New skimmer question

Hi all,
I have a new protein skimmer which like many says not to discharge below the the surface of the sump. I am going to run it externally but my sump has a return bulkhead which is below the surface. Can I plumb the return through this bulkhead and then further plumb it up above the water surface in the sump?. It seems to make sense hydrolically but I'm not sure. - Paul

 

Yes, you can do it that way. I don't think you would see any advantage in it though. They tell you not to discharge below the water surface so you aren't fighting that water as head pressure on the skimmer. If you drain the water from the skimmer 6" beneath the sump water, then it has that 6" of head pressure on the skimmer. If you bring a bulkhead in at that same height, elbow it up out of the water, then the skimmer actually would have more head pressure on it since its having to overcome deeper water to drain properly.

Any chance of raising the skimmer up on a stand so that the drain simply drains over into the sump?

 

Yes I can. Just a matter of finding the right stable stand. Thanks.- Paul