I have a strange situation that I'm wondering if anyone has ever encountered.
I have a 125g reef tank that has been established and running for over 2 years. I'm running a Reefer RSK-600 skimmer, and it has worked well for me since I set up the tank. Normally, I have no problem collecting skimmate and it seems to do it's job well.
On Sunday, I installed a 36w Coralife Turbo Twist UV sterilizer with some black flexible PVC tubing, and it has been running with a small pump ever since. I don't know if it's directly related, but ever since I installed the sterilizer, the skimmer has started releasing micro bubbles into the tank, and it's not producing skimmate or large, "sticky" bubbles in the neck of the collection cup anymore. I haven't pulled skimmate for days. It almost looks like it's a new skimmer in its break-in period... it's pulling in plenty of air, and it's mixing with water in the chamber, but it's not bubbling up to the collection cup.
The first thing I tried was cleaning all skimmer parts, the pump, impeller, cone body, neck, etc. and the skimmer is cleaner than it's been in a long time. That didn't help. I also tried adjusting the big red knob to allow more water flow into the chamber. That raised the level of the fizz but it's still not producing large bubbles. I also made sure the air intake isn't blocked, and I cleaned the red piece that connects the air muffler to the pump. It's clean and clear of debris/salt buildup. The tank is definitely getting dirtier... my nitrates and phosphates are slowly increasing, but they normally stay pretty low.
The micro bubbles are getting slightly better every day, but they're still sticking to surfaces in my tank and making the water look kind of cloudy. It gets maybe 5% better every day, if I had to put a number on it.
I'm wondering if the sterilizer has something to do with it? Could the plastic from the sterilizer be leeching something into the water? Could the flexible PVC tubing be leeching something into the water? It's made for aquarium use... I think it's made by Lifeguard. I tried turning off the UV and it's pump, but that didn't seem to help. I'm running carbon in a reactor, and I changed that out to see if I could strip any potential contaminants from the water, but it doesn't seem to be helping much.
Any idea what could be causing the skimmer issues? Should I try something else? Big water change?
I have a 125g reef tank that has been established and running for over 2 years. I'm running a Reefer RSK-600 skimmer, and it has worked well for me since I set up the tank. Normally, I have no problem collecting skimmate and it seems to do it's job well.
On Sunday, I installed a 36w Coralife Turbo Twist UV sterilizer with some black flexible PVC tubing, and it has been running with a small pump ever since. I don't know if it's directly related, but ever since I installed the sterilizer, the skimmer has started releasing micro bubbles into the tank, and it's not producing skimmate or large, "sticky" bubbles in the neck of the collection cup anymore. I haven't pulled skimmate for days. It almost looks like it's a new skimmer in its break-in period... it's pulling in plenty of air, and it's mixing with water in the chamber, but it's not bubbling up to the collection cup.
The first thing I tried was cleaning all skimmer parts, the pump, impeller, cone body, neck, etc. and the skimmer is cleaner than it's been in a long time. That didn't help. I also tried adjusting the big red knob to allow more water flow into the chamber. That raised the level of the fizz but it's still not producing large bubbles. I also made sure the air intake isn't blocked, and I cleaned the red piece that connects the air muffler to the pump. It's clean and clear of debris/salt buildup. The tank is definitely getting dirtier... my nitrates and phosphates are slowly increasing, but they normally stay pretty low.
The micro bubbles are getting slightly better every day, but they're still sticking to surfaces in my tank and making the water look kind of cloudy. It gets maybe 5% better every day, if I had to put a number on it.
I'm wondering if the sterilizer has something to do with it? Could the plastic from the sterilizer be leeching something into the water? Could the flexible PVC tubing be leeching something into the water? It's made for aquarium use... I think it's made by Lifeguard. I tried turning off the UV and it's pump, but that didn't seem to help. I'm running carbon in a reactor, and I changed that out to see if I could strip any potential contaminants from the water, but it doesn't seem to be helping much.
Any idea what could be causing the skimmer issues? Should I try something else? Big water change?
