Sump question

[MrShroomy]

Hello

For my 90 gallon tank I have a SRO 2000 which is supposed to be in 5.75 to 6 inches of water. The first baffle in my sump is 9 inches tall so I put the skimmer on a stand. Turns out I didn't plan very well because the skimmer is touching the top of the stand making it hard to take the top off. There is a hole in the collection cup with a plug that i have been using to empty it but it is still hard to take the top off. My question for you guys is can I redo the first baffle so it is 6 inches and have no stand for the skimmer? If i understand how sumps work then the third baffle before the return section would also have to be 6 inches which doesn't leave much room for evaporation. I do have a tunze osmolator which would help with that. Any advice would be welcome, thanks!

[Lateralus]

Is there anyway to move it off of the stand when you want to take the cup off?

[bnumair]

i wouldnt reduce the size of baffles. above suggestion seems likely if u can.

[Sn8kbyt]

+1 on moving it off the stand if possible.

Or shorten the stand an 1" most skimmers have a decent give and take on the water level they will work in and and inch or less space is all that is required on most skimmers to remove the cup.

[Palting]

Originally Posted by MrShroomy

Hello

For my 90 gallon tank I have a SRO 2000 which is supposed to be in 5.75 to 6 inches of water. The first baffle in my sump is 9 inches tall so I put the skimmer on a stand. Turns out I didn't plan very well because the skimmer is touching the top of the stand making it hard to take the top off. There is a hole in the collection cup with a plug that i have been using to empty it but it is still hard to take the top off. My question for you guys is can I redo the first baffle so it is 6 inches and have no stand for the skimmer? If i understand how sumps work then the third baffle before the return section would also have to be 6 inches which doesn't leave much room for evaporation. I do have a tunze osmolator which would help with that. Any advice would be welcome, thanks!

I definitely would cut the baffles down to 6". You need to make maintenance easy, otherwise it won't get done. As an example, you'll also need to clean the cup and not just empty it. Fighting to get the cup off, or struggling to get the whole skimmer out.......that does not sound easy to me. Just cut the baffles down. I wouldn't worry about evaporation, as your ATO with the Tunze will keep the return section constantly filled. My return section is only 5" deep, but the Tunze keeps that constant. And I evaporate 2-3 gallons a day LOL!

What can potentially be an issue is if you want to have a refugium. 6" of water isn't much for a refugium. You can do what I did when the time comes. Make a remote refugium.

[sandwi54]

This is too late to say, but the skimmer's required water depth is the exact reason I do not use any stand lower than 36" tall, and I purposely stay away from any skimmer that cannot be in least 8-9" of water depth. The in-sump SRO's are really nice skimmer but the bubble blaster pumps are designed too strong for the body, and that's why they need to be lower water depths to prevent overflowing. I use the SRO XP-5000 but the external version so I don't have to mess with the water depth.

How tall is your stand? You really just need 1" of distance between the top of the collection cup and the stand to take off the cup. I wouldn't necessarily cut the baffles all the way down to 6" if 7 or even 8" will work.

[MrShroomy]

Originally Posted by Lateralus

Is there anyway to move it off of the stand when you want to take the cup off?

Yes, I just tried it and you can get the stand out from under it, not ideal but it works.

Originally Posted by Palting

I definitely would cut the baffles down to 6". You need to make maintenance easy, otherwise it won't get done. As an example, you'll also need to clean the cup and not just empty it. Fighting to get the cup off, or struggling to get the whole skimmer out.......that does not sound easy to me. Just cut the baffles down. I wouldn't worry about evaporation, as your ATO with the Tunze will keep the return section constantly filled. My return section is only 5" deep, but the Tunze keeps that constant. And I evaporate 2-3 gallons a day LOL!



What can potentially be an issue is if you want to have a refugium. 6" of water isn't much for a refugium. You can do what I did when the time comes. Make a remote refugium.

I actually have my sump setup with a refugium off from the return line so the baffle height won't effect it.

Is the main problem with short baffles the evaporation in the return section or are there any other reasons?

[Palting]

Originally Posted by MrShroomy

I actually have my sump setup with a refugium off from the return line so the baffle height won't effect it.

Is the main problem with short baffles the evaporation in the return section or are there any other reasons?

Short baffles = shallow water. But you need that shallow water because of the skimmer and the low stand height. The refugium is separate and in deeper water, if I understand your post right, so that clears that problem. The tunze osmolator solves the problem of evaporation. The only other thing I can think of that can be a problem is a vortex. If the water level is shallow and you have a strong return pump, this can result in a vortex and the pump will start sucking air due to the vortex created and pump air bubbles into the DT. If this happens, you can attach an elbow to the inlet of the pump so that the pump sucks water closer to the bottom. That's what I had to do with my 1400gph return pump that sits in 6" of water.

[Dmoody]

My DC-1 is suppose to be in 5-6 inches of water and I run it in 9. It works perfectly.