Output too high for skimmer?

[matt2364]

Hello - I just tore my old sump out and changed a lot of things around. I took out an external pump and put in a Quiet one 5,000 which has an output of 1,330. Long story short this was too much flow so I switched the quite one 3,000 (768 gph) from my skimmer to my main pump and put on the quite one 5,000 on my skimmer. It is not producing any skimate or really working at all. Is this too powerful of a pump to use on a Aqua C-EV 120? Please let me know if there is anything I can do to get this working again.

 

[matt2364]

Any ideas, I am assuming the pump is just to powerful for the skimmer. I am not sure why it would not work though, can anyone explain this. I did look it up on Aqua C website and they said to overdrive it use a mag 7 or equivalent which is around 700 gph so the quiet one 5,000 is well beyond that in gph.

 

[devil dog]

Well you need to look at what your skimmer flow rate should be for the size tank you have... you might need to slow it down so it can work... what kind of skimmer do you have? what size tank is it on?
try and slow it down and see hwat happends...
good luck

 

[matt2364]

I have an Aqua C-EV 120 on a 55 gallon tank. The skimmer I believe is rated for tanks 40-120 gallons or something like that. It says you can overdirve the skimmer with a mag7 or equivalent. There is no way on my pump to scale it back, I might need to try to hook up a ball valve to it or something to restrict the flow.
Just curios though, why would too much flow make the skimmer not work correctly. I would have thought it would just be more efficient.

 

[fatcat]

Originally Posted by matt2364
http:///forum/post/2923109
I have an Aqua C-EV 120 on a 55 gallon tank. The skimmer I believe is rated for tanks 40-120 gallons or something like that. It says you can overdirve the skimmer with a mag7 or equivalent. There is no way on my pump to scale it back, I might need to try to hook up a ball valve to it or something to restrict the flow.
Just curios though, why would too much flow make the skimmer not work correctly. I would have thought it would just be more efficient.
It's all about finding the right water to air ratio just like in a car if you put to much fuel and not enough air you'll flood it, i would say your "flooding" your skimmer.

 

[matt2364]

Gotcha, that makes sense. Thats for the explanation.

 

[tvoydan]

I have the same skimmer and also use the Quiet One 3000 pump. The manual says the skimmer requires 500-550gph, but you can overdrive it per the manual. Hence I selected the 3000 at 768gph. It works well for me.
If you're now using the Quiet One 5000 pump, put a flash light on side of the skimmer and see if the injector is submerged in water. You won't get any air if it is. You correct this by opening the gate valve to lower the internal water level. If your gate valve is open all the way and the injector is still submerged, you're pumping to much water. So 1330gph may be to much flow to get the water level set correctly.
Tom

 

[matt2364]

Thanks tvoydan, I tried that and it is working well now. I have someone dropping off a mag7 tomorrow that I got for $30.00. The mag 7 is around 700 gph like the quite one 3,000, do you think the 1330gph Quite one 5,000 will work better or will it be pretty much the same as the mag7?

 

[tvoydan]

The Mag7 is rated at 700gph, close the the QuiteOne 3000, so they should perform similar with the AquaC EV-120. I think the 5000 is just to much flow for this skimmer without restricting the input with a valve.
I'd put the Mag7 on the Skimmer and the 3000 on the return for the tank myself.
Tom

 

[matt2364]

I will let you know how the Quite One 5,000 works out. It has been running for about an hour now and has produced the thickest foam I have ever seen in my skimmer by far. I think I might just have to keep this bad boy running on it. I will post some pics later.

 

[tvoydan]

I thought the 5000 wouldn't produce foam? How did you get it working?

 

[matt2364]

Well I looked at it with the flash light and the input was below the water level so it was not mixing with the air. I opened the valve more and it is working like a dream now.

 

[matt2364]

Here is a picture after running for about 2-3 hours.