Skimmer Idea's ???
 

Hello all, this is my first post on the board and I am asking for some advice on my skimmer....

The skimmer was purchased off ebay for $30.00, as you can see it is well made and works fantastic. I am feeding the skimmer w/a Rio 800 powerhead and feeding the tank w/a Mag 250 pump. I am currently using a ball valve on the inlet to control the level of water inside the skimmer. My dilemma is that I am constantly messin w/the ball valve because as the water lever in the tank go's up and down so does the level inside the skimmer. How do I make the level in the skimmer consistant?

Also, I would be open to any other suggestions in regards to the design.

http://www.shagbuilt.com/blue/img1.jpg
http://www.shagbuilt.com/blue/img2.jpg
http://www.shagbuilt.com/blue/img3.jpg
http://www.shagbuilt.com/blue/img4.jpg

Thanks all!!

Welcome to the board. That's certainly a strange design, but it looks like it's pushin' out foam. Unfortunately the water level will keep doing that, which is why it's better to run your skimmer from a sump with a constant water level.

I agree with Reef_Raf but you could also resolve the problem by maintaining a constant level in your tank. This could be done by adding a top off system of fresh water. Either with a drip or a float switch and pump.

J

That looks like a counter current airstone design. Not much contact cross section from the looks of it.

there is a way you could fix that but it would involve setting up a second tank beside it. you would have to do another tank slightly elivated and drilled so the water spills back to your main tank (kinda like a refuge idea) so water is pumped in and spills back. this will make the water level constant in the new tank and allow you to skill out of that one.

Steve

Using Steve's idea you would not need a large tank just a small box to keep a constant water level.

Do I understand correctly that there is a pump pushing water into skimmer (and which is throttled by the valve) and a pump pulling water out of the skimmer (and thus pushing water back into the tank)?

If so then another change I'd make is simply having one pump push water into the skimmer, and throttle the output with the valve, but otherwise have it drain naturally into the sump (or tank or refugium or whatever). I would think that the two pumps would be in a position where they're racing/competing each other (even though one is throttled, I would think it's very difficult to get it set to match the other pump 100% over a long period of time).

What brand of skimmer is that anyway? Looks like a darn good skimmer for 30 bucks.



Scott