Skimmer over load

[Frans]

Q: What happens when you go on vacation?

A: You end up getting slimed.

Ok, now for the real question. When we returned from our vacation both of our tanks had been slimed. 125g and 24g

We vacuumed out as much as possible, changed out 32g of water and treated both tanks with red slime remove. The slime is gone, however now our skimmer is working overtime. Foaming over load, and introducing a large amount of micro-bubbles into both tanks. Is this typical and how long will it last? Currently, we have unplugged the skimmer. Should we run it anyway and tough it out?

 

[Woodstock]

Red Slime remover will make the skimmer go nuts. As a matter of fact, most additives will; some more than others. I think the directions say to stop skimming during the first day or two?

Try to fix the root of the cyano problem (po4, nitrAtes, old PC bulbs, low oxygen)... If you didn't have the problem when you left, maybe it is just a case of the keeper overfeeding?

 

[Kensn]

You might want to run some carbon to remove the additive, might get skimmer back on track sooner.....

 

[Gina]

When you treat with Red Slime you need to have the skimmer off. The directions say that you need to change 20% of the tanks water after 48 hours. You skimmer will work overtime for a few days then should get back to normal.
Turn your skimmer back on if you've turned it off.

 

[lcstorc]

Within 5 minutes of turning on the skimmer it fills the tank with microbubbles. The stuff he put in actually doesn't say anything about the skimmer, but we turned it off anyway. It seemed logical. It also specifically said you did not need to do a water change, but we'll do one anyway. Rarely is that a bad idea. One thing I have managed to learn.
I hadn't thought about the lights, but actually we just replaced the bulbs, but something was wrong with the actinics while we were gone. They didn't come on at all for a week. I'm sure that contrubuted as well as overfeeding.
Phosphates are high so I'll get some phosban and put some carbon in as well. Everything else tests great except for calcium hopefully that and a water change will get it back on track.
We'll keep trying the skimmer and turn it back on as soon as it is tollerable.
Thanks

 

[Cartman89]

Be prepared to leave the skimmer off for a couple of weeks. WHen I added Chemi-Clean it took about 2 weeks until the skimmer started to go back to its normal self. I only added about 5 scoops (1 scoop for every 10gal), weird huh?