How important is Protein Skimmer placement?

[chaoscat]

I am going to be using an old wet/dry unit as my sump/fuge. I was planning to use the same pump as both my return and to power the skimmer, as it has a lot of excess capacity.(my skimmer came without a pump)
But, this places my skimmer AFTER the refugium. Everything I've read says flow should go: Skimmer to Fuge to Return. To achieve that, I'd have to fabricate a separate box for the skimmer to sit in, have my overflow drain to that and then direct the skimmer effluent and any extra drain flow into the fuge. I'd have to buy a pump for the skimmer, as I just don't believe gravity drain into a skimmer is gonna work. I'd also probably have to buy another return pump, since it doesn't make sense to run one with twice the capacity I need.

So, it really comes down to, Is having that "correct" sequence of flow important enough to justify the extra expense and effort?

 

[Patriot76]

no i dont think it is, but i am far from an expert

 

[DaveK]

Yes, the correct sequence is very important.

If you supply water to a skimmer via the main return pump, you are letting the refugiun act as a mechanical filter, and it will tend to become a dirt trap. Yes, you are correct, it's amost impossible to gravity feed a skimmer.

The whole idea behing all this is to place the skimmer first, so that it removes as much waste as possible before the rest of the filtration needs to deal it.

 

[PMolan]

I agree with the above. Also you would be skimming out half of your pods.

 

[Hawkeye]

Do you have a pic of this sump/fuge conversion? Might be an alternative solution to what you are thinking of - but it'd be easier to come up with if we could see it.

Also- instead of getting a new return pump - you could set it up so that the return "T"s and one part goes up to the display and the other back into your sump for another trip thru.

Finally - that setup may work if you slip on one of those nylon socks to help capture the larger particles before it reaches your fug.

Overall in an ideal situation - it would be skimmer, fuge, then return.

But in this hobby - just about any which way works as long as you have the patience and willingness!

Good luck!