troubleshooting skimmer pump

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dalbright82

New member
As a precaution i shut off my protein skimmer since a newly acquired anemone decided his first adventure was to squeeze through the grates of the overflow to the back part of my cube. He was halfway through when i woke up 2 days ago, so i turned off the skimmer. The nem has now been rescued and has found a new home other than my filter (i'll join the club of having no clue how it managed to get where it it ultimately ended up since it had to travel out of the water pretty far to get there.)

Now i'm left with a skimmer pump that isn't functioning. I cleaned out the hose from the airline tubing, but not really sure where to go from there. I can grab model info etc of it when i get home, but wondering if i'm missing any tricks on fixing it. Small model that fits in the back of a 14g cube if that matters. Otherwise what should i look for in a new/used pump?
 
The first thing to try is physically blowing in their airline tube with the skimmer plugged in. If that doesn't work pull it out and soak the pump in vinegar for a couple hours. Then clean off the impeller and pump housing really well and try again. If that doesn't work, buy a new pump.
 
or your impeller (especially if it's a mesh wheel) is stuck on the inside body of the pumb. A good tap or a resetting the impeller can fix it (basically the pump is running the the impeller is not spinner cause it's stuck).
 
i sometimes get lil snails that get wedged in the impeller that will lock it up when turned back on do u feel the pumps vibration
 
Finally took out the pump and messed around with it. After blowing through the line and trying to clean it out with a qtip it would sometimes vibrate like the impeller was trying to get going again and then stop. the unit itself turns on. its a minijet 404 if that matters. I guess i'll get some vinegar and try that next.
 
minijet 404? must be a small skimmer and small tank. just buy a new pump and swap the skimmer impeller. those pumps are like $10
 
Ended up just buying a new pump (along with a lot of other stuff). Cleaned house at aquapros today. I figured it was cheap enough to just go new and not have to worry about it for a while. Got a rio 600 mini. Thanks for all the tips on cleaning, i'll use them in the future (hopefully not too soon)
 
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