimmer, the tubing and the pump.

If that doesn't cure it...post some pics!

 

[nukieuk]

Ok cleaned it up and took some pic. Still just bubbling at the base of the column. Has been working fine until now.

here is the sump setup
http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/photoplog/images/2927/medium/1_90GAL2.JPG" alt="" />

skimmer
[IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/photoplog/images/2927/medium/1_skimmer1.jpg alt="" />

As you can see from the lid it had been skimming a nice dry skim since i got it.

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Showing the model.

Given this thing is driven by my pump thats working fine I am puzzled.

Cheers

Mark

 

[skriz]

Clean the pump as it may still be flowing, but not optimally.

I would think that this is a venturi skimmer and the air inlet is blocked. There is nothing else to it.

 

[nukieuk]

Update.

OK so i just stripped it down again, then blew into the tubing once i got it back on, validated i saw bubbles and then hooked it back up again cranked it up and its working again. Still think i need to replace it but now I can take my time and research a good skimmer.

Thanks everyone for the input, now i guess i should get back to work

 

[nukieuk]

Totally agree with you when i validated the air tube was clear by blowing down it till I saw bubbles it worked.

Thanks Skriz :thumbs:

 

[skriz]

You have a LOT of research to do on skimmers now...tons of info out there. Looks like you'll need something small judging from the pics. Whatever you get, I'm sure you'll be please with the performace. The newer skimmers have come a long way.

 

[nukieuk]

I have a fair amount of room I have it down to a couple of skimmers at the moment I like the Berlin X2 but its not big enough for my tank. I always like the next size skimmer up. I will probably end up with Hydor skimmer either that or the marineland as long as i can set it up to work with my little giant I will be happy. Was going to finish my fuge first but now I think i should do the skimmer first.