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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Ok, I finally took the plunge and got the collection cup of my euroreef drilled.

I first went to Home Depot to buy the fittings. Bought a brass one that was straight up and down. Also got a plastic one that had a 45 degree elbow bend, but the end was a little too small I thought.

Next day, I went to a local hardware store that specialized in all sorts of fittings. I found 2 that I wanted to use. One was a 1/2 inch and the other was a 1/8 inch. Here's what the 1/2 inch one looks like


I had absolutely NO intentions of drilling this myself as I believe this is about a $100 replacement part. So I took it to my local plastics workshop, Plastic Tech in Ann ARbor.

They charged me $10.00 to drill the hole.

I ended up having to use the smaller of the 2 fittings because of the limited width on the bottom of the collection cup. Still, this fitting has a larger diameter than the one I got from Home Depot so I was still pleased. Just a little bummed that I couldn't use the larger fitting. But that is why I bought 2, just in case.

If you had a bigger collection cup, I'm sure you could use the bigger sized fittings no problem. My reasoning for wanting the bigger fitting is so that there was less chance of the fitting clogging from the accumulation of goo. When I empty my cup for cleaning, there are literally chunks that come out in the skimmate. Very gross!

I had some Weldon 16 that I used to glue the fitting into place. It was tricky to get glue on the inside of the cup. I ended up taking the fitting, squirting a bunch of glue on the threads and pushing the fitting back into the hole. I let the glue ooze around the bottom on the outside of the cup. To that, I took a q-tip and swabbed around the perimeter of the screw threads.

Here's the finished product



I have not as of this posting hooked up the unit. I am letting the glue set for 24 hours as per the instructions. I will be reassembling the skimmer this evening.
 

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Ok I have to ask...why do people do this? Is it just so you dont have to remove your cup part, which I don't find hard to do. I mean I'd do it if it made things easier somehow, but I am just missing that aspect. Please teach me!! [)]
 

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Discussion Starter · #4 ·
Yeah, it just makes it easier. Less maintainence. I have to clean the cup weekly and I just fine that it is a disgusting job. I will still need to clean the cup, but the idea is with much less frequency. I hope the 2 liter bottle will be big enough to last me 2-3 weeks worth of skimmate.
 

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Just a thought, but cleaning your skimmer is about more than just emptying the cup... Ideally, you should be cleaning the cup out every day. The most important element of that being wiping out the inside of the throat that leads up into the cup. Cleaning that throat out greatly enhances the efficiency of the skimmer. Even if you don't get a full cup of skimmate, you should still be cleaning out the cup (and especially that throat) at least three times per week or so. It's a shame to lose the efficiency when that's what you paid extra money to get.

-Clayton
 

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What's your reasoning behind running the skimmer that wet? I would think that any skimmer that's appropriately sized for the tank that it's on and where the tank has a reasonable bio-load you wouldn't have to do that. What kind of nitrate readings are you trying to attain?

-Clayton
 

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http//www.thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28215&highlight=wet

http//www.thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29836&highlight=wet

http//www.thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29329&highlight=wet
 

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quote

Originally posted by Clayton

Just a thought, but cleaning your skimmer is about more than just emptying the cup... Ideally, you should be cleaning the cup out every day. The most important element of that being wiping out the inside of the throat that leads up into the cup. Cleaning that throat out greatly enhances the efficiency of the skimmer. Even if you don't get a full cup of skimmate, you should still be cleaning out the cup (and especially that throat) at least three times per week or so. It's a shame to lose the efficiency when that's what you paid extra money to get.

-Clayton

</blockquote id="quote">

Calfo supports what Clayton has posted above! In his book of Coral Propagation he writes of being an adament proponent of skimming and skimmer efficiency is one of the most neglected parameters of reef-aquarium husbandry! Skimate should be recovered daily, but that is hard for many of us to do. He also states neglecting to clean the skimmer necks and bodies weekly or less often is not conducive to optimum skimming. Skimmers differ, but the more often it's cleaned the more peak performance you get out of it. I recently took the skimmer out of the sump and did a thorough cleaning and seen a big difference in the skim that it collected. We all do things different but thought that Claytons post was very informative and I just wanted to support the info that he shared!
 

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You just linked me to three articles on a site where I have to join in order to read them. I was really just asking you why you personally run your skimmer that wet. I haven't seen any benefit from doing so and I'm curious as to why you like to run your skimmer that way. Have you seen a difference in your tank?

-Clayton
 

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Discussion Starter · #15 ·
On the euroreefs, there is a riser column. You adjust the riser column up or down, depending on how much dwell time you want for the water inside the column before exiting the riser.

If the riser is raised all the way up, it makes the water in the skimmer rise up a higher as well. Since the water is rising up higher in the skimmer, the foam also reaches the throat of the collection cup quicker and the collection cup fills faster.

I'm sure running a skimmer wet or dry also depends on the type of skimmer you are using. If you using a skimmer that is less than efficient, probably running it wet it better so that you can skim everything, even if it wastes water. That certainly seemed to be the case when I had the Turbofloater.

I guess it is a moot point to argue the finer points about running the skimmer wet or dry. In the end, it's all personal preferance and how you want to maintain your skimmer.
 
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