Hi All,
I have a lifereef skimmer and it really hasn’t been working that well for me. I just upgraded my pump for it still nothing. Below is the advice I got from Jeff at Lifereef. It doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Essentially he is suggesting that I feed vary sparingly or once every 2 or 3 days. I have a FOWLR with a trigger, puffer and H Tusk. That’s not an option and doesn’t seem logical the whole reason I spent the extra $$$ to get a nice skimmer was so that I could feed accordingly. Problem is the skimmer doesn’t skim at all or once or twice a day it foams like crazy with clear, odorless “foam” any thoughts? Does his advice make sense? I’ve had ”lesser” skimmers in the past that have skimmed much better while I was adding all sorts of additives and feeding heavy.
Dean,
I just took these photos of my skimmer using a Mag9 pump. As you can see there is considerable amount of a foam column inside the neck.
I don't get too many skimmers that don't work so I can only assume that there is something being used in the water or food that is causing a change in surface tension of the water that keeps the bubbles from sticking together.
I notice with yours that the water level is up inside the neck. Lower the levle so no water is in the neck.
I also notice that the foam layer on top of the water is very thin, looks like about 1". The only time I have seen this condition is whenever an aquarium additive has been added to change the surface tension of the water, frozen brine will do this as will Ocean Nutrition frozen food cubes, and I am sure some other foods. I don't know all the things that can cause this but there is certainly something that is being added that causes foaming to cease.
Try not feeding for several days and see what happens. I used to only feed my aquarium once a week, not because of skimmer problems, but because I was trying to eliminate some algae problems and fed very sparingly. Now I feed daily and use flake food and the skimmer runs consistent. In fact I emptied the cup for these photos and the skimmate was dark and smelly.
It is definitely not a skimmer design flaw or anything to do with the skimmer, but something that is being used that is changing the surface tension of the water, thus break down the foaming so that bubbles will not "stick" together and foam. There are plenty of bubbles being produced as evidence of the white color of the skimmer column.
The skimmers operation is so simple: pump/venturi/bubbles, that if there is no foaming there is something else that needs to be investigated.
I will list some items that may cause this condition though I have not received enough feedback on this to know all causes, it does not happen often that these skimmers don't work:
incorrect salinity
frozen brine
carbon, especially new and not rinsed thoroughly
Poly Bio Discs and pads (though I cannot remember if it causes excessive foaming or decreases foaming)
resins such as Chemipure
some foods, depending on what is used for a binder
lotion on hand inserted into water
natural hand oils
some foams or filter pads (no one has experienced this using the foam or pads I use)
I wish I could help more but as I said this does not happen enough to have a good database to work from and I have to pass on what has usually been the case in the few past instances.
Just last week I had a new "problem" come up where the customers protein skimmer was foaming too much to the point it could not be used because the cup would fill up in about 4 minutes. The gate valve was wide open, using a Mag9 pump, and still the skimmer overfoamed. Scratched my head for days on this and I could not come up with a solution except to install a ball valve on the pump to cut it back. The customer called me back to say that he had found the "problem". The pump suction was pointed towards the input to the sump (in-sump skimmer) and sucking in air that was coming into the sump from the overflow giving the skimmer more air than it could handle. Turning the pump away from the sump input cured it.
Jeff
Dean,
I just added these items to my aquarium:
Frozen Mysis Shrimp, one cube
Ocean Nutrition Blood Worms, one cube
Coralife Frozen Coral Cuisine, small 1/2" long x 3/4" long piece
Ocean Nutrition Special Edition VHP, small piece
Notice that my skimmer foam level has completely dropped out of the column.
I highly suspect that this is the cause of your skimmers lack of performance. Try cutting back on food, perhaps feeding every two or three days, or very sparingly.
Jeff
I have a lifereef skimmer and it really hasn’t been working that well for me. I just upgraded my pump for it still nothing. Below is the advice I got from Jeff at Lifereef. It doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Essentially he is suggesting that I feed vary sparingly or once every 2 or 3 days. I have a FOWLR with a trigger, puffer and H Tusk. That’s not an option and doesn’t seem logical the whole reason I spent the extra $$$ to get a nice skimmer was so that I could feed accordingly. Problem is the skimmer doesn’t skim at all or once or twice a day it foams like crazy with clear, odorless “foam” any thoughts? Does his advice make sense? I’ve had ”lesser” skimmers in the past that have skimmed much better while I was adding all sorts of additives and feeding heavy.
Dean,
I just took these photos of my skimmer using a Mag9 pump. As you can see there is considerable amount of a foam column inside the neck.
I don't get too many skimmers that don't work so I can only assume that there is something being used in the water or food that is causing a change in surface tension of the water that keeps the bubbles from sticking together.
I notice with yours that the water level is up inside the neck. Lower the levle so no water is in the neck.
I also notice that the foam layer on top of the water is very thin, looks like about 1". The only time I have seen this condition is whenever an aquarium additive has been added to change the surface tension of the water, frozen brine will do this as will Ocean Nutrition frozen food cubes, and I am sure some other foods. I don't know all the things that can cause this but there is certainly something that is being added that causes foaming to cease.
Try not feeding for several days and see what happens. I used to only feed my aquarium once a week, not because of skimmer problems, but because I was trying to eliminate some algae problems and fed very sparingly. Now I feed daily and use flake food and the skimmer runs consistent. In fact I emptied the cup for these photos and the skimmate was dark and smelly.
It is definitely not a skimmer design flaw or anything to do with the skimmer, but something that is being used that is changing the surface tension of the water, thus break down the foaming so that bubbles will not "stick" together and foam. There are plenty of bubbles being produced as evidence of the white color of the skimmer column.
The skimmers operation is so simple: pump/venturi/bubbles, that if there is no foaming there is something else that needs to be investigated.
I will list some items that may cause this condition though I have not received enough feedback on this to know all causes, it does not happen often that these skimmers don't work:
incorrect salinity
frozen brine
carbon, especially new and not rinsed thoroughly
Poly Bio Discs and pads (though I cannot remember if it causes excessive foaming or decreases foaming)
resins such as Chemipure
some foods, depending on what is used for a binder
lotion on hand inserted into water
natural hand oils
some foams or filter pads (no one has experienced this using the foam or pads I use)
I wish I could help more but as I said this does not happen enough to have a good database to work from and I have to pass on what has usually been the case in the few past instances.
Just last week I had a new "problem" come up where the customers protein skimmer was foaming too much to the point it could not be used because the cup would fill up in about 4 minutes. The gate valve was wide open, using a Mag9 pump, and still the skimmer overfoamed. Scratched my head for days on this and I could not come up with a solution except to install a ball valve on the pump to cut it back. The customer called me back to say that he had found the "problem". The pump suction was pointed towards the input to the sump (in-sump skimmer) and sucking in air that was coming into the sump from the overflow giving the skimmer more air than it could handle. Turning the pump away from the sump input cured it.
Jeff
Dean,
I just added these items to my aquarium:
Frozen Mysis Shrimp, one cube
Ocean Nutrition Blood Worms, one cube
Coralife Frozen Coral Cuisine, small 1/2" long x 3/4" long piece
Ocean Nutrition Special Edition VHP, small piece
Notice that my skimmer foam level has completely dropped out of the column.
I highly suspect that this is the cause of your skimmers lack of performance. Try cutting back on food, perhaps feeding every two or three days, or very sparingly.
Jeff
