setting skimmer HELP

[malulu]

(1)
can you take a close up picture? the 1st picture, the frame is blocking the view and could not see it clear .... it looks like you don't have enough air going inside the skimmer? you could increase the air valve, also make the water level higher inside the skimmer, probably 8+ inches? (my thinking is, the debits will build up where the top of the bubble area, if they are too low, it will have hard time trying to clean them later, so i always make the bubble's top push to inside the cone area which i can take off the top part and easily rinse/clean.)

(2)
when you later on get a long tube to drain it directly, BE-WARN that some time when your skimmer is wet-skimming (meaning pulling out a lots of water) without your knowledge, you auto-top-off may keep filling with fresh RO water... which would causing your salinity drop pretty fast...

(3)
i did once to just use that same drain tube, and have the end tied higher up ( more than the skimmer's top ), that way the waste is stayed inside the skimmer's collection cup, and i empty it when full. it is not perfect, but it works.

 

[TanksNStuff]

OK, now that I see what you have, I can get a better idea of the issues.

First off, yes, get the drain tube out of the sump. As others have said, either plug it or let it drain into another container. Otherwise, whatever you skim will just run back into the sump thru the drain tube. The object is to get the junk out, not just recycle it back in.

Secondly, it does look like the water level is only a few inches above the pumps intake. I think you need to do one of 3 things to fix it from sucking air (in order of preference):
1. Try to lay the pump flatter so that the suction intake is horizontal (or as low as you can get it).
2. If you can't lay the pump flat, add a 90 elbow to the suction pipe so that it points down, sucking from the bottom of the sump.
3. If you're still sucking air, you need to raise the water level in this section. Only way you can do that is by replacing the baffle on the right side of your middle section (the one to the left of the slanted one) as this is what determines the drop off point for your skimmer section. It won't affect the level of your middle section since that is controlled by the baffle next to your return section. It could affect your "off-line" water level though since you would be adding another inch or so of volume to the skimmer section. If you need to resort to #3, you might just be better off getting a taller sump instead.

Even if one of those helps stop you from sucking air... I still think the water level you have is too low for the skimmer to work optimally. If your sump is 12" high, and it looks like you're water level is around 3" from the top... that gives you 9" depth. That's 1/2" below the minimum requirement for your skimmer. It may still "work" but you won't see it working as well as it could. You undoubtedly will be constantly adjusting the air intake to get it to perform well.

Another issue I see is that you have lots of bubbles on the surface in the skimmer section. I'm guessing this is coming from the drain from your display tank into the sump. A filter sock on the end of this tube can help reduce the amount of bubbles you get. Depending on how deep this tube is in the skimmer section (can't see where it ends from the pics) it could also be discharging the bubbles near the bottom, which your skimmer pump can be picking up. If this is happening, definitely try to keep the skimmer pump suction end away from those bubbles.

One final note - If you extend the skimmer cup drain tube into an external container it does have one disadvantage... If the skimmer goes crazy and starts pumping wet... you could easily overflow your external container. That means your floor will get wet. Also, if you end up pumping the skimmer section of your sump dry... you could burn out your skimmer pump too. *EDIT* David also makes a good point about the ATO adding extra RO water, which lowers your tanks salinity. Plus, if your ATO feeds into the sump, it will add that much more volume to the spillage at the external container. *EDIT

An easy solution is to have a float switch in your external container that shuts off your skimmer pump when it reaches a certain level. I use This one and I highly recommend it. It has worked several times for me and I've never had a flood SINCE I bought it. (I had a couple BEFORE, which is why I'm mentioning this.)

Hope that helps. Good luck with it.

 

[NewJerseyReefer]

Good news I have the skimmer skiming now I also made 5G contianer for the waste I might remove it till the skimmer breaks in. In the skimmer I left in between 4 and 5 is that good?

 

[malulu]

.... left in between 4 and 5 is that good...

huh?

 

[NewJerseyReefer]

huh?

If you go back and see the skimmer pictures I posted up up. I'm reffering to that white long pvc pipe that's on the right side of the skimmer. There are numbers from 1 to 5. That's whatt I mean by me leaving it between 4 and 5.

 

[Fish Brain]

Use that tube to adjust the water level inside the skimmer. Don't just pick a random number, adjust it so that the water level inside the skimmer is up in the neck area of the skimmer. I would keep the water just above the point where it narrows from the body into the neck until the skimmer breaks in. Then you will fine tune it to get the skimmate you want, and then use those numbers as a reference if you take the skimmer apart for cleaning.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yep, what Brian said. The setting numbers are more of a reference mark for you. Everyone will need to set it differently depending on their installation setup (ie sump size, water depth, amount of nutrients that need to be skimmed, etc.). There is no "perfect" setting that works for everyone, or else there would only be one mark on there to set it at.

Set it as Brian described and then adjust it after breakin as needed to get a dryer or wetter skimmate production.

 

[NewJerseyReefer]

OK so i should let the bubbles from the skimmer top the collection before or after? i post a picture of what im trying to explain. it would be also better if anyone can show me it in a picture with skimmer too

 

[TanksNStuff]

Sorry I didn't see this post all week. Yes, you want your water level inside the skimmer body to be right around where your arrow is. From there up should be all bubbles.