What happens with a gravity feed skimmer and power goes out?

[Clouded]

So I want to go with a gravity feed skimmer ( water coming from overflow in the tank), "cleaned" water from skimmer will go into the sump...now will the skimmer just over flow or what?

[skyfireblaze]

Well, if the power goes out then the water coming down the overflow into the skimmer will stop. Therefore, the water coming out of the skimmer body into the sump will also stop. The water level in the skimmer will equalize with the skimmer output. No reason for it to overflow.

[guntercb]

Who makes a gravity feed skimmer?

[Clouded]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7989629#post7989629 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by guntercb
Who makes a gravity feed skimmer?
Lots of companies...it is also referred to as a recirulating skimmer...or so i have been told...

[skyfireblaze]

On a recirculating skimmer, the skimmer pump basically just mixes air with the water already in the body of the skimmer. You still need a way to get the water to flow into (and thereby out of) the skimmer. This is usually (always?) done one of two ways. Either you set up another pump to push water into the skimmer or you set up your gravity powered overflow to divert some portion of your overflow water directly to the skimmer. The latter is what's known as gravity feeding; hence a gravity fed skimmer.

I guess my point in writing this was to show that just because a skimmer is recirculating (of a recirculating design) doesn't make it a gravity fed skimmer. I suppose you could say that it's all in the plumbing.

I've read that gravity feeding your recirculating skimmer could result in a 10%-20% improvement in skimming performance; however, I don't have any hard data or any really good threads to point you to right now. I do know that I've read a lot about gravity feeding skimmers in the Deltec forum here on RC over the past year or so. Most of the Deltec skimmers are able to be gravity fed. It may be useful to you to read through the Deltec forum posts, even if you're not considering a Deltec skimmer.

[Clouded]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7989735#post7989735 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xchrisjb
On a recirculating skimmer, the skimmer pump basically just mixes air with the water already in the body of the skimmer. You still need a way to get the water to flow into (and thereby out of) the skimmer. This is usually (always?) done one of two ways. Either you set up another pump to push water into the skimmer or you set up your gravity powered overflow to divert some portion of your overflow water directly to the skimmer. The latter is what's known as gravity feeding; hence a gravity fed skimmer.

I guess my point in writing this was to show that just because a skimmer is recirculating (of a recirculating design) doesn't make it a gravity fed skimmer. I suppose you could say that it's all in the plumbing.

I've read that gravity feeding your recirculating skimmer could result in a 10%-20% improvement in skimming performance; however, I don't have any hard data or any really good threads to point you to right now. I do know that I've read a lot about gravity feeding skimmers in the Deltec forum here on RC over the past year or so. Most of the Deltec skimmers are able to be gravity fed. It may be useful to you to read through the Deltec forum posts, even if you're not considering a Deltec skimmer.

thank you for your help, I guess I got it mixed up...a local fish store guy is probably going to sell me a octopus skimmer and the one I am going to be can be gravity fed he is telling me and that is the route I want to go.

[guntercb]

I was thinking you had a gravity feed skimmer that did not require any pumps. Man, I am dissappointed. (-:

[Bebo77]

gravity fed skimmers stop skimming when the power goes out. water enters and exits the skimmer regardless of "power". you just wont get any air in the body.

[Clouded]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7989878#post7989878 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bebo77
gravity fed skimmers stop skimming when the power goes out. water enters and exits the skimmer regardless of "power". you just wont get any air in the body. No, I understand that, I just to make sure that it will not flood if the power goes out.