Remora stopped skimming...-Protein Skimmers-3reef Forums

Pisces23 · 11-01-2007, 07:08 PM

Hi all...
I apologize if this could have easily been added to another thread...but here's my thing...
I've had my tank set up for over a year and a half now and this past February I added a sump/fuge to the whole deal. I moved this past July but but haven't added any livestock in almost a year. My soft corals (frilly shrooms and kenya tree corals) and bubble-tipped anemone are happily reproducing themselves all over my 20 gallon tank (the BTA started as 1 and is now 2...my maroon clown doesn't know what to do with all of his real estate).
About a month ago my Remora (which had been doing just fine) stopped producing much of anything. I cleaned the collection cup. I cleaned the pump. I dragged the whole bloody thing out of my cabinet and cleaned out the skimmer. Nothing. I know that all of that cleaning does set things back a bit, as well as increasing flow and other good things. But I'm not getting anything here, folks. So best I can tell my tank is either super clean (don't tell that to the green hair algae that's growing on my substrate) or the skimmer is having some sort of issue.
Thoughts? :Halloween44:

Matt Rogers · 11-01-2007, 08:54 PM

Did you clean the venturi?
Salt creep can clog those up pretty good.

Pisces23 · 11-02-2007, 03:53 PM

you mean the grey plastic spout? i haven't cleaned it since July, but it looks like i've got some good bubble action in the chamber...

Matt Rogers · 11-02-2007, 04:22 PM

hmmm. What is your pH?
Low pH will inhibit skimming.

Pisces23 · 11-05-2007, 09:39 AM

I have to admit, I've been a bit lax with my water testing lately. I'll have to check it tonight...and then cross my fingers as I'm heading out of town for the rest of the week. Does anyone else verge on near terror everytime they leave their tank for more than 10 hours at a stretch? No? Just me? Guess I'll add it to my list of neuroses.

Tangster · 11-05-2007, 09:51 AM

You added a rerfugium ?? then there is far less to be skimmed.and it won't pull as much as it did with out a fuge

Pisces23 · 11-12-2007, 03:04 PM

What I can't sort out is why I'm not skimming anything, but I'm having a green hair algae problem on my substrate.
Time to dive in and pull some more out...but I'd really like a solution. Any inverts or fish that'd do the job? I've got a LFS gift cert that's been burning a hole in my pocket since June....