a friend of mine is going to get rid of his hang-on skimmer and replace it with a better skimmer. my question is we are trying to find one that we dont have to put the skimmer in a sump or hang off the back of the tank. just a skimmer by itself under the tank with plumping. can anyone point me in the direction and does anyone know how these work? 1 pump or 2? if you are pumping out of the tank how does the water have enuff flow to make it back the return? thanks in advance
there are many models available. in fact most "in sump" skimmers can be used in line, or out of the sump as you mentioned.
yes, it will usually involve one pump. this pump would simply pump the water into the skimmer.
my only recommendation is when you are setting them up start slow, by this i mean be ready to power that pump down. you have to make sure the skimmer is positioned so that the top water level of the skimmer is above the water level in the sump. usually not a big deal, but something to keep in mind
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i am looking at this float. click here is this what im looking for? and do i need two? actually i searched for sump how tos and i cant find anything does anyone have any links on seting up a sump?
is this something different or in reference to the skimmer?
you dont need any float switches for your skimmer
now for a sump in general, yes, you can use that. however, have a look at the safeguarding your system podcast. there were a few items mentioned on the effectiveness and potential dangers of float switches.
that said, if you use them, two is a good idea. have a min and max water level
you would plug the max switch into the wall, then the min in to the max switch, and then the pump gets plumbed into the min switch.
this way, if the min switch ever fails or gets stuck, it will only "overfill" until it hits the max switch, and everything will get shut off
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just a note on the skimmers, u can try your hand at building one if your handy or there are models for sale as rob memtioned. u can control the flow comiing from the overflow dirrectly via ball or gate valves, or an easer way to control flow is a simple pump in the sump! just a friendly reminder though, u want to aim at a total volume turnover of the system circulating through the skimmer no more than twice a day. anything past this is overskimming!
check out the TR D-Base on the top left of the main page. u should find some new links to stuff like this. check out SPS obsessed in there too, it has great DIY buildups
is this something different or in reference to the skimmer?
you dont need any float switches for your skimmer
yes, i am thinking about convincing him into a sump.
thats a relly good idea with the two switches. im going to draw up plan this weekend i just wanted to get an idea on how sumps work so i didnt stumble to bad and have to backtrack..
one last question. he has a 120gal tank would a 20-30 gallon wide be ok for the sump?
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