Geo Skimmer size?
- Thread starter tye_c
- Start date
tye_c
Premium Member
For now I am cutting out the 150g sump that should put me at 350 at the most. The sump is only about 9" full so I am closer to 315.
180g
55g fuge
75g sump
40g frag tank
Anyone recommend a input pump for the skimmer. Sedar said a Sedra 5000 or 7000 would do. I have a mag 5 and 7 laying around that I could use. Any thoughts or suggestions?
180g
55g fuge
75g sump
40g frag tank
Anyone recommend a input pump for the skimmer. Sedar said a Sedra 5000 or 7000 would do. I have a mag 5 and 7 laying around that I could use. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Treg
Premium Member
I dissagree.
From the wye and then the 1.5" connect into the skimmer.
Make the sump Match the flow thru of the skimmer. You can add a bypass also but it needs to put pressure on the skimmer input.
You do want all of your tank water is going thru the skimmer.
You will get the most production from your skimmer plumbing it this way. Plus less heat in the system and less electric each month.
a pic:
From the wye and then the 1.5" connect into the skimmer.
Make the sump Match the flow thru of the skimmer. You can add a bypass also but it needs to put pressure on the skimmer input.
You do want all of your tank water is going thru the skimmer.
You will get the most production from your skimmer plumbing it this way. Plus less heat in the system and less electric each month.
a pic:
asnatlas
New member
Lets use my system for example... Say I am pushing 2800gph back to my display via my dart... If I am pushing 2800gph then my sump is receiving the same... If I have that much water flowing through my skimmer I am not going to get much dwell time and the skimmer is not going to work very "effectively"...
I guess in the log run it may come out about the same because your pushing your water through your setup ALOT faster then I am and your skimmer may be pulling out what it missed the first few times, as I am letting it dwell longer and pulling out more per pass...
Does this make since or am I totally mis-understanding/looking at this wrong??
I guess in the log run it may come out about the same because your pushing your water through your setup ALOT faster then I am and your skimmer may be pulling out what it missed the first few times, as I am letting it dwell longer and pulling out more per pass...
Does this make since or am I totally mis-understanding/looking at this wrong??
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Does everyone but me hit the skimmer before the sump? I drain all into the sump and then out of the sump into the skimmer and back into the sump.... I also feed directly to the display.
Why would you not just feed your skimmer directly off the sump and let it do it job at whatever rate you want it to?
I am by no means an expert on skimming so I am wondering... did I do it wrong? Am I missing something?
I would think you would drain into the sump go through a ton of live rock and suck out ... feed skimmer and display... let skimmer drain back into sump.
I definantly think all your drains into 1 pipe is a nightmare waiting to happen.
If you drain everything into the skimmer in 1 line what happens if that one line gets clogged? You will be pumping 2000+ GPH all over the level your diplay is on. If you already have 2 drains wouldn't you want to at least feed one into the sump just in case the other clogs?
Why would you not just feed your skimmer directly off the sump and let it do it job at whatever rate you want it to?
I am by no means an expert on skimming so I am wondering... did I do it wrong? Am I missing something?
I would think you would drain into the sump go through a ton of live rock and suck out ... feed skimmer and display... let skimmer drain back into sump.
I definantly think all your drains into 1 pipe is a nightmare waiting to happen.
If you drain everything into the skimmer in 1 line what happens if that one line gets clogged? You will be pumping 2000+ GPH all over the level your diplay is on. If you already have 2 drains wouldn't you want to at least feed one into the sump just in case the other clogs?
Treg
Premium Member
uztaryn
I think most people do it the way you are doing it.
If you look at my pic you can see the bypass line. The large 1.5" line coming out of the Tee and going up.
If the skimmer line was to get plugged there is still a way for the water to drain.
I like doing it this way. All of the raw floating protiens from the display enter the skimmer first, Otherwise the build up floating in the sump...
Plus like I said, less heat and electric.
I've done it both ways with more than just this skimmer. I noticed a really nice improvement in the skimmate when I got this skimmer plumbed in via gravity feed vs a mag 9 feed.
It Is. This skimmers GPH input is right at where it should be.
I think most people do it the way you are doing it.
If you look at my pic you can see the bypass line. The large 1.5" line coming out of the Tee and going up.
If the skimmer line was to get plugged there is still a way for the water to drain.
I like doing it this way. All of the raw floating protiens from the display enter the skimmer first, Otherwise the build up floating in the sump...
Plus like I said, less heat and electric.
