Sump level importance!!!

[The Guy]

I have a RSM 250 with a rear sump and am using a Deltec 500 skimmer. Although the skimmer was working okish I have never been overly impressed with the performance, so after messing with sump level and lowering it 1 inch it made a huge difference to the skimmer performance. It's now doing a great job and producing almost black skimmate that smells really bad, I couldn't be happier with performance now.
This is just a POI of how important the amount of water the skimmer sits in your sump and thought I would share my findings.
I guess it's no different than tuning a car to get the best performance possible.

[George]

hmmm...interesting. I thought the MCE 500 is a hang-on-back skimmer which doesn't affect by the water level.

[christyf5]

Its an internal but it looks like a hang-on

I run a Euroreef skimmer and it definitely runs better when I keep the sump at 8-9" which is recommended in the manual. That being said, my waterchanges are done in the sump and they can fluctuate the sump level. Always comes back to that when I wonder why the ER isn't running so well

[Dearth]

I helped a friend with their coral life skimmer last year thing wasn't skimming worth crap then some quick research found that it operated best at a depth of 5-7 inches his was sitting at 9" we raised it up 3 inches and man that thing went into overdrive

It is amazing at how well these work when setup correctly

[Animal-Chin]

Yup a long time ago I had a skimmer in the compartment of the sump that would lower with evaporation. Whoops! Gotta get the right height and keep it there!

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by George

hmmm...interesting. I thought the MCE 500 is a hang-on-back skimmer which doesn't affect by the water level.

No it's for internal use, but I think Deltec make a hang on not sue what model it is though. The MC500 is a great replacement for the stock RSM skimmer.

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by Animal-Chin

Yup a long time ago I had a skimmer in the compartment of the sump that would lower with evaporation. Whoops! Gotta get the right height and keep it there!

That's why I have the tunze 3155 ATO it keeps my level perfect.