Water depth for Octopus NW-150

[lizardarm]

Good Morning All,
Can anyone tell me what the recommended in sump water depth is for the Octopus NW-150 skimmer. I'm thinking that my sump's water level is too deep for the skimmer and I'm wondering how much to raise it up.
Thanks in advance,
Chris

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Chris, I found that the deeper my 150 was the better, up to the point that the pump started having restart issues and trouble drawing air. Experiment with yours to find it's maximum production level. Mine was a good 5-6" deep

 

[lizardarm]

Great,
Thanks for the reply. I think that my sump is operating at about 8"-10" of water (baffles) and the skimmer is not doing as well as it did when I was testing it out (I meshwheel modded it before I got my new system up and running) in the bathtub in probably 6"-8" of water. I don't know what I did with any literature that may have come with it from the manufacturer, so I wasn't sure if there was a recommended water level.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

That is a bit deep for it. Make sure you didn't add too much mesh, the pump likes to stop. If it does better raised up, a couple shallow flower pots, or plastic containers worked well for me on a different system.

 

[lizardarm]

Yeah I figured the "too much mesh" part out while testing it. As far as lifting it up goes, I was thinking about glueing together some scrap Plexiglass I've got left over from a window replacement in the shop. Doesn't have to be fancy, just "lifty".

 

[kgross]

I have found that they work best in no more than about 6 to 7 inches of water, so building a little stand should make it work a lot better.

Kim

 

[lizardarm]

Yep, I was going to build a stand, then I came across a little rubbermade basket type thing in a closet that fit the bill. The skimmer is now in about six inches of water and doing fine. Not much in the way of proteins to skim yet, but it does a heck of a job at clearing the very fine sediment that has clouded the water when I put the sand bed in.
Thanks for the tips Mike and Kim.

 

[Skimmy]

i would say that the best water level is right where the pump plumbing goes into the skimmer body, that way there is as little back pressure on the pump, but the water level is only a few inches above the venturi.
on the new ps and ts series of 2008 octopus skimmers i find a water level of 9" is better, something to do with the design of the new model makes it skim better in a little deeper water level.

2 layers of mesh is what you want, and mod the crappy venturi, here's how i did mine:

i used a 1/2" ftp adapter to decrease the diameter of the water imput, and then drilled a hole to accomodate a 1/4" post for a 3/8" air line as close to the impellar as possible without disturbing the locking volute cover.

 

[wax]

i just bought the octopus TS 150. and was wondering what is "mesh" sorry new to skimmers.

 

[lizardarm]

Thanks for the input skimmerwhisperer. I had read a bit about people modding their venturis but thought that mine didn't look like it could be drilled out any further; seeing those pics of how you did it makes much more sense. I have set the skimmer on a stand in the sump, and only by coincidence the water level in my sump is dead on where the pump plumbing enters the skimmer body and it works excellent. I'm going to take it apart and take off one layer of the Enkamat (I thought I'd be fancy and use three) because I'm having restart issues whenever I take it off line to clean it.

i just bought the octopus TS 150. and was wondering what is "mesh" sorry new to skimmers.

Here wax, check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PF4-Enkamat-Pro...ryZ46308QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
And WELCOME to Reeffrontiers!