What am I doing wrong here..

[Shane-o]

First, want to say thanks to everyone who has helped me on my first reef build.. And with that said more issues at hand it seems.. So I hooked everything up and the problem I seem to have is the skimmer does not put out enough water to feed the return.. The return just runs dry and I have to unplug it.. I have adjusted skimmer every way possible and it does not help.. Does this look right? The only other option I can think of is another ball valve on the return to slow the pump down.. but, fear I will just burn out the pump.. Here are some pictures plus my little diagram I made.. I used two 10 gallon tanks because the stand for my 55 gallon tank is so narrow.. I could not fit a 20 gallon long under stand. Skimmer is a Reef Octopus NW-150-6530B and thr return pump is a Mag-Drive 7 Pump rated at (700 GPH)

 

[Mole]

I know it's a hassle but you may need to use bigger pipe to connect the two tanks. minimum of double the size you have for the overflow and return. There needs to be absoluty ZERO restriction on that connection for the water to flow freely, the skimmer shouldn't be pulling any water volume per se. It's more of a static tool that's just pulling and replacing the same volume of water.

 

[Mole]

Wait, I think I just noticed your skimmer return is separated from the last chamber by a solid wall. Try pumping the water back into the same chamber it's sitting in and let it overflow to the pump chamber. AND make the connecting tube larger.

 

[Shane-o]

Wait, I think I just noticed your skimmer return is separated from the last chamber by a solid wall. Try pumping the water back into the same chamber it's sitting in and let it overflow to the pump chamber. AND make the connecting tube larger.

Yes it is seperated by a wall.. i thought you didnt want the skimmer pumping back "skimmed water" in to the dirty water?

 

[whixley101]

+1 Agree with Mole completely. I have a very similar set up and I had to run mine the same way.

 

[Mole]

it will skim the whole tank repeatedly over time... it's not really a big deal but you have to keep the water supplied to that section or it won't work as it should. Pretty simple fix actually.

 

[SloppyJ]

Why did you block the pump completely off? Just curious.

 

[SloppyJ]

Oh and nice schematic btw!!

 

[Shane-o]

Why did you block the pump completely off? Just curious.

I thought that you wanted only water that was skimmed to flow to the return.. Hell I don't know. I'm a newbie? lol

 

[Shane-o]

it will skim the whole tank repeatedly over time... it's not really a big deal but you have to keep the water supplied to that section or it won't work as it should. Pretty simple fix actually.

Ok then I guess I should just remove the wall then? I don't know about drilling more holes in those 10 gal tanks.. I was sweating thinking that 1/8 inch glass was going to break the first round..

 

[larangcon]

I agree with Mole, try placing the output water from your skimmer back to the skimmer compartment, you can also adjust the water level in your skimmer by throttling on the output flow valve of the skimmer.

 

[Shane-o]

Wait, I think I just noticed your skimmer return is separated from the last chamber by a solid wall. Try pumping the water back into the same chamber it's sitting in and let it overflow to the pump chamber. AND make the connecting tube larger.

Removed that wall in fron to return..... it's been running for 30 minutes.. Looks like that was the trick and so far so good with that drain between tanks.. Thanks Mole.. Id buy you a beer if you were close:bigsmile:

 

[House]

Is there a reason your skimmer is in the second tank? You are just putting micro bubbles directly into your return section.
This is what I would probably do, why don't you put the skimmer in the first tank, just let the water from the skimmer fall back inside, it's ok if it recirculates, and raise the wall about 2" off the bottom. The water should stay level, as long as your return pump doesn't push more water than the pvc connecting the two tanks can handle, your skimmer will get a good amount of waste and recirculate the water for more skim, and your return pump section will have the same water level as the other 2 tanks. All of this plus much less micro bubble problems from the skimmer.

 

[Shane-o]

Is there a reason your skimmer is in the second tank? You are just putting micro bubbles directly into your return section.
This is what I would probably do, why don't you put the skimmer in the first tank, just let the water from the skimmer fall back inside, it's ok if it recirculates, and raise the wall about 2" off the bottom. The water should stay level, as long as your return pump doesn't push more water than the pvc connecting the two tanks can handle, your skimmer will get a good amount of waste and recirculate the water for more skim, and your return pump section will have the same water level as the other 2 tanks. All of this plus much less micro bubble problems from the skimmer.

Looking back now call it poor planning.. If you look at the first and last picture you can see the tank the skimmer is in sit's 3/4 inch lower and that is because the stand was not tall enough for that skimmer ( I couldn't get the top off) so I added another 3/4 inch piece of wood to the bottom of the stand basically making a new floor and notched it out to drop the tank 3/4 of a inch so the skimmer would fit.. now in retrospect I should have did it the other way..

 

[Mole]

If your skimmer is tunes correctly there should be very little to no micro bubbles coming from the output... I played this game with a simple airstone run skimmer years ago on my very first reef tank. Don't worry too much about that one. If you do have issues do to being tired of trying to get your skimmer tuned just place some filter floss between the skimmer and pump. That will also serve to keep more little critters in the sump where they belong. Have fun with it. THAT's all that really matters anywho.

 

[Rjramos]

The correct solution is that of house and Shane above. The skimmer needs to go in the first tank and recirculate water in there. Then water needs to flow through that last baffle before the pump, not over it. If it is glass and siliconed in you may have to remove it completely. Using a block sponge inserted between two light diffusing panel pieces (egg crate) will work out nice and no bubbles whatsoever returning to the tank.


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[Rjramos]

Glue or silicone the two pieces of light diffusing panels with just enough space to place the sponge block snugly in between. That way you can remove the sponge block from the top periodically and clean it out. Hope this helps.


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[Rjramos]

Oh sorry Shane- o is you. I misread the thread. But yes I agree with house. That is the best way to hook it up!


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[Gregory]

Hello. I thought I would just let you know my skimmer chamber and return pump are only separated by a bubble trap. I even let the skimmer return into the skimmer chamber. Continuous water flow in the chamber lets it skim new water all the time. It seems to be working well for me. It would also fix your return chamber going dry. It may also let you run more water through your sump.

 

[ReeferBob]

I am not sure what you actually did but you DO want a wall between your return pump and the rest of the sump. If your siphon fails or gets clogged your entire sump volume will be pumped into your display tank. For your setup I would just move the skimmer to the other tank. Leave the wall or add it back if you removed it.