Skimmer Trouble - Video included

[droyal1110]

I have finally finished getting everything together and setup my new 90g over the weekend, everyone is happy and the dust has settled. Now I built a stand for my skimmer because there wasn't enough room in the sump, but I'm having some problems. The skimmer is elevated by about 6 inches above the sump floor and I have the MJ1200 supplying the skimmer while it freely dumps into the sump. My problem right now is that the skimmer is being inconsistent. It will flow some water and produce skimmate, then just dump out, kind of like just running a straight standpipe in the overflow where it has the toilet flushing problem. Could this be from lack of water pressure? The skimmer worked fine when I had it dumping into a bucket, this had never happened, but like I said now that it is in position it is acting up. Is there something wrong? Does the pump need to be larger to account for head loss? I can't remember but I'm pretty sure the distance is even less compared to when it was previously setup so I almost want to rule out the pump being too weak. Any advice is greatly appreciate. Also if I have to put it in the sump what methods to I go about putting it in there? Do I have to take off certain things add certain things. The output tube is not underwater but it is about 2 inches above the water level in the sump. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Here's a video of what I'm talking about, you can see the water level drop with the noise, thus the toilet flushing issue.

 

[Coral Hind]

I can't really see the output of the skimmer but it looks like you need something to break the siphon like a tee. Post a picture of the output piping of the skimmer.

[droyal1110]

What do you mean break the siphon, its an open system its not closed (like the output isn't submerged). Here are some pictures of the setup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Origami]

It looks like your output is half closed (the pipe above the tee indicates that this section acts as a gate valve on the output) and is probably restricting output sufficiently that it may be responsible for the periodic siphoning. Try opening up your skimmer output valve and seeing if this helps.

Edited May 1, 2009 by Origami2547

[jamesbuf]

It looks like your output is half closed (the pipe above the tee indicates that this section acts as a gate valve on the output) and is probably restricting output sufficiently that it may be responsible for the periodic siphoning. Try opening up your skimmer output valve and seeing if this helps.

 

 

That's exactly what I was thinking. Since you extended the PVC of the outflow, the water has to travel a farther distance and might be what's causing the siphoning effect. I'm sure making the PVC smaller in diameter could be contributing to the siphon effect as well. Do you have a smaller maxijet to try on it. Maybe if there was less water being pumped through the skimmer, it would help to not cause the siphoning effect, but you'd have to restrict the outflow even more than way.

[Coral Hind]

replace the 90 with a tee to break the siphon and that would stop the problem.

[jamesbuf]

replace the 90 with a tee to break the siphon and that would stop the problem.

 

Perfect.

[droyal1110]

Sweet thanks for the help. I don't have a step down size maxi jet so that's out of the question for now. As far as getting a Tee, I'm assuming you guys mean the 90 on the output portion above the skimmer and where could I find a metric Tee? Would drilling a hole and putting some airline tubing accomplish the same thing?

 

Really thanks for your help guys.

[lanman]

I agree - something is making it act like a siphon once it gets to a certain water level - probably the water pushes up into the 'T' to a certain level, and then it all siphons out. The world's first wave-action skimmer!

 

Only thing I can think is doing it is the fact that your 'T' is too far away from the output. Metric? Ewww... it can be found, but probably not locally.

 

bob

[droyal1110]

Any thought on drilling a hole at the top of the 90 degree angle and putting in airline tubing?

[jamesbuf]

Any thought on drilling a hole at the top of the 90 degree angle and putting in airline tubing?

 

 

That should work great. Works on main tank overflows. I'd try some larger tubing if you have it though, so as to prevent salt creep from clogging the line down the road.

[droyal1110]

Cool thanks, I'll try the airline tubing first and see where it goes. Also what preventative maintenance should I perform on the air inductor thingamabob.

[droyal1110]

Alright its fixed! Thanks guys for the help, here's the pics of how its being run right now. I ended up putting the original piece of pvc i had on so it was submerged and no problems so far, its been running like that for the past 20-30 mins, I didn't even have to readjust the skimmer for any back pressure. Here's the pics.

 

Thanks again!