Well, I have everything ready to go(finally) and I'm building my 40gal sump/refugium today. I'm going to set the EV150 outside the sump and the output of the skimmer will be fed to the sump via a bulkhead. My question is: How far below the sump's waterline can I go for the skimmer output before it become's ineffective? Due to the stand height, I can set the output as high as 10" on the sump. I was thinking of setting the waterline in the sump to about 12-13" therefore the output will be 2-3" below the waterline. Will this still work? Thanks.

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Anyone? Please?

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Remember...Wherever you go...There you are.

above waterline is best.The backpressure makes it not skim as effective when submerged with small skimmers. But it still will work if its under 2-3" Just you won't get full use of the height. Try it and you will c.

Aragon,

Email Jason at www.proteinskimmer.com and ask him. I asked him the exact same question for my EV200 and he emailed back right away with "I would recommend that your sump level be no higher than about 6" relative to the skimmer. The most important thing about your sump level is the degree of fluctuation rather than actual height. If you have a float switch and keep the level very constant, you can get away with a higher sump level (6-7"). If your level fluctuates all over the place due to evaporation, I'd recommend a level no higher than 4" relative to the skimmer." The top of my outlet is 5" high and the inside partition is 8 3/4" high. With these sizes I think you will be able to work out the numbers for the EV 150. HTH

Scott




[This message has been edited by Shadetree (edited 12-30-2000).]

Cool...w/ the great suggestions and responses, I went ahead and had my LFS drill the sump. Just got it back and it's drying overnight. Tomorrow I plumb the the system. I only hope I don't screw up. Geez! I stress more over my fish and stuff more than work!

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Remember...Wherever you go...There you are.

Moved to Tanks, Filtration & Basic Equipment forum.

If your skimmers output is above the water line it really doesn't matter sump level if you have an external pump. Now if you skimmer is submerged it may matter cuz a drop in the water line will reduce backpressure and cause it to flood cuz you would have the skimmer set to handle more backpressure so the lower water level it would pump with more force.

I e-mailed Jason and asked for his input on this.

There is a risk that water will leak from around the air gap/air holes in the top of the skimmer box if the water in the sump rises due to pump shut-off. This won't act as a siphon, but if these air holes are lower than the max sump level then there could be a little water leak there. Water won't travel back up through the spray injector, however.

No Problemo! I ensured that the air gap will be higher than the highest level in the sump(ie shutting off the pumps and/or power failure). I believe I have everything covered(Please God...Please God...Please God). I'm doing the electrical wiring as we speak. All the pumps and lights will be "switchable" via switches off the front of the stand. Looks pretty good so far. Tomorrow the sump goes in for good. I just hope I have "all the bases covered".

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Remember...Wherever you go...There you are.