Coralife Skimmer Question

My buddy bought a Coralife Skimmer for his new 30g bowfront. He is having problems with the skimmer creating a bunch of micro-bubbles and dumping them in the tank. Also the skimmer is creating a bunch of bubbles in the cone and it is set on the lowest setting. Here are some pictures.

This is a picture of all the micro-bubbles.


Here is a picture of the collection cup filling up.


this is the top view of the return.

 

Did your friend by chance dose or put anything in the tank that can cause the skimmer to go crazy? There are quite a few things that can be added to the tank that will cause the skimmer to go crazy and skim clear. And correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is the Coralife Super Skimmer Needle Wheel Skimmer right?

 

I am not sure of the exact type of skimmer it is. He did add some Nitrate reducer in the water after I had taken the pictures. Which I warned him about the different chemicals you put in your water. Should never take the place of old fashioned water changes.

 

Yeah see if you can figure out what he exactly put in his tank. My first guess was that he put something in that reacted with the skimmer and that is what is causing the microbubbles and it to skim clear. Some products require the skimmer to be turned off for a certain amount of time.

 

The skimmer will take a few days to break in and the micro bubbles will stop. I would quit dumping nitrate reducer in the tank so the skimmer can break in properly. After it breaks in he'll have to adjust it to where he likes it. It's a decent skimmer, I ran the same one on my first tank. When it's hung on the back it can be sensitive to adjustments so always keep an eye on the cup and make sure the pump in the tank stays clear of obstruction. Mine overflowed a few times.

 

I second DSC's comment. That was exactly my experience with the Coralife skimmer. Took a couple weeks for it to stop making my tank look like a carbonated fizzy drink. After the first time it overflowed, I immediately set up the drain into a tupperware with a hole drilled into the lid. Overall, it's not a bad starter skimmer.

 

You will have to adjust the foam inside the bubble trap.Basically you don't want back pressure forming on the return.It may be necessary to raise the arm going in the trap or repositioning the foam that catches the bubbles.Just lift on the tube a little it should stop dumping so many bubbles and your water level in the cone should go down.
As everyone has stated it will take some time to calm down.

 

When I had mine it did the same thing. I dumped the foam filter and replaced it with some cheato and that was enough to kill the micro bubbles going into the tank.

 

After talking to my buddy, I found that their skimmer is now working fine. It needed a week to break in. Thank you for the help guys.

 

Good to hear.