Protien skimmer question

[tonka]

I just got my new tank today. It has 2 drains to the sump. Could i hook one line directly to the protien skimmer and then have it drain into the sump? I'm not sure how much water pressure is needed to get the protien skimmer to suck in air. If thats not enough presure could i hook up a small air pump up and force air in? i'm trying to get away with only having one return pump in the sump

[OrionGirl]

Don't know--I doubt it will suck the air, but you could use the attachement to pull it in. I wouldn't bet on it providing enough or small enough bubbles just via gravity.

[FISH WHISPERER]

Wow.. a novel approach... Something like that could be done, but not necessarily on any tank. For starters, if you are talking two holes which are behind a corner overflow, you'll likely not have the pressure needed to fill that skimmer. You'll only have pressure from the top couple of inches of the tank.

But most importantly, for a skimmer to be most efficient, there is a specific flow rate which exposes the water to being "stripped." If the water is gushing in and straight out, it won't be very efficient. Compare it to have clothes in the washing machine. You want them in long enough to be cleaned.

This is not to say that the specifically efficient rate must be obtained. Few people on the grand scale actually have the "perfect" rate. But most are efficient enough. This is usually done by the right pump with the flow rate that gets the best efficiency. Working solely off whatever pressure is created by the tank is real "iffy." You technically could jet it down, but you can't "increase" the dump rate into the skimmer. So you'd have to get the right skimmer for the pressure naturally created from the overflow. Real sketchy. ;) You'd obviously have more pressure if the tank was higher, but you see? This is all chancy, based on the particular skimmer and the dump rate (pressure) into the skimmer. Good luck, though... Always great to experiment!! :)

[Corax]

<stands back in awe the great one leaves the stage>

Hey Monty, nice to see ya ;)

As for the problem, why not just use an insump skimmer? Then the flow rate wouldn't matter so long as the input was always submerged. One line in, one line out...

[Kit Walker]

I'm not sure which type of protein skimmer you are planning on using, but I am assuming you are looking at using the gravitational flow through the skimmer? I use a venturi skimmer which requires at least 1500lph so this type of skimmer wouldn't be practical.