ETSS skimmer help....Please

[Brucewrs]

I have the etss devil skimmer with a mag 7 pump.I was planning to mount it out side of my sump.My question to all of you pro's is,does the return have to be higher than the water level in the sump.Could I make the return 2" deep in the sump or will the back pressure of the water screw up how the skimmer works?

I have a Berlin XL skimmer and I know that the return hoses cant be in the water because of the back pressure.It screws it up..

Thanks,Bruce

 

[mjg1961]

I made the mistake in my original install of my ETSS skimmer (alsi external) of cutting the hole too low in my sump for the discharge and the backflow was a problem. Once I moved it above the water line, performance was much better.

 

[jmait769]

mjg1961 - I have my discharge mounted about 7" from the bottom. The water level runs at 10" and I had to elevate the pump so the discharge line was level. Even with the return pump off and all water drained back into sump I have no problem with backflow. I like this as I never have to adjust the skimmer. Here is a picture:

HTH

Jay

 

[mjg1961]

Jmait769- i'm not sure why I was having the problem, but raising the discharge solved mine. Are you using the mag7? (I'm not). I was thinking of upgrading the pump. Is that a customized sump? It's a nice setup. What's the equipment in the back (second section from left) behind the pump feeding the skimmer?

 

[jmait769]

mjg1961 â€"œ Someone else suggested installing the gate valve and discharge on the inside of the sump and allowing the output to be raised vertically like you would with the skimmer in the sump. I decided I did not want any of the tubing inside the sump and I tried to copy this setup from Super Skimmer:

I’m using the Catalina CA 1800 that came with the sump. I’m thinking of upgrading to the Mag7 also. I have to wait for additional funding!

How do you like your skimmer? At first I had a hard time adjusting it but I was making too big of an adjustment. Here is about a day and a half skimming from mine:

The sump is custom from <a href=http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZacrylicmans-auctionsQQhtZ-1” target="_blank">ACRYLICMAN</a> off of ebay.

I had him extend the size to 36” long and add the baffles and refugium area. With shipping it was about $180. With the cost of materials it was easier to go this way!

The equipment in the back are two Two Little Fishies PhosBan Reactors. One is running PhosBan and the other carbon.

Jay

 

[Brucewrs]

Very nice pics..Thank you

 

[jdieck]

The issue of returning pipe below the water line in reality is not the back pressure itself but the change in the back pressure when the sump water level changes. These variation in back pressure makes the skimmer either overflow or drop the foam column.
It is always preferably to have the ouput line above the water or at the water level to prevent this variations but if you can't (say too low of a stand) then you need to try to control for a very constant level. If you will have a sump with a fairly constant water level you can adjust the skimmer to whatever pack pressure it is and most probably you will experience no problem.
An alternative will be to create an artificially constant water level by turning the output pipe up once it enters the sump. Something like this:

 

[Brucewrs]

I have a auto top off system so my sump stays the same level.Here are a few pics of what I have.How would you hook it up?The 10 gallon tank in front of the wet dry is my fresh water top off.I have 2 1550 gph pumps in the sump of the wet dry.So now I am thinking if I add the return from the skimmer to the sump it would likely add too many bubbles and the 2 pumps would pump it back into the tank. Now I can put the pump in the wetdry sump and maybe some how put the return in the fuge?The water is too deep in the fuge though..hmmmm
Any ideas?
I was planning on sliding the 10 gallon to the left some and put it where the jar off food is....

 

[Brucewrs]

Oh,here is the skimmer I have now.I might keep both running.

 

[jdieck]

Same as you do now but rised above the sump water level. Sit it on a box a small table or even an upside down salt bucket

 

[Brucewrs]

OK,I might have a plan.How does this sound?I will move the 10 gallon tank to the left and place the skimmer where the fish food container is.Then I will put the mag7 in the sump and drill a hole under the bioballs for the return.I will put a elbow with a union and connect it to a bulk head.This way the water has to go back into the sump but pass through the big blue sponge first to break up any micro bubbles before getting pumped back into the tank..

 

[Brucewrs]

 

[jdieck]

That might work if your water level is not too high.
By the way, Is yours a fish only tank? With the skimmer and live rock the bioballs will not be needed, removing them may help you reduce your nitrates.
If you remove them to 1/4 of the balls over a period of 4 weeks to give a chance to the bacteria to multiply in the rock.

 

[Brucewrs]

It's an over stock mostly fish tank.I have around 300lbs of live rock in the tank.I know the bio balls are a over kill but I feel that is the best way to break down the ammonia.I guess I am old school on this but I always had good luck with them.

 

[jdieck]

See how your skimmer performs, the idea is that the skimmer has a chance to remove the waste before it turns into Nitrates, some times the bioballs are faster. Just track your Nitrates after you install the skimmer, that will tell you I guess.

 

[mjg1961]

I have the CA 1800 pump on my ETSS but do not get near the results that you show in your picture but I may not have the bio load you have either. Thanks for the tip on the Sump/Refugium, I have been thinking about changing that portion of my setup for a while and some of those products look interesting. Good luck with your changes.

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8475787#post8475787 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mjg1961
I have the CA 1800 pump on my ETSS but do not get near the results that you show in your picture but I may not have the bio load you have either. Thanks for the tip on the Sump/Refugium, I have been thinking about changing that portion of my setup for a while and some of those products look interesting. Good luck with your changes.

You might get an improvement with a Mag 7 or even better these skimmers work a lot better with pressure rated pumps like an external Iwaki 20 RLT.

 

[sushiman]

I run mine with a Mag12 & see much better results than the Mag7.

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8477403#post8477403 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sushiman
I run mine with a Mag12 & see much better results than the Mag7.

Yes, the idea with this skimmer is really to increase the pressure at which the water enters the nozzle. This increases not only the flow but also the amount of air that is injected.

 

[jmait769]

jdieck - Thanks for the input.:thumbsup: I'm now re-thinking my pump selection. I had not thought about using an external pressure pump.

I know some think these skimmers as "old school" but I really like mine.

Also in original post I said:

The water level runs at 10" and I had to elevate the pump so the discharge line was level.

I should have said that I elevated the skimmer using a platform as you suggested.

Jay