How do I calculate contact time in a skimmer?

[Neil S.]

I've been trying to figure out contact time (dwell time) for skimmers. This is about understanding why certain skimmers work better than others and also about configuring new sump builds and flow rates to get the most efficient use out of a skimmer. I've come across several really old (as in 2001) articles that do talk a little bit about the necessary equations for DIY skimmers but they seem to be focused on airstone style skimmers. Anyone know anything about this topic?

 

[Jon Fishman]

The water taken in by the skimmer is probably barely affected by the sump design, flow rate through the sump, etc. It’s all about the pump on the skimmer.....

 

[ca1ore]

Any credible studies I have seen (probably all old too) suggest that there isn't a whole lot of performance difference amongst skimmers. Fred, having just bought an A.I. enabled skimmer for $2K will, of course, demur. Seems to me you should attempt to extract water for the skimmer that has just come down from the skim box, build as tall a reaction chamber as you can (contact time correlates highly with height) and try to keep the turbulence in said reaction chamber as mild as possible so as to avoid remixing the proteins. Do all those and maybe you get a small uptick in performance.