I've done it both ways with more than just this skimmer. I noticed a really nice improvement in the skimmate when I got this skimmer plumbed in via gravity feed vs a mag 9 feed.
It Is. This skimmers GPH input is right at where it should be.
I like the idea of the raw protiens hitting the skimmer before hitting the sump (not sure how much difference it would make but it seems like it should improve the skim some)
As for electric consumption... it doens't really take any extra electric to run the skimmer off the sump... just T off your return pump into the skimmer and throttle back the feed to the desired amount.
If you have a good enough return you can power pretty much everything directly off it and have one pump run your all your feeds. I plan on adding this to my skimmers soon. I currently feed each with an independent pump, but since I run hammerhead returns on both systems I am going to just feed a T directly into the skimmer and eliminate 2 pumps.
I plan on doing the same thing to my Media reactor soon as well. Are you Gravity feeding your reactors? or pump feeding them? Seems like you could gravity feed the reactor as well.
As for electric consumption... it doens't really take any extra electric to run the skimmer off the sump... just T off your return pump into the skimmer and throttle back the feed to the desired amount.
If you have a good enough return you can power pretty much everything directly off it and have one pump run your all your feeds. I plan on adding this to my skimmers soon. I currently feed each with an independent pump, but since I run hammerhead returns on both systems I am going to just feed a T directly into the skimmer and eliminate 2 pumps.
I plan on doing the same thing to my Media reactor soon as well. Are you Gravity feeding your reactors? or pump feeding them? Seems like you could gravity feed the reactor as well.
szwab
Premium Member
iIMO if you have a basement sump it makes sense to go to your skimmer first more raw waste goes to the skimmer to be removed. My skimmer is fed from one of my 2 drain lines and I control the flow with a ball valve (the excess drains to the sump) it has worked well and no need for an addition pump to feed the skimmer.
I T off a drain into my fuge... I can't see why I couldnt T off to the skimmer as well. Is that better than T'ing off the return? I haven't started my move to that yet so I could easily switch to a T off the Drain. I can see how letting the stuff hit the skimmer directly off the drain could make a difference. I have learned a ton just from the work I have done... (I already want to redesign my fish room) I love seeing these other ways of doing it... too bad I didn't know about these options when I was designing my system the first time.
Treg
Premium Member
uztaryn
It does.
The way your doing it isnt wasting electric, except you could possibly use a smaller return pump... When Tye asked, he was talking about using a mag 7 for skimmer feed.
I feed my frag section, Calcium reactor and Media reactor (two soon) all from my return pump.
Other than Tunzes, everthing in my tank is feed from my return pump. No other pumps = No wasted electric. I figure I am saving around $150-$200 a year...
That is new to me. Whats the purpose?
A refugium should have low flow, Isn't your BK internal? So gravity feeding really wouldnt be a direct option for you anyway, correct?
So what is in your sump that needs 3-5x turnover?
It does.
The way your doing it isnt wasting electric, except you could possibly use a smaller return pump... When Tye asked, he was talking about using a mag 7 for skimmer feed.
I feed my frag section, Calcium reactor and Media reactor (two soon) all from my return pump.
Other than Tunzes, everthing in my tank is feed from my return pump. No other pumps = No wasted electric. I figure I am saving around $150-$200 a year...
That is new to me. Whats the purpose?
A refugium should have low flow, Isn't your BK internal? So gravity feeding really wouldnt be a direct option for you anyway, correct?
So what is in your sump that needs 3-5x turnover?
Treg
Premium Member
I agree.
Using your return pump to gain flow in the display is just a "Bad Habbit" from the past.
Shawn I guess I personally just do not understand a higher turnover rate than what is need to feed equipment and such. I mean I could understand if that 2,800 gph was feeding something... The BK isnt pumping that much, is it?
Especially with, what, 6 Tunzes? that extra 3-5x in the display isnt getting you anything. :lol:
Using your return pump to gain flow in the display is just a "Bad Habbit" from the past.
Shawn I guess I personally just do not understand a higher turnover rate than what is need to feed equipment and such. I mean I could understand if that 2,800 gph was feeding something... The BK isnt pumping that much, is it?
Especially with, what, 6 Tunzes? that extra 3-5x in the display isnt getting you anything. :lol:
tye_c
Premium Member
Lets throw another wrench in the mix. I could come off the 1.5" drain to a wye then down to a 1/2" input for the skimmer. The top of the wye would go into the sump. Basically anything the skimmer cant take in overflows into the sump. Here is the problem a Mag 5 should put 500ghp into the skimmer with the 1/2" input. I dont think you can gravity feed that much into the 1/2" input.
