Protein Skimmer is going Ape Sh@#

Did a 100% cleaning of my tank today, replaced the filters, cleaned the live sand (first time). After approximately 3 hours I go out and check the system and there is about 1" in the Protein Skimmer... this level usually takes 2 days. The liquid is not the normal dark green "mega-stinky" protein media but is light green in color.

Any thoughts? Have you seen this after a heavey clean? I do have (and continue to fight) the Red Slime Algae problem in the tank... maybe stirred up a bunch?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Sincerely,
Grumpy

did you clean the skimmer too?

Our skimmer does some crazy stuff after a major cleaning so i dont know if i would worry too much

Whenever I do something major in the tank, the skimmer goes into overload, so I have to adjust it down so it doesn't overflow.

Well considering you're cleaning the tank - you're taking all the crap and gunk off the surfaces and out of the sand and putting it in to the water column where the skimmer can pull it out.


Sounds like it's working to plan to me.

did the skimmer calm down yet grumpy?

Thanks guys... sounds like its typical behavior so I won't worry. It is the first time I stirred up the live sand, you think you suck out most of the bad stuff but cdangel0 is probably right just put a bunch of crap into the water and the skimmer is working correctly. As I have cleaned before and didn't see it just thought I'd validate it was OK.

Chris... yes, the skimmer is back to normal.

Thanks again!

Grumpy

what do you mean by you cleaned your live sand? if it has been in there for a while you could stir up more bad then good. the sand makes toxins in the bottom of it. I have stirred up old sandbeds and anything that was still in the sand dies from poisoning so be careful not something you want to do with a older sandbed.

Originally Posted by Grumpy Bass

Did a 100% cleaning of my tank today, replaced the filters, cleaned the live sand (first time). After approximately 3 hours I go out and check the system and there is about 1" in the Protein Skimmer... this level usually takes 2 days. The liquid is not the normal dark green "mega-stinky" protein media but is light green in color.

Any thoughts? Have you seen this after a heavey clean? I do have (and continue to fight) the Red Slime Algae problem in the tank... maybe stirred up a bunch?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Sincerely,
Grumpy

Grumpy, if your regular skimmate is that bad you need to skim wetter, when its thick and nasty you are literally collecting and returning nasties to the tank via the neck, its collecting and washing back down the body, this could be a part of the cyano problem, a nice dark tea color is good, even lighter if theres a problem. Having flooded many a floor the best thing known to reefers is the skimate cutoff devise.