skimming while away on vacation

So I set up a new reef octopus 1000sss in my sump, and it's starting to break in nicely. I am going away for a week soon (4 more days or so) and I want to set up some additional drain capacity for the skimate. So here's the question - how do you set up a drain to a milk jug etc.?

I have a tube from the skimmer cup going down to a milk jug right now, which is sitting below the skimmer base. But when I start to fill up the cup, it obviously drains out immediately to the jug. I guess I had thought of the jug as extra capacity, but really, the skimate will keep draining out of the cup to the jug until it fills, and then overflows correct? If I put the jug up above the skimmer it's not like its going to pump uphill.

So what exactly is the point of the drain? I guess I could throw a huge jug there and then I would have the capacity I need - bypassing the skimmer cup. I just envisioned it differently (i.e the cup fills, then the jug fills).

 

just thought of something - I could put a small pipe up from the drain hole inside of the skimmer collection cup terminating near the top of the cup (like a stand pipe) Then when liquid needs a place to go, it drains off down the pipe to the jug - leaving just the thick gunk in the cup. Would that work?

 

Have you considered just dialing down your skimmer, and cutting back on feedings while you are away? Or maybe just turn it off while you are away, and cut back on feedings. It's not really the end of the world to go a week without a skimmer. Some people don't run them at all, and I've gone over a month without one when my first one died on me, and I was waiting for a new one to be shipped.

There's lots of reasons to use the drain line. The benefits all really depend on your set up. Mainly, it's just easier to empty a jug of skimmate than it is to take the collection cup off of the skimmer, and delcaitely balance it as you carry it to the nearest sink, hoping that you don't spill skimmate on your floor.

If you're set up for it, you could even run the line to a dedicated drain. Or just use the drain line to empty the cup when it's full so that you don't have to remove the collection cup and risk getting the floor wet.

Unfortunately, the walls of my sump are so high that I can't benefit from any of those options.