Reef octopus hob question

I have a newish reef octopus hob skimmer. Its probably been up and running for two weeks now. Initially i wasnt having any problems but now its been acting weird but it may be a good thing so thats why I'm asking. For somereason now, the water level in my skimmer is really high, which makes the foam that much higher and my collection cup to fill really fast... Like a couple hiurs fast. At first i thought it may be from my tank water level being high aftwer a water change but that doesnt seem to be it. The water in he tank is much lower now but the skimmer is still over full. The water lvl in the skimmer is a good inch above the baffle that divides the filtering area to the return area. When i first got he skimmer, the water level was so it made a little waterfall over that baffle.

What are your thoughts? When I get home in an hour or so I think I'm going to try to drain the skimmer a little to try and get it back to hat normal lvl. Any thoughts??

Thanks,
Kylie

P.S. If there are any major typo's in this post, i apologize. Im typing on my iphone quick before spanish class. Thanks!! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/smile.gif

 

I don't have a sump or ATO yet. Its a 20g long and yes, the water lvl changes quite a bit. I top off by hand probably a good half gallon each night.

 

Ok. I'll want an ATO for my 40g down the road anyway. I'll check them out. Another thing I noticed is the sponge on the tip of the return pipe. Its all covered in gunk.. but its the same gunk that is all over in my tank. Could that be stopping the flow somehow? I tried turning off the skimmer and it drained properly but as soon as I turned it back on it went to the same extra high level.. that leads me to believe that the sponge is just clogged but I'm not sure how to get it out as its on the bottom of the skimmer inside... any tips/ideas??

 

Ok, I'll take some as soon at I get back home from my late class. Probably won't be until 7 that I'll get them posted. Here's a link to a good pic of the skimmer I have...

http://coralvue.com/pdfs/hob-diagram.jpg

The sponge furthest to the left in this diagram is on the bottom of the return compartment... thats the one I'm curious about.

 

So this ATO thing... what all do I need for that? I'm looking at the ATO.com website you directed me too and am currently looking at the tank mounted controllers.. do I need a pump and tubing of some sort going into my tank as well? From what I've gathered (and correct me if this is wrong please) I get the idea that the ATO somehow turns on and off a return pump of some sort.. Is this right?? Thanks!

 

I just finished a WC and rinsed out the sponge in question. So far so good, the water level is back down to normal even after I changed the water level from the water change. Hopefully it stays good. I'll keep you posted.

 

Ok. That makes sense. You say minimum as if there's more. What other things can go along with this?

 

That's an interesting idea. Too bad that won't work for me. I don't have my tank anywhere near my RO and I can't have tubes running through the apartment with three crazy kitties running around and chewing on fun wiggly things /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/smile.gif Thanks for the quick answer though.