Skimmer Setup

[Ken]

Hi Gerald, I'm a big fan of downdraft skimmer. The ETSS 600 has a 3/4" inlet to the skimmer and a 1 1/2" outlet. Possibly if you're foaming too wet is caused by a few things. These skimmers you cannot under estimate them. If your tank has too much organic load, you will foam lots. If the oulet is restricted, meaning less than 1 1/2", same this will cause the water level to rise. The initial water level should be approx 1" above the black box sump of the skimmer. It may sound low but it will skim. Here be patience it will skim. Next possibly the pump is oversized, you may need to do more research on this. I think you mention a little Giant 4mdqx, this one produce approx 1300 gph. The one for this skimmer should be a 4mdq rated at 850gph that is if you are using a little giant. Another option would be the Iwaki md40rlt at 780 gph. You can throttle back the pump but it is not recommended by ETSS. The outlet valve should be fully open, allowing the water to drain properly back to the sump. You may fine tune the outlet to get the dry foam production. The ETSS skimmer are my favorite. My 500 gallon has the ETSS1400 dual biotower run by an Iwaki 70 at 1500gph. Regards Ken