The Skimming Blues

[yousuredo]

well i have a seaquest skimmer (24"tall x 6"tube) with a venturi stem entering about half way up the tube and two retunes 3/4 thinwall pvc (hieght adjustable) and the darn thing will not keep the water level up for more than a day (at best) and then the water level drops just above the venturi injector..........the pump i am using is a mag1800 (1800gph) but i have it 'T' off to a scwd as well and a ball valve between pump and 'T' and between 'T' and SCWD and between 'T' and skimmer for total control..............hhhhhhhmmmmmmmm.........maybe not, anyway i don't know what to do, the skimmer aint doing squat and the scwd isn't eighther................my tank is still in the middle of cycling , does that matter (for the skimmer) probobly nothing to skim yet ......but what does that have to do with it keeping its water level high

[Geoff]

i have not had any luck running multiple items off of one pump. exspecially such different things. while the tank is cycling is the perfect time to be figuring this out. skimmers water levels change frequently. there are a lot of variables that lead to these fluctuations in water level. when you add back pressure from another item, then it just gets even more complicated. it would not surprise me if the SCWD and the venturi are fighting each other. the venturi creates a lot of back pressure, and the SCWD do not handle back pressure very well. i would say get rid of the SCWD or at least put it on a smaller pump. i think they do not like to have more than 700gph through them. run the 18 on the venturi alone, i hope that it is a 3/4" venturi. if not then you will be pulling some serious air through that thing! not a bad thing just some wasted energy.

try running the skimmer alone and see if the water level stays better. if you stir the SB, feed the tank, or glue some frags, these can all cause skimmers to do some crazy things. you just have to find the setting you like and keep it there. you may need to turn it off/down whenever the above occurances happen. i find skimmers with the water level adjusted by a slide are less prone to going crazy.

G~