Calling All Super Skimmer Owners

[earlybird]

I've read the directions on my ss65 and don't understand why the intake pump needs to be 3-4" max below the water line?
Also, has anyone changed the length of the flexible tubing? The hang on directions call for the 1.5" tubing while the in sump requires the 5" tubing. Can I adjust the tubing to fit my needs?

 

[sign guy]

3 to 4 inches allows for the right amount of pesure to be on the pump to work at its best. and I would try and leave the tubes as they are

 

[fbm]

I actually screwed around with this to see why. And the deeper the pump the more pressure the water puts on the pump and it will pull less air through. The shallower the pump the less water pressure and more air. So it did work when it was 8 inches deep but there was visibly less air and therefore skimmed less.

 

[gen1dustin]

On mine I trimmed the 3.5" tubing in half. It is still about 5" below the water level, but that is the shallowest I could get. It is supposed to be at 3"-4". Mine is producing tons of micro bubbles & seems to be working great so far. Mine is the 220 btw.

 

[cyclops]

I aslo have the 220 and a 65. The 65 is not running yet I am waiting to build my sump, but I do run the 220 and I have tried to have it touch the ground bottom of my sump and nothing was happening so I used 3" and it worked great. So stay with the 3-5"

 

[krazekajin]

one of the main things is that most of the particles in the water that needs to be skimmed are in the top portion of the water. If you skim from the very bottom of a tank/sump, then you are bypassing the larger amount of waste which tends to float. This is why some people have a lot of foam on the top of thier water, the waste floats upwards and combines with bubbles from filters and what not to produce foam.

 

[chipmaker]

Originally Posted by KrazeKajin
one of the main things is that most of the particles in the water that needs to be skimmed are in the top portion of the water. If you skim from the very bottom of a tank/sump, then you are bypassing the larger amount of waste which tends to float. This is why some people have a lot of foam on the top of thier water, the waste floats upwards and combines with bubbles from filters and what not to produce foam.

This is simply not true.....The main thing with the needle wheel CSS skimmers is they have to be within a reign of the water so barometric prerssure and water weight do not work against them. Its all a matter of physics and their placement in the water colum as designed.
The amount of foam is dependant on where and how you have yur bubbles adjusted inthe reaction chanber or main body..lower column of bubbles from collection cup makes for a drier skim, higher column makes wetter skim...Simply put too deep inthe water and a needle wheel super skimmer does not aerate or pull in suffficeint water to work as it was designed......Too high it produces more air and gets to be uncollable....