skimmer help

[berniekyle]

I have a kent marine nautilus protein skimmer with a rio 2100 pump. My problem is I cant get it adjusted right. It sits in a forty gallon sump without a float valve. Once i get it adjusted as the water level in the sump decreases the water in the skimmer decreases just enough to where im not getting any overflow. Then when if I add too much water into the sump I get too much water into the skimmer and it overflows my cup. Shouldn't the pump pull the same amount of water into the skimmer regardless of how much water is in the sump? I mean if its rated for 692 gallons an hour shouldnt it pump that regardless of whether its sitting in 25 or 30 gallons of water? Running a float valve off my r/o to keep the water level in my sump the same isnt an option for me. Is there any other option or will this happen regardless of what type of skimmer/pump combo I have?

[djtodd]

Nope. Water level affects the performance of most skimmers. It's a matter of the skimmer pump being able to push water "higher" with more water in the sump.

Get an auto topoff, and connect it to a resevoir (rubbermaid container or whatever) and keep the sump water level constant. Or build a chamber for the skimmer in the sump so that the water from the drain fills that chamber, then flows over the divider into a second area to be pumped out. This will keep the water level constant in the first chamber and variable in the second.

Seriously. Go with an auto topoff.