Setup Question (return / skimmer)

[Ross110]

Can you plumb your return from DT directly into your skimmer?
I wasn't sure if this was advisable to do, but it would allow your skimmer to process 100% of the water from the DT and i was going to use the pump that came on the skimmer to do a recirculating mod. Its a ASM of some sort, not sure on exact size. I would set it up that if the skimmer had to be taken out or replaced we could easily disconnect it and have DT drain into sump.

 

[bimmerzs]

Hi,

Pretty sure thats a bad idea to plumb 100% of your drain directly to the skimmer. With a recirc skimmer you can tee off the return and have a portion feeding the skimmer but you will still need a valve on that line to help fine tune if necessary. If you drain 100% into the skimmer if will probably overflow the cup, if it doesn't constantly overflow the cup then you will need to close the standpipe to adjust the water level inside the skimmer, this will reduce the amount of water draining back into the sump, your return pump will continue pushing water up to the display but it now can't drain properly..... leading to a big mess. Of course you could spend a lot of time trying to balance it all out and it may work, until you need to make a skimmer adjustment. I would just tee off the drain line and have a valve on the input line, recirc it with a valve on the air line to the recirc pumps venturi.....much easier way to do it imo.

Cheers,

 

[Ross110]

if the head pressure coming out of the return at the top of the display tank was 500gph (for example) the over flow would be at 500gph going down into the skimmer.
as long as i had a skimmer that under normal operation was taking in 500gph or more, it should be reasonably well balanced and not cause any overflow issues i would think.
setting the skimmer is going to have to happen on any new tank that you setup according to how you setup the sump and water depth...

 

[bimmerzs]

@PFS_faceless wrote:

Skimmers are all rated differently, and work differently but the one constant is contact time...You will not get 500gph out of the skimmer just because 500gph goes in. You have to provide a skimmer with a specific amount of water and air for a specific body and neck size. You will not be able to skim 100% of the water draining out of your tank. Having a seperate pump providing 500gph into a skimmer is different that draining your entire return into a skimmer at a 500GPH rate...you have to remember that you will need to adjust the water level inside the skimmer body which is usually done by either using a valve on the input or closing off the output of the skimmer. Either method will be a major restriction to the amount of water draining from the tank down to the skimmer. Either method will impact not only the size of the return pump you have to use but will also impact the turnover rate(not flow) of the tank as well as the sump/fuge turnover rate. If you think it will work, go for it and don't forget to take pic's. [smilie=smile.gif]

Cheers,

 

[Ross110]

I guess that's why you don't see anyone with it connected directly to their drain...
I was trying to think of a way to make skimming more effective.
thanks for challenging my thought process bimmerz

 

[bimmerzs]

@PFS_faceless wrote:

It's always good to always think about stuff like this as we all try to improve our tanks. It really comes down to getting a quality (not necessarily expensive) skimmer thats sized correctly for the bio-load in your tank, in the end all the bad stuff will eventually get skimmed out anyway. If it isn't, then it's time for a bigger skimmer.[insert Toolman Tim grunt here] [smilie=rofl.gif]

Cheers,