Michael Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Hey guys. Ive got a bak pak skimmer, and i cant put it behind my acrylic tank because its too close up against the wall. so, i figured i'de find a way to use it from my refuge. The pump that pushes water and air into the skimmer doesn't reach the water level (its a aqueon 10 or 15 gallon sump), so i had to jimmy-rig it to work. What i did was, attack a piece of hose to the pump, and another into the intake, seems legit? just did it a couple of hours ago, and it seems to be working fine (water flow), this is the only skimmer on the tank, should i be worried? will this not work? The hose is only used as an extension to reach the water level, nothing more. water flow is perfect, but will doing so dilute the skimmer's power? will it not pull the protein from the water? The hose is only about 4 or 5 inches long, so i figured it wouldn't be too bad. has anyone had issues with something like this before? any good stories? bad ones? Thank you all so much for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerk1985 Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 If the skimmer is working properly I dont see why it would be a problem. It sounds like the water returning back to the sump is up pretty high, I would be worried about the extra splashing making a salt creep mess every where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I did the same thing once with a hang on skimmer, it had its own over flow box that went in the tank that the pump went into. I used that skimmer on all kinds of projects from in a sump to curing rock in tubs. I cut a longer piece of tubing to hang the pump lower (tub or the sump project) had to play around with it a little but it always worked. I tried changing the pump out once for a stronger one but it didn't work. The pump that came with it was small and had the air intake on it, I tried messing around with it but unless I used it the way was designed (except the longer tube) it wouldn't work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I still don't have a clear idea of your setup, Could you possibly post a pic of how it is configured? I have one of the original Bak-Pak2s. It came with a Rio pump, at the time, which I replaced with a modified MaxiJet powerhead. An airline is attached to the pump intake, and it works excellent for my 46gallon bowfront reef. It is not in my sump below the tank, but rather kept inside my refugium that is next to, and slightly above my display tank. If the water level in your sump is low, you may try something similar. Hopefully, there may be a helpful idea here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 From my understanding, you currently have your pump running externally above the water and you're using a tube to draw water from the tank below, correct? What pump are you using? I think some pumps shouldn't be ran outside of water, but I couldn't confirm that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 From my understanding, you currently have your pump running externally above the water and you're using a tube to draw water from the tank below, correct? What pump are you using? I think some pumps shouldn't be ran outside of water, but I couldn't confirm that. Seems best if that pump were extended lower with a longer return tube rising up, pushing water into the skimmer, rather than a longer tube pulling water up into an exposed pump! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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