Skimmer

[bushwacker_69]

just a question.....i was thinking.... ....does it matter the amount of water fllowing in and out the skimmer or no matter what the flow in and out is....just the fact that the water is being skimmed

[Shaun]

Yes it does, that is y you get different size skimmers. The bigger the skimmer the more water it can process.

[cybervic]

If the water flows too quickly through the skimmer, the water will not be processed properly. You have to give the skimmer a chance to actually clean the water.

[jacquesb]

The optimum flow, according to me, is between 900 and 1200 litres per hour. Anything faster, and the water is not being skimmed properly, anything slower, and the volume of water in the tank is not processed quick enough to remove anything "bad" POC's that could start leaching phosphates/nitrates into the water....

[bushwacker_69]

lol ok so how would i know the flow through my skimmer?

[jacquesb]

The pump that's connected to it determines the water flow.... If the skimmer is internal, then the single pump.
The external pump/s of external skimmers would determine the waterflow through the skimmer.... That would be the water feed pump, not the recirc/air supply pumps...

[bushwacker_69]

so now i got the dnw200 with the 3000lph pump....im guessing thats not my water flow through it according to the above post....

[jacquesb]

Hi Bushwacker - no... it would be the recirc pump... is your dnw in-sump or external?

[bushwacker_69]

external....thing is.....you know the outlet of the skimmer where water flows in to the chamber...like a tee piece....im getting bubbles comming out of there is this ok? but if i close the ball valve abit and restrict the flow the bubbles go away...hence my question abt flow

[sean_koekemoer]

Originally Posted by jacquesb

The optimum flow, according to me, is between 900 and 1200 litres per hour. Anything faster, and the water is not being skimmed properly, anything slower, and the volume of water in the tank is not processed quick enough to remove anything "bad" POC's that could start leaching phosphates/nitrates into the water....

Jacques, I almost want to disagree- to an extend. This is my reason- If you have a very small skimmer, then surely waterflow at the rate mentioned would surely be too fast???? Maybe optimum flow must be determined when a person know the skimmer capacity first, or am I running in circles here???

[leslie hempel]

it should be proportional to the system IMO... i stand to correction but its either the dnw 150 or dnw 200 that can only take 800 lph throughput of water per hour

[Mekaeel]

Originally Posted by bushwacker_69

so now i got the dnw200 with the 3000lph pump....im guessing thats not my water flow through it according to the above post....

The best feed pump for a DNW 200 would be a 1000lph pump.In my case,on my old setup,i fed my DNW 200 with a 1000lph Lifetech pump.
Judging by the distance it had to push,i would say my skimmer was receiving 850-900lph of water.

[jacquesb]

Originally Posted by sean_koekemoer

Jacques, I almost want to disagree- to an extend. This is my reason- If you have a very small skimmer, then surely waterflow at the rate mentioned would surely be too fast???? Maybe optimum flow must be determined when a person know the skimmer capacity first, or am I running in circles here???

Sean - you are correct, but only for the absolute smallest of skimmers.....

If you look at the ReefTek TS1, it has a 1000 l/hour pump.... the actual water flow is around 800 litres per hour.... my 2 x TS2's, has 2000's (and 2400) litre/hour pumps... the actual true water flow out of my skimmers are closed to 1500 litres per hour.... depending how I set my skimmers..... To skim dry, I would set it much slower.... to skim wet, I would set it to much faster...

Even the big TS3/4's and RS3/4's only have a true water flow of around 1200 to 1500 litres per hour (COMPLETE WATER THROUGHPUT).....
If the water flows through the skimmer any faster, the skimmer becomes ineffective, if the skimmer skims slower than 800 litres per hour, the tank water is skimmed ineffectively (depending on the size of the tank, of course)....

[Andreas]

thanks Jacques makes sense

I have 2 3000lph pumps on my TS4 so wouldn't it process more water through the skimmer compared to a DNW 200 that has a seperate feed pump(1000l). The other main pumps on this skimmer just produces bubbles.

[jacquesb]

Originally Posted by Andreas

thanks Jacques makes sense

I have 2 3000lph pumps on my TS4 so wouldn't it process more water through the skimmer compared to a DNW 200 that has a seperate feed pump(1000l). The other main pumps on this skimmer just produces bubbles.

No Andreas - awesome skimmer you have. But no - all it does is just skim the amount of water that indeed flows through, much more efficiently!

[bushwacker_69]

ok another problem i came accross...is when i switch the skimmer off.....water rushes up the air intake pipe and overflows through the silencer..what is the reason for this and how do i fix it?

[Mekaeel]

Originally Posted by bushwacker_69

ok another problem i came accross...is when i switch the skimmer off.....water rushes up the air intake pipe and overflows through the silencer..what is the reason for this and how do i fix it?

That is strange. Remove the silencer and see if the problem persists.

[jacquesb]

Ditto to what Mekaeel said.... First thing I did was to remove my 2 skimmers' silencers...

[leslie hempel]

silencers are for old folks we dig the gurgle of the skimmer when it stops you know something is wrong...