How to make a Remora act like an Urchin

[vic622]

Okay so Plan B.
Looking at the sump, I realized that I could put the skimmer in the 2nd chamber and hang it over the glass divider to the 1st chamber, like a HOB, and put the pump & overflow box in the 1st chamber.
More measurements and this will work! Yippeee!

First thing I'll need to do is cut the glass lid on the sump to clear the Skimmer



The result of cutting the glass



No good fabrication without battle scars

Now to put it all together. Assembled ready to go in the sump



Skimmer in place in 2nd chamber of sump



Everything fits and even though its tight it looks good and when I plug it in, it starts to run.
Only one slight problem, the pressure on the flex-pvc and the vibration from the pump cause the overflow box to lift and tilt and push it above the water level - "Can you say cavitation?!?"
I put a chunk of hose to wedge the box in place and this seems to hold, so I figure I can fab a brace out of the Acrylic left over from the stand that I don't need.
Overflow Box with Spacer mod to keep it from floating up



Up and running and making bubbles. I ran it for about 1hr trying to adjust the foam so it wasn't pulling too much water. This was when the lights timered out & I was pretty much timed out too at this point so that was it for the first night.

I noticed that there was a bit more noise coming from the injector that I wanted to hear and I thought about the plastic cover I'd seen on NanoReef and thought I could build a cover from Acrylic that would do the same job.
Its loosely based on this Mod Thread: Aqua C Remora Noise Baffle

Assembling the Remora silencer



Assembled



I had to modify it as it kinda wanted to fall in the injector chamber - not good. I added two more sides and put a handle on the top while I was at it



It makes a huge difference in the noise from the skimmer and I might play with it to see if I can get a better seal and cut the noise down even more.
Its loosely based on this mod thread:


In the mean time, I now have a skimmer in my sump and we'll see if my corals start to be happier. So far, the Watermelon and mystery mushroom are more open and it may be wishful thinking, but the tank is looking a bit clearer.
As of this evening, 24hrs running and the skimate is the colour of weak tea and I'm getting about 1"/6hrs.



I've raised the collection cup again to see if I can get a bit less liquid volume and a bit more crud.

[cuz]

good write-up, lots of detail with pics!!+1

[vic622]

Originally Posted by cuz

good write-up, lots of detail with pics!!+1

Thanks, for once I remembered to get the camera out before I started

[banditpowdercoat]

Thats kinda neat making the little box like that, but what's the purpose? Not sure if theres any benifit to surface skimming a sump? It's the main tank that needs the surface skimming

[vic622]

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

Thats kinda neat making the little box like that, but what's the purpose? Not sure if theres any benifit to surface skimming a sump? It's the main tank that needs the surface skimming

I've got an overflow on the display (600gph), so yeah, that's happening ...

When I built my sump, I didn't make a skimmer chamber, and wanted to make sure that I was able to get the surface layer from the 1st chamber.
I get a fair amount of foam forming on the surface of this chamber and wanted to target it - only way I could think of was to pull from the top.
With the water level changing with evaporation I needed a way pull without cavitating the pump and ... Voila

Plus it gave me a chance to sniff methylene chloride fumes for a day

[banditpowdercoat]

Ahh OK, makes sense to me now.

Originally Posted by vic622

I've got an overflow on the display (600gph), so yeah, that's happening ...

When I built my sump, I didn't make a skimmer chamber, and wanted to make sure that I was able to get the surface layer from the 1st chamber.
I get a fair amount of foam forming on the surface of this chamber and wanted to target it - only way I could think of was to pull from the top.
With the water level changing with evaporation I needed a way pull without cavitating the pump and ... Voila

Plus it gave me a chance to sniff methylene chloride fumes for a day