Life reef skimmer out of the sump

[Salahunreal]

Hi,
So after a pause for three years since we got fully busy with our baby back then, I put the aquarium project on hold to enjoy the time with the little one. Now started to have just a little free time so I started resume my setup.
I bought a Life reef skimmer back then and the plan was to have it in sump, but now I am thinking more to have more space for the refuge (going with triton method) so I have some empty space between the sump and cabinet right wall. I thought to make a hole and put a bulkhead and connect it to the skimmer water outlet and let . The water inlet is already high so it will go over the sump then 90 elbow and hose connector with 32mm hose to cor20.
Any ideas or anything I am missing and not taking in consideration here, I would highly appreciate any feedback or info.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I see you have a loop from the collection cup to the flow back into the sump. Nice idea. I have a float to a shutoff & alarm and still built a pvc box for the entire system to sit in. The pvc box has a drain that runs outside.

 

[DCR]

I see you have a loop from the collection cup to the flow back into the sump. Nice idea. I have a float to a shutoff & alarm and still built a pvc box for the entire system to sit in. The pvc box has a drain that runs outside.

That loop is actually the air intake for the venturi. Lifereef recirculates air from the cup back to the venturi. In theory, if you fill the cup it will start sucking in liquid from the cup and stop the air injection. I am not sure how reliable that is in practice to prevent an overflow. I am considering the same question on where to place my Lifereef skimmer and I was leaning towards the sump just in case of an overflow. If I went external, I think I would want some type of secondary catch box under it as you describe.

 

[JoshH]

That loop is actually the air intake for the venturi. Lifereef recirculates air from the cup back to the venturi. In theory, if you fill the cup it will start sucking in liquid from the cup and stop the air injection. I am not sure how reliable that is in practice to prevent an overflow. I am considering the same question on where to place my Lifereef skimmer and I was leaning towards the sump just in case of an overflow. If I went external, I think I would want some type of secondary catch box under it as you describe.

Stops mine from overflowing every time so I'd say it's pretty reliable myself

 

[DCR]

Stops mine from overflowing every time so I'd say it's pretty reliable myself

Thanks. That is good to know.

 

[Salahunreal]

I see you have a loop from the collection cup to the flow back into the sump. Nice idea. I have a float to a shutoff & alarm and still built a pvc box for the entire system to sit in. The pvc box has a drain that runs outside.

As @DCR already explained exactly.

 

[Salahunreal]

That loop is actually the air intake for the venturi. Lifereef recirculates air from the cup back to the venturi. In theory, if you fill the cup it will start sucking in liquid from the cup and stop the air injection. I am not sure how reliable that is in practice to prevent an overflow. I am considering the same question on where to place my Lifereef skimmer and I was leaning towards the sump just in case of an overflow. If I went external, I think I would want some type of secondary catch box under it as you describe.

I was thinking about that also, to build maybe a DIY container from acrylic or so. Good idea.

 

[Salahunreal]

Stops mine from overflowing every time so I'd say it's pretty reliable myself

Thanks for the feedback. Its for you and other LR owners who made my mind to go with LR even though I paid double the price of the skimmer because of the international shipping and import/taxes inside EU but not regretting it even before running the skimmer. Thanks again

 

[JoshH]

Thanks for the feedback. Its for you and other LR owners who made my mind to go with LR even though I paid double the price of the skimmer because of the international shipping and import/taxes inside EU but not regretting it even before running the skimmer. Thanks again

Always happy to spend someone else's money Don't worry I'm in Canada and paid an outrageous amount of money for my Lifereef skimmer so I definitely feel your pain.