Long skimmer drain line not draining cup

[amcvay1979]

Hi all, I currently have a Reef Octopus DC skimmer and I recently installed a drain tube to my basement drain from the collection cup. It's a 5/8 ID clear vinyl tube running from the cup drain, through a hole in the wall and about 15 to 18 feet to my basement floor drain.

What I'm finding is the drop from the collection cup to the drain isn't sufficient enough to drain the collection cup all the time and my collection cup will overflow into the sump periodically.

I'm looking for a way to get that line to clear completely and empty the cup completely. Do I need to install an air pump or something onto the line to push the skimmate down the line into the drain?

 

[amcvay1979]

or a vent in the drain line kind of like home plumbing uses?

 

[RockOn681]

I would be cautious running a skimmer to a drain like that in case of overflow issue, it has somewhere to keep draining and you might not notice. Just a thought. In terms of your issue, perhaps a small water pump that runs periodically to break up any thick liquid.

 

[amcvay1979]

My auto top off should compensate and currently it won't drain fast enough anyway, so it'll all just overflow back into my sump

It's not so much thick skimmate as it is air bubbles stopping the draining of the cup

 

[sleepydoc]

How much skimmate do you make per day? I just had a ball valve on mine and would empty it a couple times a week.

 

[snulma1]

Or is it that maybe the line is too small. What if you just upgraded to 3/4 vs the 5/8?

 

[robcampman]

My auto top off should compensate and currently it won't drain fast enough anyway, so it'll all just overflow back into my sump

It's not so much thick skimmate as it is air bubbles stopping the draining of the cup

Your auto top-off will then lower the salinity of your water to dangerously low levels. Several events in an aquarium can cause your skimmer to overflow (dying fish etc. ) . It is really good advice to build in a limit to what a skimmate drain can drain.

 

[CuzzA]

An open drain line from your skimmer is asking for trouble. As mentioned it could begin to overflow and drain both your sump and ATO. Put a ball valve on it. Fill the drain line with water and close the valve. When your cup is full, open the valve. The water you put in the line will create a vacuum and should suck the skimmer contents out. Close the valve before the line empties for next time.

Not sure why it's not draining though. My drain line is a 10 foot horizontal run to an adjacent bathroom and drains just fine.

 

[Shawn O]

Maybe you could go up a size on the pipe and put a solenoid valve inline on a timer to run for ten or fifteen minutes per day. This should allow daily draining, for a set period of time, and not let an event as mentioned above cause your ATO from lowering your salinity too low. An auto-rinse in the skimmer should remedy the problem of thick skimmate preventing draining the cup, maybe time them to run together.

 

[ca1ore]

I'd echo that running the skimmate to an 'open' drain is a bad idea. If the skimmer goes bonkers, and you don't notice, you'll run down your salinity levels (ATO adds fresh; skimmer removes salt water). 5/8" drain hose is more than big enough. My guess is that somewhere along the length of the hose it's air-locking. Make sure the entire length is sloped downwards and there are no upturns.

 

[elFloyd]

At the sump end of the drain line.... if it's below the waterline try raising it above the waterline to prevent back pressure.

 

[CuzzA]

The other problem with an open drain or even a solenoid on a timer is that you will have no visual of the skimmers performance. The cup provides you with need information to determine how effective the skimmer is working.

 

[amcvay1979]

I'm skimming pretty dry at the moment and currently if my skimmer goes nuts then my collect cup fills too fast for the drain to keep up, in fact I have to burp the drain line in order to drain the cup now, so I guess I'll just keep it as is.

The issue I had with the drain in the cup was I had it flowing into a 2 gallon container and my skimmer is pretty finicky so i'd watch it like a hawk before going to bed, and then wake up to an empty sump and 10 gallons of water on the carpet, so I'd have to fill the sump with fresh RO and it would constantly keep my salinity in flux. So now I have the ATO with a 30 gallon capacity, if I skim wet I mix in a little salt and I've been able to keep my salinity within 1 to 2 PPT this way. My only issue now is the drain line can't keep up with the skimmer output IF it goes nuts. If it's a steady output the line is fine, so a couple of times my collection cup has overflowed down into my sump because the line had air bubbles in it. That's what I was trying to solve. I don't know if my skimmer could drain 30 gallons before I'd realize it, unless I was gone or asleep, but it's a fair point, so I suppose I'll stay with my existing setup as a safety and just continue to burp the line and skim dry.

 

[amcvay1979]

or I could rig up a larger holding vessle with a float valve so if it ever did go nuts in theory it should only dump mostly clean saltwater back into the sump. I may toy with this idea more.

 

[Sk8r]

The best use of the drain line is when you have to go on a month's trip and have only minimal tank care available---loop it back to the tank so overflow will go there.

A runaway skimmer with an unrestricted drain line can drain the tank and kill everything including the pumps.

 

[CuzzA]

or I could rig up a larger holding vessle with a float valve so if it ever did go nuts in theory it should only dump mostly clean saltwater back into the sump. I may toy with this idea more.

Avast and Reef Octopus both make skimmer collection lockers. They have a pressure switch that kills power to the skimmer when activated, indicating the waste locker is full. If you're handy you could DIY this pretty easy.

 

[zachts]

Avast and Reef Octopus both make skimmer collection lockers. They have a pressure switch that kills power to the skimmer when activated, indicating the waste locker is full. If you're handy you could DIY this pretty easy.

Yes this!

Depending on your skimmer some of the skimmate collection containers just use a pressure float to stop air and skimmate going into the container, which works fine as long as the cup can flow back into the sump or if the skimmer design stops skimming with no air flow (which is how mine works, drains into a gallon jug with a 90degree elbow that puts the outlet 1/3 of the way down in the jug. On mine it takes little back pressure to stop air flow and effectively shut off skimmate production)

With out the jug shutting things off my skimmer could easily drain several gallons per hour when it goes haywire..........running the line directly to drain is a bad idea all around.

Even something as simple as a weighted down soda bottle sitting in your sump would be preferable to running the line to the drain.

 

[amcvay1979]

From what I've seen the float switch is easy but wiring the switch to cut the power to the skimmer is the challenge. Looks like I'd need a relay which I'm still searching for the right one.

 

[elFloyd]

From what I've seen the float switch is easy but wiring the switch to cut the power to the skimmer is the challenge. Looks like I'd need a relay which I'm still searching for the right one.

If you are using an Apex, wire the float switch into a Breakout box to control the skimmer.

If your skimmer is pressurized (sealed lid) you can use a waste collector with the plastic ball that seals the container when full. I use this with my MRC skimmer and the pressurization keeps foam from forming.

The Avast Skimmer Locker has a pressure switch within the container that is wired to an ac receptacle. Plug the skimmer into the receptacle and power is cut when the pressure switch is activated.

 

[aclinville]

Your getting the 2 liter effect. At the top near the drain cup add a "t" fitting with some more tubing and run it up. This will add a vent and allow the liquid to drain properly. Make sure your vent line goes up if not it will drain out of that as well