Skimmer Depth

Discussion in 'Protein Skimmers' started by Chris Jones, Jul 7, 2005.

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  1. Chris Jones

    Chris Jones Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2004
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    Location:
    Homestead, Florida
    can anyone tell me please if it matters how deep the TURBO FLOTOR 1000, sits in the water of the sump. I keep reading something about 10 to 15 cm, but that is 3 to 5 inches. none of the compartments of my sump are that shallow.

    Am i reading this wrong?? is it 3 to 5 inches inside the skimmer??? Or 3 to 5 inches around the outside of the skimmer?? which doesn't make sense.
    Thanks.
     
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  3. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    13,466
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    Berkeley, CA
    Hmm.. I see that:
    http://www.aqua-medic.de/eng/support/turboflotor1000.html

    Well that is the ideal range, but that doesn't mean it won't work in your sump. How deep is the water in your sump? If I were you I would just put it in and play with the output valves and see if you can find a sweet spot first before lowering your sump.

    If it is has to be in shallow water, can you prop it up on a box made of eggcrate or a plastic foot-stool or something? :-/

    I wish I could be more help, but I have the 'multi' version.

    Keep me posted!
     
  4. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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  5. Chris Jones

    Chris Jones Feather Duster

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    Location:
    Homestead, Florida
    Well I am building the sump/refug from a 29 gallon, and the baffles arent evenin yet. But my plans were to have the skimmer in a section that would be 9-12 inches deep. But now that I have been staring at this thing and looking at how it is supposed to work, I dont think it does matter how deep the outside water is as the pump intake is not getting the water from its immediate surroundings, it is sucking it from the skimmer and a down pipe that should either come from my return or a pump, ( I have different ideas about this). and like you said , if it dont work at that depth, I'll raise it with egg crate. Thanks Matt.
    I appreciate the input. I will be taking pics as I go. this is a whole new 90 gal set up, Im even building the stand.
     
  6. Bruce

    Bruce Giant Squid

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    hmm i didnt even know it made a diff, as long as the water is going in
     
  7. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

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    Location:
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    WHere it makes a difference is with the pressure on the pump for the skimmer. THe deeper the pump is, the more air it will draw into the skimmer - it mentions this in the instructions. They recommend keeping the pump near the surface, mine sits lower than that because of my sump design and I had to add the 5cm extention to the tube so that I didn't fill the collection cup with water. It also affects flow rate somewhat.