Expensive Skimmer + Dirty Water = No Skimmate?

[StevesLEDs]

I have a Trigger systems TS-500 which cost me around $400. It worked great for about 6 months. Now, my nitrates are over 100, phosphates are also high, and I get about an ounce of sad watery clear skimmate per week.

I thought I would have gotten what I paid for so I figure I'm doing something wrong. When it was working properly, the water level was about 8 inches below the rim, I've sinced had to raise it to about 3 inches below the rim, just to get some poor quality watery clear not so bad smelling skimmate. I'm losing fish and inverts left and right and even the water smells bad. I'm on emergency mode doing water changes every three days, but seriously, this skimmer should be producing and it's not! Water level is consistent because the sump is on automatic top off. I don't regularly add chemicals other than trace, iodine and Kalkawasser for top off.

Any ideas at all?

Here's some specs:
210 gallon tank that's been established for well over a year
Sequence Snapper for the pump (2400 gal/hr) with TERRIFIC waterflow in the skimmer (almost seems like too much compared to the other skimmers on the other tank)
Sal: 1.025
Nitrates : +100 (as high as my test kit will go)
Phosphates: can't recall numbers but about half the test kit's maximum value (medium purple)
Calcium: 450
Ammonia: barely any
4 inch sandbed
refugium with mud and caulepra and sump with live rubble
Natureef Cyclical Denitrifier (non-sulfer) that's being established and now cycles once per day.
Bioload includes about 15 fish all under 3 inches
about 100 lbs live rock.

Most snails and hermits died off. Coralline algae is dying off. The only bad algae in the tank is a short but thick purple carpet-like algae.

 

[fejus]

??

Zero or is there readable amounts of Ammonia?

 

[ss95003]

@Matt wrote:

I agree probably a small snail or something sounds like it is blocking the injector. I use to have a TS skimmer as well and they do work well, something is not right. Either pump is not working right or injector blocked.

 

[albert7753]

On my TS300 skimmer I know I have had small hermits get clogged in the air injection and stop it from working like it should. I clean mine every 2 weeks and take that piece apart and find small shells of blue hermits.

 

[hegi]

You shouldn't have any ammonia in your system. You're getting that reading IMO because of the die-off. You only get ammonia if something has died or your system hasn't fully cycled, and if it's a year old it has to have been fully cycled.