ASM G-2 skimmer question

[tava716]

How deep does the water level have to be for the skimmer to operate. I only have a 10 gallon sump.

 

[Blazer88]

Have you checked the footprint of that simmer? It's 10"x11" which probably won't fit in a 10G.

 

[Jeff]

I have seen pictures of, I believe, a G-3 in a 10gal tank before, I'll see if I can find them. Those dimensions really aren't accurate. They are like 10-11" long, but then they only have either a 5.5 or 6.5" diameter reaction chamber. When I asked Eruo-reef they said that "ideal" water height would be 6-7".

 

[tava716]

Tthe site I was looking at ( http://www.asmskimmer.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=30&osCsid=24b4f510c1330a61ec29724d1004167a ) said footrpint was 10 x11''. The 10 gallon tank is 10'' wide. Also, I wonder if I could modify the skimmer by lowering the intake into the water more with PVC or a rubber hose so I could leave the water level around 4 inches deep. If the hose was laying on the bottom of the sump, in all reality, it would still suck water as long as the water level was at least 3 inches of so deep. I like having the extra room in the sump (because it is so small). I have ran a mock power outage and the water fills the sump up to about 2 inches from the top when I have the water level at about 3 or 4 inches deep. If water is at 7 inches, sump may overflow during power outage. Any thoughts on this?

James

 

[Krish]

I'm not sure how deep it has to be, but I know with most skimmers you want to maintain a constant water level at all times or it will affect the skimmers production of skimmate. Also, some skimmers (I don't know about the ASM series) require that the output remain above water level. You will probably have to contact the people who make or sell the ASM skimmers and see what they suggest. Also, what I did when deciding on one, was download the user's manual and see how they say it should be setup. This helped me a lot in my decision as some on the intallation instructions on some of the skimmers made no sense and also wouldn't have worked for me anyway. Good luck James.

 

[tava716]

Thats a good idea Krish. Thanks buddy!

 

[wrightme43]

Ok I have a G-3 and the water level needs to stay at about 3-4 for the inlet to get water. One problem you may run into is that the skimmer when power goes out has alot of water in it and it drains out too. So be careful about that. I have not tried a 90 on the inlet or extending it with a hose. You may want to get the recirculation mod and that way it will be pulling the water in from the skimmer body and it wont matter about water depth in the sump so much. You just feed the skimmer with a powerhead and let it skim. check here www.asmskimmer.com They sell them modified or tell you how to do it yourself. Its my next project after the tank move to a different wall.

 

[tava716]

Wrightme43,

What does the recirc mod do? Does it keep the skimmer from emptying into the sump during a power outage?

also, what is the function of the gate valve mod? What is it's purpose?

 

[Krish]

I think the whole purpose behind using the recirculating mod is to allow the water more time (or a second chance if you will) of being exposed to the bubbles in the skimmer before returning back to the system/tank...Thus providing you with a better chance or success rate of removing junk from the water. In otherwards, the same water in the reaction chamber will probably stay in the chamber a little longer than a non-recirculating skimmer. I hope I'm right (LOL). About the gate valve mod...I have no idea (lol) The only thing I know about a gate valve from my skimmer is the more you close it, the more pressure is created in the skimmer which causes the water to rise higher in the skimmer. Closing my gate valve more, I can run my skimmer wet...Closing the gate all the way, I run my floor wet! (LOL)

 

[tava716]

Thanks Krish. You are exactly right.

For those wondering,
Here is the answer from the ASM staff that I emailed.

Recirc Mod - this allows for finer bubbles. When you set your skimmer up as a recirc, all that the pump does is pulls water from your skimmer, adds more air via the venturi and pumps it back into the skimmer. When you implement the recirc mod, you have to come with a way to introduce water to the skimmer. You can do this in one of two ways: have one of your drains from the tank empty into the side of the skimmer, or use a Feed Pump.

Feed Pump Mod - this is just a way to put tank water (from your sump) into the skimmer so that the recirc mod can grind it up.

Gate Valve Mod - this allow you to regulate the water level in the skimmer, this replaces the stock riser tube. The advantage is that you can get more granular with the setting of the skimmer. The only way to adjust these skimmers is by changing the output of the skimmer, with the riser tube or the gate vlave. The GV mod also allows for you to adjust the level without getting your hand wet. You can also direct the output from the skimmer with the gatevalce mod, this comes in handy when the exhause is next to the edge of the sump.

 

[Krish]

Thanks Krish. You are exactly right.

