Skimmer performance

[copperkills]

Im not sure if this is a silly question or not...but does that rate at which water passes the skimmer input or output effect the skimmers performance? Does the skimmers output flow need to be faster than the flow through the sump?

 

[pulpfiction1]

nothing silly about it,most skimmers require s water depth to work properly in,i have a vertex that needs to sit in 6-8 inches of water to function properly,then you dial in the water depth inside the skimmer to find the right level of foam,my current MRC is an external and needs no particular water level in the sump,as long as the pump is fully submerged i don't see where the flow rate in your system should matter,unless of course its so fast that the skimmer is knocked over,then i would slow it down some

 

[Neopimp]

The way I look at it is that the skimmmer is always doing the same amount of skimming.  Now the water flowing through the sump is being recycled faster in my case but eventually the skimmer will get to everythign. 

The other side is people say that the sump shoudl be around the same flow as wha the skimmer can process... so the water in the sump has a better chance of being skimmed before going back to the tank.

I can see the fast flow being inefficent depending on your goals but eventually you will end up at the same place as far as water being skimmed.

Just my throey and I know people may disaggree

 

[Darryl_V]

Tere are a couple schools of thought on this.....i dont think its gonna matter too much in the end though.

 

[AdInfinitum]

IMO The flow through rate in your sump won't have much effect on skimmer performance.  The schools of thought onsump flow through revolves around whether you want to go high flow and bare with physical filtration and optionally a separate slow fuge to cultivate pods etc. or low flow using a settling area rather than filter socks and integral fuge DSB etc. (My preference). 

Each have their advantages but a mix of the two styles usually doesn't work well.

 

[spyd]

I have seen a few arguments over this one. Some people say you want to match the flow rate through your sump to the flow rate of your skimmer. This way, the skimmer makes the most contact with the water as it passes through.

But, then this generally contradicts the rule of thumb for your return pump, which is 10 x the amount of gallons of your display.  Your skimmer will generally never have a pump with that much flow.

At the end of the day, I don't think it makes all that much of a difference. The difference maker to me is the quality of the skimmer and the air intake rate of the skimmer itself.

 

[Poseidon]

No matter how fast the flow is in the sump the skimmer is always going to be pulling in 'new' water... You can't force more through it by uping the flow. It will always draw whatever amount the pump is rated for. Of course water lvls affect it and such but IMO rate of flow won't affect performance

 

[Duke]

No matter how fast the flow is in the sump the skimmer is always going to be pulling in 'new' water... You can't force more through it by uping the flow. It will always draw whatever amount the pump is rated for. Of course water lvls affect it and such but IMO rate of flow won't affect performance

this isn't true.. think about it for a sec..  if your return is running slower, than your skimmer its going to be reskimming water thats already skimmed.. if your returns running faster, than your skimmer is going to be missing 'new' water as it didn't have a chance to get skimmed.

Either way im with everyone above.. eventually your skimmer is going to get it to it.. Skimmer size/rating is much more important than turnover rate imo.

 

[Poseidon]

ok, i can see if its at a trickle it will reskim water,
but if its to fast, its not missing water, it will just recirculate faster and come back around quicker

but ya it will eventually get it....

 

[Duke]

ok, i can see if its at a trickle it will reskim water,
but if its to fast, its not missing water, it will just recirculate faster and come back around quicker

but ya it will eventually get it....

regardless of the speeds and sizes.. if your skimmer intakes x gph and your return pump moves y gph..  it doesn't take much thinking to realize the results.. if x is higher than y then the skimmer is reskimming some water... if x is lower than y then the skimmer is missing some water as it goes through the sump.

 

[Neopimp]

Like I said 2 different views...

The faster circulation is more energy consuming than the slow flow

 

[pulpfiction1]

closed system ,it all gets skimmed  sooner later

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