DIY skimmer!

Say if I kept the main tube 30'' tall and had the valve half way closed, would the pump be able to pump up 30'' and then into the neck of the skimmer?
 
Ok, this is confusing as heck but one more questions. Would a 900 gph pump really be able to handle a 1.25'' pipe? As of now the plan is to cut off the bottom of the skimmer and drill new holes for the new pipe and pump. I'm also switching to black arcylic and using the green for the second skimmer. Getting parts isn't a problem since the plastic warehouse is right in town.
 
i misunderstood, i thought you were using the sedra as a recirc pump,
with you pumping 900 gph into the skimmer is just a bad idea, you'll never get any contact time,
i think you may be better off putting the venturi in with a maximum hole of 3/8 to cut down the flow and this may give you enough presure to suck in the air you want,
with your 75 gallon tank you shouldn't be pushing any more than 200 gph tops thru the skimmer.
 
I'm not making this a Rec. Skimmer. This skimmer will be used on my 75 so I just need a simple skimmer for it. How about this...

pump- sedra 5000
Main Body height: 18''?
Outlet from skimmer size: 1''
 
Thanks. I'll take some pictures once I'm done. Will a sedra 5000 be able to pump a 6'' pipe 24''s?
 
How tall should the next be? Should I try to stay under 6'' or does it not matter? I'm going to add a drain line to this cup anyways.
 
Keep the neck as short as you can, after all the neck will be 3/4 of the way up the collection cup anyway.
I never believed in long necks, i've seen better results with shorter necks.
 
i dont think i would go to chopping my expensive tube down to a shorter size , if you have the sedra 9000 it should be able to pump the height you have, at least min has no problem with a asm g6,which has an approx 40" high 8" body, it does use 3 of the sedras however and perhaps the 8" body makes a difference but i would at least try it before you give up , you can always cut it down later and adding it back isnt quite so easy.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7888278#post7888278 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by toddmcgill
i dont think i would go to chopping my expensive tube down to a shorter size , if you have the sedra 9000 it should be able to pump the height you have, at least min has no problem with a asm g6,which has an approx 40" high 8" body, it does use 3 of the sedras however and perhaps the 8" body makes a difference but i would at least try it before you give up , you can always cut it down later and adding it back isnt quite so easy.

I think you are also assuming he is doing recirc. I agree that a 9000 is too much flow for a non-recirc skimmer. You want more contact time than that
 
i personally would go with at least 1-1/4, it lets the outflow of water breath a bit more, you need to remember that even thou 1-1/4 is only 1/4" bigger than the 1" tube, it's volume is 1-1/2 times greater. in case in the future you ever go with a bigger pump then you would not have to change the tube.
 
Well my dad found some 1'' pipe out there that should work with the sedra 5000. I also picked up the the elbows, T, and a nice gate valve. If the 1'' is too small then I can go with a larger pipe.
 
Maybe I should make this a Rec skimmer? Use a sedra 5000 as the Rec skimmer. Use a 200-300 gph feed pump. Make the body 20-24'' tall. I may have to run this outside of the sump anyways since I want to put some LED lights on the base of the skimmer so the green lights shine up into the main chamber. I can always try a few types. Not much money going down the drain and I can always use the spare parts or sell them. With the 6'' pipe only $7.11 a foot it's worth it try a few ways.


Also, when I was getting the pipe parts and ball valve I was looking around they had a 3-4foot long piece of 8'' pipe. There wasn't a price but I'm going to ask next time. I'm not sure if it was PVC, acrylic, or plastic but it was pretty thick. If I end up spending over $500 on these skimmers, it will be worth it. I would like to get a new design made and sell some in the future. It was also clear cast.
 
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Here's my high tect drawing. The main body will remain 24''?

sumplanskim.jpg
 
Well the skimmer will now be fully submerged in the sump. There's pictures on my website to see what I have done so far.
 
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