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View Full Version : Parallel or series for multiple skimmers


Davey Jones
07/14/2011, 01:02 AM
If someone was to run two skimmers in their sump, should they be plumbed in series or in parallel?

It seems if they were in parallel, one could reduce their flow rate in half and double the amount of time the water is in the reaction chamber. But if they were in parallel, one would be basically doubling the size of their reactor chamber and thus doubling the dwell time.


Thoughts anyone.

Opcn
07/14/2011, 02:28 AM
Parallel.

The skimmers will be most effective removing skimmate from the nastiest water. Overflows pull the most polluted (surface) water and send it to the sump to be cleaned. After it's gone through the skimmer it's the cleanest water in your system. Why bother to clean the cleanest water in the system when instead you can work on the dirtiest?

Chris27
07/14/2011, 07:50 AM
What type of skimmers are we talking about?

marti224
07/14/2011, 09:41 AM
Parallel. Should only need (1) skimmer though unless it is a monster tank.

disciple
07/14/2011, 10:13 AM
If your tank is dirty enough to have two skimmers i would suggest installing them in series. Most skimmers do not have a big enough chamber to max. air and water contact thus only removing most but not all of the contaminants. My thinking is that in series you could super clean your water just like having a dual di filter.

Davey Jones
07/15/2011, 07:01 AM
Chris27 - I'm looking at DIY skimmers.

Marti224 - My tank is 215 gallon. Not quite what I would consider monster, but having two smaller skimmers as opposed to one bigger skimmer would still give me some skimming power should a pump on one skimmer go out. The local pet supply scene is bascially non existent so I would need to order a replacement pump online and wouldn't want to be without skimming power for a few days or I would have to settle for something I could find in town, which probably wouldn't be want I want or cost way too much.

Chris27
07/15/2011, 10:20 AM
What type of a DIY skimmer? Venturi/needle wheel/air stone/beckett injected, etc...

Most types of skimmers should run independent of one another, except when it comes to the feed pump which can be shared provided it's powerful enough.

Allmost
07/15/2011, 10:24 AM
series, with larger one at the end of the line ...
cause if you have the larger one in front, it wont leave anything for the smaller skimmer to remove.


why not do a beckett, with multiple becketts ? all ran with one pump, in one body ?

hebygb
07/15/2011, 01:32 PM
IMO... It would be difficult to DIY Skimmer that would be highly dependable. Building two, doesnt seem as practical to me. To answer your question... Parallel.

I would be more apt to have a skimmer and maybe a smaller, back up (not running) just in case. Otherwise water changes would be your friend during any down time. As for local reefing... Precision Marine is loctaed in Texas and they have great customer service. Both KC and St Louis have some nice highend stores. Midwest Reefs in KC often has PM skimmers in stock.

Opcn
07/17/2011, 04:47 PM
The reason you have two di filters in series, or two DE filters in series, is because unfiltered water will clog/saturate and damage the media. If you are moving from one container to the next or dealing with fouling/saturation issues the in series makes sense. However the #2 skimmer is going to have to work just as hard in series and it will not take any more out than it would if it were parallel, in fact it will probably take much much less out. You don't get to save your work from one skimmer to the next, that second spin through the skimmer will get the water off the other skimmer cleaner there is no doubt, but it will be fractionally cleaner, it's not like the first skimmer will remove the first half and the second skimmer will remove the second half. The first skimmer might remove half (mostly the easy stuff, and a little hard stuff) then the second skimmer might remove 1/8th of the gunk (because the easy stuff is gone already).

GreenTankCorals
07/17/2011, 08:21 PM
I recall in one of the forums, Roger, the tech guy from Tunze advised against using two skimmers saying only the first one will work. I don't remember his reasoning but only the statement since I had wondered myself if it would be better to have two skimmers for one system. I will try to search that post and put a link here.

symon_say
07/17/2011, 11:55 PM
I don't think it matters unless you direct feed your skimmer, no matter how much water the skimmer can take, there will always be some dirty water left, cause this is running water.