Bling Bling! I guess I made up for my stupidity on the digital timer thread (LOL). From what you posted James from the ASM staff, it sounds really good. I was just thinking about something similar to that the otherday on how I could use a CPR overflow to feed my skimmer the raw junk right out of the tank. I figured a lot was being lost when the water enters my sump, but couldn't figure out a way to do it. ASM's got a really good idea there. That would be perfect for your setup if you got the CPR overflow with the 2 returns at 800 gph each. One could enter your skimmer (with which you could put a ball valve on to tune your flow coming in) and the other could go to your sump. I want one now (LOL).

 

[tava716]

After long time thinking and asking questions, I think this is the skimmer I will buy.

Krish,

Thanks for all your help!!

My Gold Severums (South American Chiclids) just layed eggs for the millionth tiem. I just pulled the eggs out of the 55 gallon adn put them in a 5 galon. They should hatch in about a week adn I will have about 200 babies! Thrn I will sell them to my LFS and use it to help fund the skimmer project. I average about 100 babies a month from the parents. Good cash flow.

 

[Krish]

Krish,

Thanks for all your help!!

It's no problem James...Thank you! I learned a lot myself throughout your threads and posts on skimmers as well as others I'm sure. I'm always willing to learn something new and help whenever possible. I think you've made a good and wise decision with the ASM skimmer. Like I said, if I had the space, I would have gotten one myself. Steve (Wrightme43) had me sold on them.

Congrats on the new batch of eggs. Cichlids are like rabbits! They were the first fish I had ever seen lay eggs (that is the convicts). The Severums you have are cool. I've always liked them and didn't realize how big they got until I saw one at one of the LFS here in the Bahamas (the one I don't really shop at. I just go to look at the fish (LOL)). I'll be keeping my eye open for you when you post a pic of your new skimmer when you get it. Take care and I'm glad you can rest your mind now not having to worry your head on what skimmer to get...Now you can start worrying about something else (LOL)

 

[wrightme43]

Good deal glad to see your happy. One worry I had about having the water from the overflow go straight into the skimmer is it would overfeed the skimmer. I will be going with the feed pump mod and probley the gate valve mod. I think I will have more control with the feed pump mod. Congrats on the Millonth babies. LOL

 

[Krish]

One worry I had about having the water from the overflow go straight into the skimmer is it would overfeed the skimmer

I was wondering what you meant by that Steve? Did you mean you wouldn't have control over the water flow entering the skimmer or are you afraid of removing too much waste...Or am I way off (LOL)

 

[wrightme43]

Too much water entering the skimmer and flooding up the neck. Not having as much control over the water level in the skimmer body.

 

[Krish]

Oh...OK. But what if you put a ball valve on the line coming in and tune it from there and also you can tune it from the gate valve? Just wondering...I'm inquisitive somtimes and I remember you once told me when I first joined the forum that you pretend to know things sometimes (or something of that nature (LOL)) You haven't done me wrong yet...Just wondering if the valve on the return may be harder to tune than a pump...I guess when you think about it, if you are using an overflow with 2 outputs, it can cause a bit of a problem when trying to fine tune the sump and the skimmer at the same time while having to use only 1 level setting on the prefilter.

 

[wrightme43]

If you split off of one overflow line into two lines and put a valve on the one that is going to go to the sump I guess it would work fine, then you could have as much bypassing the skimmer as you felt neccesary. I just want the pump, I think it will be better.

 

[tava716]

Well,

Thanks for the input again guys. I will probably order the skimmer this weekend. One question though... Right now my sump is split in half. Half is full of bio balls and half is where my pumps sit. I am going to just move the existing plastic wall that I originally built to aplit it in half and make it so only 1/3 of the sump is packed with bio balls. This will give me more room for the skimmer (and all my pumps) to sit in the other 2/3 of the 10 gallon tank.If I take my sump out for a day or 2 to modify it for the skimmer, can I just put another 10 gallon in it's place (with no deviders or anything) and just toss my bioballs in it and let them float around in the 10 gallon and them have my overlow drain into it and my return pump send the water back to my display tank? will this keep the bacteria thats on them alive, or will it die because the balls are not suspended and stacked on top of each other? I am running one Aquaclear 500 power filter on it right now and I will add a 2nd one for the 2 days that the sump is out of comishion. Does this sound right?

 

[Krish]

You should be fine with doing that IMO. I had my bio-balls floating in a bucket for about 3 days once waiting on my new sump and I didn't have a problem when I checked my parameters after staring up the new sump. I never had any real load in my tank, but I still think you will be fine.