Stupid skimmer... overflow but for no reason? Help

[glarior]

I have a diablo 300ext and this morning it overflowed the collection cup, external waste collector and 5g bucket. Why would it randomly overflow? Nothing has changed in the tank for months.

I just ordered the waste collector with auto shut off. I was leaving to the coast yesterday but changed my mind.... what luck that I was home when it overflowed! I lost least 30g of water and started to make my pumps suck air especially the reeflo barracuda gold pump.

Okay, let me know your thoughts to why it happened. Im going back to sleep for a little while lol.

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[FireWater]

All kinds of ideas.

[FireWater]

I've had skimmers go nuts after cleaning or bumping them while messing in the sump. I've had water quality issues cause it. I had one that clogged up from gunk and went nuts.

[350gt]

Thats one reason i dumped my external collection cup with my old RO skimmer.... It did it twice on me and water ended up on the floor..

[glarior]

Lol lets hear all those ideas firewater.

I cleaned the collection cup/neck of the skimmer two days ago. Maybe that was it.

350gt... what do you use now?

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[350gt]

I went to a cs1 skimmer....

It still overflowed on me, either when i changed filter socks or filter pads. But hasnt since i cleaned my sump...

If it does over flow the cup, id rather it go back into the sump.... Not ideal but either is coming home to water on the floor and other issues....

[glarior]

Yea i agree. I couldnt fit a large skimmer in my sumper with the current design. Im not contemplating re-design the room layout and sump. This time the water started going into a power strip... just now smelt something plastic. I have a lot of work ahead of me

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[Zen Reef]

There's so many things that can cause the skimmer to do that and to me it would impossible to truly eliminate all the causes and potential causes. You could install a float switch into the collection cup. Then if it gets too full, at least it would just turn off the skimmer. Do you use a controller?

[glarior]

The skimmer has the dc controller. I ordered a 6" reef octopus auto shut off waste collector.

Just so bizarre for it to randomly go crazy...

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[Zen Reef]

I use the diablo 300 in sump. All my skimmers have overflowed at some point. Meant if you use an aquarium controller like a reefkeeper. If so, it would be very easy to install a float switch in the collection cup to turn off the skimmer before it overflows.

[glarior]

Oh.. yea no reef controller. Looked inyo them but never felt it was worth the money at the time. Ive built a ardunio setup which worked great but not used it for least 6 months lol.

Im hoping the new auto shut off waste collector and collection cup cleaner will fix this problem. Next it will be something else. Maybe one day ill fix all the weak links... haha maybe. We all know how much the true cost od aquariums are

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[glarior]

Plus living in the boondocks with no high speed Internet I couldnt link up the controller.

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