Water Depth for skimmer

I just recently purchased a reef octopus NWB-150. It hasn't arrived yet but I was hoping to go ahead build the sump. The problem I have run into is I can't find anywhere what the minimum water level needs to be for this skimmer. Does anybody have an idea of what it could be? Thanks for the help.

 

Well the size of your sump will be determined By the size of your DT. For example I have a 55 DT and a 30 sump thats filled up halfway. The level in the sump is up to you. But you want to keep in mind, how likely is it to overflow. The level in the sump IMO should be Half way full (So its less likely to over flow).

 

i think about 8 inches for most skimmers for them to run the best.

 

I am building it for a 90 DT. I am using a 20 gal long for my sump. I didnt think about the overflowing part. I might have to make some adjustments.

 

ok cool. I have the sump designed so that the skimmer section will have 8" of water right now. Thanks for the help.

 

most manufacturers say 6-10 inches.

 

The majority of needle wheels run in 8-10 inches of water.... but it is up to YOUR skimmer and I'm sure it will have documentation, or you could go to the web site, or ask them where you bought it. I do not know the specific number for that one, but you also need a bit of room. You need to be able to move it around to find what works best for you and what you want. So a specific number is not an absolute... it is a range of about 2 inches.

As far as setting up your sump, don't go skimmer specific. It is generally best to set your skimmer area to 10". That way you are not limited to what you can put in. You can always raise the skimmer with a stand if need be, but you can't make the section deeper once the baffles are set.

And yes, you will have to account for the amount of water that drains back from the DT when the return pump is off. You minimize this with siphon breaks in the return line and keeping your returns as close to the surface as possible. You skimmer section will be so big set at 10", and the rest of the sump can be what ever as long as the return pump has enough water. But after that.... what ever room is left over is all you have to work with for drain back.

Just know lots of folks use a 20g on a 90g no problem. So you will get it figured out. You just need to minimize drain back.

 

I just ordered the glass panels to be cut today. I can modify my design so that the initial section the water from the main tank drains to is the skimmer section and the baffle will be 10" high. Just read your posting on sumps and I think I will do this so that the skimmer is getting the bigger particles out first then send the water to the next section where I place live rock or a bag of carbon for further filtration. Thanks for the info.