Skimmer problem

[finaddict]

I have an Eshoppes PSK-75H HOB skimmer on my 36 Gallon bowfront tank. I only have four small fish and about 30 pounds of live rock and bunch of coral. I also run a small bag of GFO in a HOB Aquaclear 50 filter but no sponge or carbon just a bag of GFO,

 

Twice in the last 3 weeks my skimmer has gone haywire for no reason.  I usually get a pretty dry skimate and have to clean the cup about once every 5-6 days and not because it is full but the inside tube gets caked and I clean it.  I know yesterday evening when I went to bed the cup had about 1/4 of an inch of dark water in the bottom of the collection cup. I did not feed or touch my tank yesterday and this morning I wake up and it is overflowing back into my tank.  It hacked me off because I have been fighting hair algae and I just put all that skimate that was concentrated nutrient and waste back into my tank!  Second identical failure in the last 3 weeks.  Anybody know whats up?

 

I am really starting to get bummed about this hobby.

 

Dave

[Origami]

Dave, I don't know much about the PSK-75H but looked at a few pictures of it online. There are a lot of things that can make a skimmer start to skim really wet, eventually overflowing. One in particular is the water level inside the skimmer. If the water level in the skimmer gets too high, skimmate will be more wet. This can happen in a venturi-type skimmer (like this one) if air intake is reduced or if the water outlet is blocked or obstructed (even by a large air pocket in the outlet that won't dislodge), for example. It can also happen when a skimmer is new or something has been added to the water or even if you adjust the skimmer soon after feeding (when bubble formation would normally be low). There are lots of reasons and sometimes it's just a mystery with non-recirculating skimmers like this one.  

[finaddict]

Thanks Tom, I just left the LFS with some hermits and turbos to try and get my hair algae problem under control.   I have tested very low for phosphates and nitrates so I am hoping a bigger CUC will get it done.

 

Dave