Downdraft skimmer update.

[glenns]

Still not producing skimmate Dugg. The air stone causes foam to rise a little above the coupler, but it does not rise up the tube. I've recorded a video, but cannot attatch it. I'll see if I can PM it to you.

 

[glenns]

I've copied frames from the video. Hopefully it shows you what you need. They are on zipped up in the attached file.

 

[glenns]

It's skimming now. I woke up this morning to find Waynes skimmer is skimming. It is very wet, and the hose is 2" from the top of the tube. So, I moved the air stone to the bottom of the skimmer. Hopefully that will help it produce dryer skimmate.

 

[dugg]

Glad to see that you are getting it adjusted out. I have been extremely busy this last week, and haven't been online much. I talked to Wayne today, and told him you were having trouble getting it to start skimming. He said you can call or email him any time if you need some advise on getting it adjusted out properly. I am not going to be online much over the next few weeks or possibly months. It seems my youngest son has gotten himself in some trouble, and the state of Florida has taken me out of retirement as a parent. I have gone from enjoying my new freedom to whiping butts, and it is looking as if i may be doing it for a looooooong time to come.

 

[glenns]

Sorry to here that. My mom has had to "parent" my 33yo brother twice in the last two years.

I'll contact Wayne if I need to. I think it may have been going through new skimmer break in period. I thought I rinsed it well enough to get all the mfg oils off. Guess I did nto do enough. I hope to find dark, dry and smelly skimmate tonight.

 

[dez_2121]

i know this is kinda reopening a old thread but can i get a drawing or something so i can build this for my 55gl and my 30gl no skimmer on my 30 yet cause of cost

 

[dugg]

if you look in my gallery, there are lots of pictures of the skimmer.

 

[Bill FitzRandolph]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread yet again, but I have a question. I have a question about the intake. I have a 150 gallon tank, and will probably be running about 1000 gph or mabye a bit more through the skimmer. I'm doing dual 1 1/2" drain lines from my tank for redundancy/safety, so in case one gets blocked somehow, the other will still drain. Would you think there'd be a problem or a performance decrease if I ran the two 1 1/2" drains directly to the skimmer instead of the single 2" intake, or should I really combine them into a single 2" line as far up from the skimmer as I can? Thanks!!

 

[dugg]

Two 1 1/2" drains should work just fine.

 

[grumpygils]

Dugg,

I am new to rc and stumbled on this thread. Maybe I need to read more, but how does the water (non skimmate) get out of the box and back in the sump? I see the return water from the dt goes into the box, creates bubbles and skimmate that flows up the skimmate tube, but is there another hole in the box for the water to return to the sump?

Thxs,

Mc

 

[OkR33Fer]

That's what the opening(or gap at the bottom described by some of the diy-ers) in the corner of the box is for.

 

[grumpygils]

Thanks,

Basically just a 1.5 inch square hole at the bottom side will do it then?

Mc