"all skimmers perform best in 8" to 10" of water" ???

is your water level at 12 inches in sump??? or is that the height of the sump????

 

Water level is at 12" in the skimmer section

 

you have a fuge??? can you lower the level at all???

 

Skimmer on the left, return in the center, fuge on the right. Yes I could lower the water level on the skimmer section but that would take away from my total water volume so wouldn't it just be best to place the skimmer on a stand?

 

IMO.... No... something extra to fiddle around with... its not a life or death thing. 2 or 3 inches not gonna kill you. But you could always have a stand for the skimmer (not saying no to it). Make sure your tank stand is tall enough too. 23 inch high skimmer with a 2-4 inch high skimmer stand. plus 1/2 inch to remove collection cup

 

absolutely. But if the aquarium stand IS tall enough (so lets take that out of the equation) would it be best to have the skimmer on a stand and gain 8 gallons of water in my sump, or not use a stand and lose 8 gallons of water in the sump. (keep in mind it's only a 20 gallon sump so 8 gallons could make a difference)

 

IMHO - I would put the skimmer on a stand and have the extra water volume. The exception would be if that extra water volume would cause your sump to over flow once the return pump has shut off and the water from the overflow drained back into the sump.

 

I would do a little stand. It's not going to hurt anything.

 

The added volume would not overflow the sump. I already calculated that into the return section. That's the only section where water level would ever change and it is capable of handling the overflow in case of power outage or pump failure.

BTW tatted4ever, do you know what the footprint on the skimmer & pump is? I can only find the cone base diameter.

 

Good to know you got it all under control! Yep, then I would definitely put on a little stand.