surface skimmer

[Daniel.luu]

Hi,

Ok, so i drilled 2 holes on top for overflow with 2 strainers. Now, the surface is not skimming. :-(

What can I do to skim the surface of the water?


Help,

[atwinparadox2]

well if you have just two holes drilled in the tank then you won't be able to surface skim. The way to surface skim is to have an overflow of some sort, either in tank or hang on back, where the water can "waterfall" into it so to speak, and drain down to somewhere else. Can you post a picture of your tank for better perspective?

[2dawghouse]

When you say "on top" how close to the surface are your strainers? They need to be real close.

[Daniel.luu]

it's about 2.5 inches down from top. When water is filled, i still have about close to 2 inches between top and surface water level.

I'm thinking of doing a simple elbow 90deg 1" pvc connects to a 3/4 pvc to the hole and take out the strainer completely. Or i can buy the overflow box from gl*******s

Not sure which is the best way since my tank is up and running.

[adam_not4u]

kinda need more info. to better help on exactly what you're doing.
in my display i have the traditional two internal overflow boxes built from the bottom to just below the waters surface. I have a dorso stand pipe (straight up to a 90) and the 90 pulls the surface water in and down to the sump to be skimmed by the down flow protein skimmer.

side note:
i had to use egg carton light diffuses with xtra small squares to prevent anything big from getting transfered to the sump/fuge.

[Daniel.luu]

Here are the pics:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll36/dlluu/EPSN0201.jpg

In the upper left, you can see 2 drilled holes with strainers. Sorry about the picture.

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll36/dlluu/EPSN0064.jpg

[atwinparadox2]

beautiful tank by the way!! Is the top water really dirty or something because your tank looks good; your sand is clean; so you have good flow, and the levels seem to be ok, with the look of the corals. if you really want to surface skim you can always just add an external overflow to the tank? You will have to add some more plumbing to your system of course. But that would probably be your most minimally invasive way to get surface skimming without having to drain water and get the weldon or silicone out.

[Daniel.luu]

Thanks for the compliments,

I'll try to see if I can build an overflow box, although this might take a little more time to do.

Thanks

[RocketEngineer]

Why not use a horizontal pipe with a slot cut in it instead of an overflow box? Come out of the bulkhead with a 90 elbow, a 45 degree elbow to the end of the pipe then a horizontal PVC pipe with a slot cut along its entire length. Nothing has to be glued since its inside the tank but tight fit will prevent you from draining all 2 inches of water above the bulkhead. Painted black with the black background you have, and you will never see it.

[Daniel.luu]

Hi RocketEng,

Thanks for replying...

I'm lost by this phrase "then a horizontal PVC pipe with a slot cut along its entire length."

What do you mean by that? By any chance you have a link or picture of this? I'm sorry i can't visualize it.

Do I need to connect or join the horizontal between the 2 holes?

Thanks,

[gilweb]

I belive he means something like this. This will be the horizontal piece at the water surface.


https://www.pul-llc.com/reef/Reef/horizontaldrain.jpg

[a1amap]

I have the same setup with 2 drilled holes in the rear of the tank. Instead of having the strainers forward out into the tank I used a street 90 and a short piece of pvc to get to the surface to skim. I use some gutter guard to keep critters out of the overflow. From the picture it looks like a street 90 elbow and then your strainers will be at the surface. If this is not the case use the smallest piece of pvc to get within a 1" of the surface and use a coupler and the strainer.

This is a better way to skim and is safer in a power outage or pump failure. The way you have it now the water will drain to the bottom of the holes. Based on that being a 75 gallon tank that should be about 15 gallons. Can your sump handle an additional 15 gallons of water? I would use the elbows even if you can't use the strainers. Less water will be able to dump to the sump. You do not have to glue the fittings inside the tank. They should fit snug enough.
All the water above the holes is going to drain to the sump

[firebirdude]

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/flyyyguy/lifts/overflow1.jpg
Use your hole on the right and the middle hole for the skimmer pictured above. Then use the left hole for the return. Skims like no other.

[Daniel.luu]

Aaahhh, I see.

1. Does it matter how long the PVC pipe is?
2. Is that about 1/4" cut on the PVC pipe? I have a Mag 9.

There's only about 4 inches between the two drilled holes for my overflow.

Thanks,

[firebirdude]

How many hole do you have drilled total? From the first picture, it looks like three.

[2dawghouse]

Daniel, your overflow intake is to low, you need to raise it first so that it skims the water.

[Daniel.luu]

Mike, i agree....

Firebird - I have 2 drilled holes for overflow on the left side. On the right it's for the return pump.

thanks.

[firebirdude]

That's what I thought. So use the return pump hole and the "middle of the three" hole for the PVC overflow I pictured above. Then use the last hole (on the far left) for the return. This will give you a much longer skimmer. Looks like 18"-20".

[Daniel.luu]

Thanks you all for the input...

I have a project to do this weekend...:-)

[firebirdude]

http://www.glass-holes.com/category.sc?categoryId=23

Use the shorty street elbows.

[Daniel.luu]

Thanks Firebird

didn't know they come in black and short. For a minute there, i was thinking of cutting it shorter and paint it black as suggested above. This will save me some time.

[Daniel.luu]

Just placed my order on gl*******s dot com.