waste drain port for tunze skimmer?

[rwsunrx]

Is it possible to add a drain port to the waste collection cup on a tunze skimmer? I'm just in the planning phase of a new 180g tank plus sump and I'd like to occassionally be able to leave my tank for 2 or 3 days if necessary.

 

[rvitko]

2 or 3 days should be no probllem without a drain port. We do not offer one but the new 9015 will include a blow off riser as an option to replace the cup.

 

[Franko]

You could probably add on yourself but I doubt the manufacturer wold recommend you do so. Make sure you use an acrylic drill bit or you will be looking for a new cup!

Franko

 

[rwsunrx]

Hi Roger,
Thanks for your reply. I'm very anxious to see the new DOC skimmers. My sump area is only 22"H x 48"L x 24"W. So I'm almost certain I'll be going with a Tunze skimmer because of the height. Plus I was very happy with a Tunze skimmer 15 years ago when I had my last saltwater tank.

Do you think it would hurt the performance of the skimmer if I fitted my own drain port to the collection cup? I plan on plumbing a small floor drain under my cabinet that will be connected to my house plumbing to facilitate water changes. And it would be nice if I could drain the waste cup into this drain. I'm aware that I'll still need to clean the skimmer very frequently.

Thanks again,
Robin

 

[rvitko]

The main thing is it woould defeat one of my favorite features of our skimmers, when the cup is full it shuts down, the back pressure from the skimmate collapses the foam column, I am curing 80lbs of rock right now and my cup on the 3130/2 I am using fills every 3-4 days, 700ml of skimmate. Normally this would be about 10-14 days though.

 

[samsfishnchips]

also another thing some companies like ER don't like the drain too, because if not clean often the performance decreases too much,

sam