Is skimmer in sump better?

[MacLeanD]

I currently have my skimmer mounted to the outside of my 55gal, and was wondering if it would be better overall for the system if it were placed inside the sump itself? What are the benefits to this? Sorry I have so many questions, I'm just so new to this and worried to death I'm going to destroy my tank. I'm sure I'm not the only one thats done this, but I think I went head-first into this new hobby without taking the time to research more about it.

Thanks in advance for advice and help, I need a lot of it.

 

[tkeracer619]

Don't worry about asking so many questions. We were all there at one point. Ask away and people will answer if they can. Remember the only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked.

Anyways the main benefit to having a skimmer in the sump is if it overflows, your carpet isn't soaked. The things skimmers skim form on the top of the water surface. If you remove that water via an overflow then churn it up in the piping and dump it into a sump your skimmer will have a better chance pulling the organics out of the sump water because it has a higher concentration of them.

 

[MacLeanD]

Ok, I see what you mean. It gets a little confusing see all the different designs, and it seemed like some of them were fed water from the bottom of the skimmer.

So would it be ok to place the skimmer in the refugium section of my sump?

 

[tkeracer619]

Sure as long as there is no sand or anything that would be close enough to clog the intake of the pump.

 

[MacLeanD]

So as long as the pump remains within a couple inches of the water surface inside the "refugium" area, there shouldn't be any problems? The pump feeds a U-tube that goes up and enters the top of the skimmers reaction area.

 

[MacLeanD]

Oh, and its a JEBO 180 protein skimmer. (yes, I know its cheap... but I figured getting this one was better than nothing at all, and it seems to be working just fine)

 

[tkeracer619]

sounds like you will be fine. keeping the water in that chamber as level as possible will increase the stability of the skimmer increasing its performance.

 

[MacLeanD]