Hi,
5 feet of water and 8 to 10 inches of foam. The skimmer is 4 inches in diameter. My stand is 3 feet tall and my tank is 2 feet tall; hence it was logical to make the water level at 5 feet.
The Tetra Deep DW96-2 was louder than expected. So, I had to build a muffler to drown out the noise. The muffler consisted of placing the pump inside a small rubbermaid container with some cloth. I tried not to over stuff it with cloth since I could overheat the air pump. I placed the air pump above the skimmer, but you could put it in the stand and it should help control the noise. So how loud is it ? Well, it is in the same room as my home theatre and it didn't seem to bother anybody (they sat 10 feet away from the tank). Other than the noise, it is a really good solid pump. It has lots of pressure and it is definitely more than enough air for this application -- maybe too much if you don't have as much water column. The skimmer uses two airstones.
This skimmer replaced my PM HOT-1 clone with the RIO800 and an airstone. The main reason...my skimmer pulled out very little and my algae was still growing. I had some hair algae and it kept my Tang very happy. It wasn't growing out of control, but it was an eyesore. So, in went the new skimmer...algae died in two days. So...now I have to buy real food for the tang. I rarely clean the glass since it is so clean. On average, it pulls out a gallon of light green/yellow soup of skimate a week. And the water is very clear...I run carbon very seldomly (less than once a month).
I paid $120 CAD for my air pump.
So far...I like a lot and it is definitely easier to use than the HOT-1.
- Victor.
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