skimmer stopped skimming

[peg]

i've been running a CPR Bakpak 2 with bubbletrap and surface skimmer on my 40 gallon seahorse tank for about a year. it's worked fairly well--my water is crystal clear, low/0 nitrates, corals and fish are thriving. about 2 months ago i noticed that i never had to empty the skimmer cup anymore. there is lots of bubble action in the first chamber, and foam in the neck, but the level of skimmate hasn't budged. skimmer was completely cleaned about the time it stopped skimming.

it was my first skimmer and i know they are not great, but it seems like it was working relatively well for me up to now. with 2 seahorses and 2 pipefish i have a fairly high bioload; i tend to overfeed the frozen mysis. i have a lot of scavengers/inverts to help with that. i have a lot of macros that recently experienced a boom in growth. ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates close to 0, salinity 1.023, temp 74.5.

i have my eye on a reef octopus BH1000, but won't be able to spend that kind of $$ until after the holidays. is there a way to get some skimmate out of this thing again? anyone experience this?

thanks!
peg

 

[peg]

no idea why that old photo of my candy cane posted; sorry!

 

[delta]

I would say either a good cleaning is due and during that you can inspect for any damages to the pump and skimmer. Soaking in vinegar will dissolve any calcium build up. just make sure you rinse it well before putting back in the tank.

What I like to do is just put the skimmer in a bucket and run vinegar only. But a 4-1 ratio will work to. just be fore warned once it starts producing foam from vinegar it will produce a ton so make sure it is away from sides of the bucket and just let it overflow.

 

[myram]

Have you checked to make sure the air line is clear and it's still pulling air in?

 

[jamesdong009]

I would definitely clean the pump and the air adjustment control first to see if that helps.

 

[cilyjr]

I don't know about this particular skimmer but often salt creep and or calcification can clog the Venturi air hole and as the diameter becomes smaller it will skim less effectively. One might think that you'd notice less bubbles in the body when it happens but it's not always the case.
But like delta said a good cleaning is a good way to look it over and maybe solve any number of small issues. Your tank will be fine for a day or so with no skimmer.
If this skimmer goes back to working order there is no reason to spend the money on a new one. Remember they are all basically plastic tubes that hold water. You can get it working!

 

[peg]

update: thanks for all your input! well the holidays hit and i didn't end up doing anything to the skimmer. i didn't have like half a day to take the thing apart and then back together, etc. however i did empty the cup, and when i replaced it, i lowered the position by an inch. suddenly it started skimming again and now it is WHISPER QUIET. besides not skimming, it had also gotten really loud and the racket was driving me nuts. now it's quieter than it has ever been!!! sometimes the best thing is to do nothing.

i read a lot of reviews that the reef octopus overflows onto the floor. no thanks! i'm keeping my skimmer for now.

 

[reefstarter]

CPR supposedly does make a better HOB skimmer than most anyway . I had a reef octo and it was fairly loud and yep it did tend to overflow if you didnt have adjusted just right . glad yours worked out