[jkh62]

Greetings all,

I need to know if anyone knows the relationship between the skimmer box and water depth. If the skimmer is sitting on bottom, how deep should the water around it be to work properly?

No Instructions, and I've seen many configurations but I am looking for a starting point.

 

[Hop]

7-10" is probably a good place to start..

 

[Hop]

Oh and Welcome to TRT!!!:a18:

 

[OneDummHikk]

Welcome to TRT. On a downdraft skimmer, the water depth that it sits in is pretty much irrelevant as long as its not above the drain outlet. Other than the drain outlet, the sump water level doesn't affect anything else in the skimmer's functioning.

 

[jkh62]

If it works regardless of depth then it is running ok now. I don't have a reference aws to how much junk it should be pulling from the tank. I feed every 2 days besides seaweed. The fish load is very light (about 10" of fish for a 120 gal tank. They are all about 1 inch long. I don' think there is a lot to skim but I've never seen anyone elses tank work.

Thanks for the inputs.


Kevin

 

[Hop]

Welcome to TRT. On a downdraft skimmer, the water depth that it sits in is pretty much irrelevant as long as its not above the drain outlet. Other than the drain outlet, the sump water level doesn't affect anything else in the skimmer's functioning.

Wouldn't the head pressure of a non-pressure related pump affect both air intake and water throughput? By alot?

 

[OneDummHikk]

Wouldn't the head pressure of a non-pressure related pump affect both air intake and water throughput? By alot?

In any other type of skimmer, yes. But on a downdraft skimmer the pump doesn't pull air in. It simply blows water all over the bioballs and that is how it produces the foam. The water goes into the downdraft tube, gets blasted all over the bioballs (some units use Live Rock or other similar media), then the foamy water hits the bottom where it runs into a baffle that directs the foam up into the riser tube. About the only way to change the head pressure the pump is facing is to move the pump up closer to the top and then have to have water up that high. Whether it pulls it up that high or is in that level of water. The water going out of the drain is gravity drained so it doesn't effect the pump with head pressure. Whether the skimmer itself sits in 6" or 12" of water would only have a potential difference of 6" of head pressure and that is very seldom noticeable on a pump.

 

[Hop]

Interesting... It would seem that by adding pressure, that could be reduced by the water height that the underpowered pump would suffer significantly.

 

[OneDummHikk]

Interesting... It would seem that by adding pressure, that could be reduced by the water height that the underpowered pump would suffer significantly.

I don't think I understand. Where is the pressure being added? If the skimmer pump sits in 8" of water and you raise the water level to 12", you do gain that 4" of pressure on the inlet that helps the pump but other than that, there isn't really any where else that there is a pressure buildup.

 

[Hop]

I was taking your original post to the extreme, not specifically this particular skimmer. I was thinking, what if it was a 42" skimmer with a weak pump in 6" of water as opposed to 14" of water. That's all... looking above and beyond on the highway of life:lol: