DIY Skimmer problems

[joshsmit56001]

I made a DIY skimmer and now I am having problems with it. Here is the link to my DIY Skimmer for reference.

http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80890

When I first tested the skimmer it was in only about 5 inches of water. Now that I have it in my sump, it is in 12" water. The problem is that as soon as the output of the skimmer goes underneath the surface of the water, the water level in the reaction chamber drops a ton! How can I make this work??

Thanks,
Josh

[Geoff]

could you post a pic of the skimmer in the 12" of water? sounds like there is a siphon being produced in the skimmer. not sure why a siphon would be created inside the skimmer though.

G~

[cdemeritt]

not exactly sure how or where, as I didn't see a photo of you completed unit, but a air hole at the greated hight of the outlet should break the siphon effect. had a similar problem when I hooked a splash guard to the outlet of mine.

[sasquatch]

Resistance(sp) try plumbing your out put above the water line

[RandyStacyE]

I checked out the skimmer build in that link. It would appear that you do not have a hole in the cap on your standpipe exiting your skimmer.

This hole is your siphon break like Geoff pointed out earlier. If you remove the cap you will find that the skimmer will work just fine. I would then dill a decent size hole and reinstall the cap.

I would then do a series of test to make sure that you so not have a partial siphon by closely watching the skimmer. Remove the cap quickly and see if you notice ANY DIFFERENCE. If you do see any difference then it would be a good idea to drill the hole out a little bigger.

I once saw a cool modification for a standpipe where a guy drilled a hole in the side of the cap while the cap is on the pipe. This was a big hole. In order to adjust the size of the hole you just twist the cap a little and the hole is smaller. This will do the same thing as drilling the appropriate size hole in the top of the cap, only it is adjustable.