moving water from skimmer to next chamber

[JMorris271]

I have been in a discussion on how to move the water leaving the skimmer to the next chamber.
My sump is 16' and all the baffles are 16' with the exception to the one before the last baffle in front of the return.
I have a reef Octopus nwb 150 and the pecks cll for a water level of 8-10" on the skimmer. ok Got that.
The first baffle between the skimmer chamber and the Refugium has a hole about 1 " in the bottom. That hole is about 3" wide by 1/2 " tall.
how do you get the water from the skimmer chamber to the fuge? Is the skimmer discharge pipe suppose to be above or below water?

 

[mr_X]

It's supposed to be below, and just let the current take it. It will be forced to the return area by newly entering water. IMO, I would make the hole in the partition larger than 3" x 1/2" if that's all you are planning to send water through.
I don't understand your sump setup. Where is the skimmer located? In the middle chamber? What's in the first chamber?

 

[JMorris271]

It's supposed to be below, and just let the current take it. It will be forced to the return area by newly entering water. IMO, I would make the hole in the partition larger than 3" x 1/2" if that's all you are planning to send water through.
I don't understand your sump setup. Where is the skimmer located? In the middle chamber? What's in the first chamber?

Actually this was a conversation between myself and another poster in RC. I was maintaining exactly as you have said to the T. I mean it's physics right?. I suppose he has never heard of gravity flow or Total dynamic pressure. His stand was that the discharge pipe needs to be above sump water level in the sump. This responder was answering ANOTHER posters question
I was just verifying my views with you. We are in sync.Thanks.

 

[jeffaquarius]

The skimmer will be more efficient if the intake water is isolated from its discharge. Having the discharge above to move water to the next chamber would be preferred. The hole below is just to pass the extra water to flow freely from either side.

Edit: However, if the sump has only 2 chambers the micro bubbles from the discharge being at the top will be picked up by the return pump

 

[mr_X]

Who has their skimmers discharge in the next chamber? I have never seen anyone do this, nor have i seen a skimmer that offered an exhaust pipe long enough to make this easily done. Apparently manufacturers don't feel this is such a big deal.

 

[jeffaquarius]

i do and i have it on my bio cube back chambers. The idea is not to recirculate the discharge back to the intake. External skimmer works with such principle.

 

[PB_Smith]

i do and i have it on my bio cube back chambers. The idea is not to recirculate the discharge back to the intake. External skimmer works with such principle.

yeah, I thought that was the idea, at least it certainly is the most logical.

if it was as mr x says, then wouldn't you also then have water that had not passed through the skimmer moving along through the sump anyway?
seems to me that to help ensure all the water is processed by each component is to separate them and have the discharge from one section leading to the next.

 

[jeffaquarius]

Let's say just 20% of water is passing through your skimmer. If 5% of it is recirculated back to the intake, then you only process just 15 %. So which one do you think will skim faster? Manufacturers do as much as they can with minimal parts to cut cost.

 

[JMorris271]

If over the wall is the intended direction of skimmer discharge, I would like to know why my skimmer chamber is 17inches tall while my skimmer level is 10 inches. Why add all of that unsightly pipe running over the baffle with a lower baffle... OH .I know. Eshopps and Coralvue must be in kahoots with the PVC makers
I honestly have wondered the same thing about the recirculation aspect before but rerounting does not seem to be too common so I figured that was how I should do it

 

[mr_X]

The reaction chamber gives time for organic material to attach to the bubbles. A larger reaction chamber isn't a horrible thing, if the pump is sized to it. This is basically what dictates what size tank a skimmer is rated for.

Most skimmers( which are in sump models) Discharge water in the same compartment as they pick it up. Basically, as long as the skimmer is submerged, it's cleaning water, and it will only remove what it's capable of, no matter how much new or old water it's exposed to.
As far as manufacturers cutting costs, do you think a foot of pvc is going to make a noticeable difference if they can boast that their skimmer is clearly more efficient than the next guys? Doubtful.

 

[jeffaquarius]

In practice I agree with what you are saying that the in sump skimmer discharges the processed water on same chamber where the intake is taken from. It is not about the size of the reaction chamber or what have you. Instead it is actually that the system is just using gravity to discharge the processed water. Adding a piece of pipe will not work. It will require another pump to move water over to the next chamber and that is the reason why manufacturers do not add those extra parts that I am talking about.