Euro-Reef Skimmer overflowing

[fahadahmed]

After doing much research on RC I finally bought Euro-Reef RS 135 for my 125 FOWLR. The Skimmer is sitting in my sump with 8-9 inch of watter. The knob is set to 'open' and the "arrow" are matching. The water outlet is not dipped in the water.

Problem: When I turn on the skimmer the water is overflowing into the collection container and filling it up in about 3-5 minutes. I haved tried this two days in the row with the same result.

Do I need to return this skimmer?

[Fishbulb2]

I know this is going to sound ridiculous but it's worth a shot. Check to see wether ER might have put the "open" and "closed" stickers backwards. That would explain why it would immediately flood the cup. How fast does it fill the cup? It is producing enough air?

[fahadahmed]

Checked the above...I even took off that tall knob. If I turn it to close then it fills up in 5 seconds. It fills up in about 3-5 minutes. I blew into the airvalve as well and it is producing a tons of air bubbles.

[Fishbulb2]

Hmm that's strange. It does not sound like it is in too deep of water at 9 inches. My skimmer was doing the same thing recently because I used two part underwater epoxy to mount some frags. That stuff can will make a skimmer foam like soap would and it fills up the cup in minutes even at the lowest setting. But after dumping out the cup about a dozen times, the problem goes away.
Jut to make sure, the cup is overflowing with foam and not just water with no bubbles right?

[fahadahmed]

You are correct, it is foaming up like soap. the cup is filling up with soapy / bubble water. The only thing I did before this happening was that I added "bio-coat" and "bio-safe" from MarineLabs.

[Fishbulb2]

Hmm, well that could be the culprit. Why did you add if I may ask? It's really probably not necessary for a reef tank. I would now just set the skimmer to it's lowest setting and just keep dumping out the water. It will eventually come back down to normal but I don't know how many cups it will take. You can try adding carbon, do a water change, or try a poly filter.

[fahadahmed]

I am running the skimmer without the collection cup. I started the tank a month ago so thought it would be a good idea to run that stuff. This is a FOWLR. i did put carbon bag and changed the filter pad.

[sjm817]

Originally posted by fahadahmed
You are correct, it is foaming up like soap. the cup is filling up with soapy / bubble water. The only thing I did before this happening was that I added "bio-coat" and "bio-safe" from MarineLabs.

DING! DING! DING!

[fahadahmed]

is it a bad idea to add that stuff??? How do I fix the problem?

[sjm817]

Yes. Those types of additives will cause a skimmer to overfoam. I would say large water changes, maybe lots of carbon.

[BryanM]

I have a new Euro Reef Rs 180 with the same problem. I had two new needlewheels sent to me , and a new pump. Still have the same problem. Im pretty disapointed myself. The only thing you can do is keep your water level constant in your sump , and dont ever shut down your skimmer, because it will overflow when it restarts. My ASM didnt do this. It had a sedra needle wheel on it. I think its the way Euro Reef has moded this new pump. Its very finicky. I dont like it!

[fahadahmed]

I think it my case, it was adding the additives. Because I remember, as soon as i added them it foamed up like soap. i ran it without the collection cup for a day and now it's behaiving alright. I keep the water level between 7" - 9"

[sjm817]

BryanM, ANY in sump non recirc skimmer requires a constant water level, This is true for any brand. I never had an RS180, but did have an RS250. I never had a problem with overflowing including during restarts. What have you done besides replacing the NW (I wouldn't have done that) to correct it? How deep in the sump is it? How is the outflow set up?