wall between small upper pool w/waterfall and main pond

[damian]

poor frogs!

 

[fishin4cars]

Cool shot, i didn't know the compact and large savio were such different designs. how does the water get pre-filtered before the pump? also is the a UV in the side of the skimmer (yellow top). Mine is compact and the UV is in the center, no way a frog could get through the baskets hole.

 

[fishin4cars]

Both of you are running external pumps correct?

 

[taherrmann4]

Cool shot, i didn't know the compact and large savio were such different designs. how does the water get pre-filtered before the pump? also is the a UV in the side of the skimmer (yellow top). Mine is compact and the UV is in the center, no way a frog could get through the baskets hole.

The way my skimmer works is that the water goes from the skimmer basket along the sides of the skimmer to the back and there is a pad where the water goes through. My pumps pulls the water from a pipe that is plumed in the bottom side between the yellow thingy and the the filter pad. If you look closely at the yellow thingy there is a black strap that is hanging off of it my pump pulls the water from that area at the bottom.

Now the reason that I have that yellow thing in there is sometimes I get such a strong syphon because I am pulling soooo much volume through the skimmer (no BD) that it creates a sucking noise and this little thing has eliminated it. I don't have a uv.

I have attached another pic of my basket and as you can see the handle hole is a bit large. The other pic is of my prefilter pad.

Yes I have an external pump.

 

[addy1]

Very nice, looking great. I have a dry stream bed for my run off, put in some damp ground loving plants, in the stream bed and they are doing great.

 

[fishin4cars]

Yea, I just got done talking on the phone with Damain. I undertand now how the water draws. So what is the yellow thingy? LOL How does it eleminate the sucking sound, My system does the same thing unless the leaf basket and the pre-filters have just been cleaned, I can get about 6-8 hours of no sucking saound then it all starts again. I know the pump is over rated because the compact skimmer is rated for 3000gph, my pump is 3600gph and I think I'm actually moving about 3200gph with the restrictions and head pressure.

BTW, Damain, here is some links to the Vortex system I was talking about. It was good talking to you.
http://www.koipondcentral.com/articles/sub/barrel_How_To.htm
http://www.columbiawatergardens.com/Vortex_s/4737.htm
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/2-uniseal-bulkhead-alternative.html

 

[damian]

sweet, just ordered a couple uniseals from that link. i've been looking for an alternative to a bulkhead for the outlet of my doc filter because a 3" bulkhead would be a giant pain to deal with on the curve of the barrel.

 

[damian]

per your request for pics of the bottom drain install, here is the first one that i have found:

that is just the trench, but it is all i could find on this camera. i think the others must be on my wife's camera or my phone. i will check and upload them when i find them.

 

[taherrmann4]

Ok that yellow thingy (technical term) is called a rubber strap wrench and I got them at harbor freight they come in a 2 pk and I used the smaller of the two. The handle part is just sitting in the hole for the UV clarifier and the rubber part is just hanging down. The reason I got the sucking sound is that the pump has sooo much draw that it would create a whirlpool in the skimmer and as the skimmer got more clogged with debris or algae the water volume slowed so the water level in the middle of the skimmer would get lower. Once it go low enough where the whirlpool bottom was at the pipe exit for the pump it was sucking air and that is what caused the sound. So all I did was put this rubber piece in there and let hang down and t disrupts the whirlpool not allowing it to form as well thus reducing the sucking sound. Now if it gets too low I still get the sucking sound but the skimmer has to be really clogged with leaves and debris. The skimmer basket is also extremely heav to pull out when it does get full. I found this out by putting my finger in the whirlpool and it stopped the sound. Not very technical but it helped.

 

[fishin4cars]

sweet, just ordered a couple uniseals from that link. i've been looking for an alternative to a bulkhead for the outlet of my doc filter because a 3" bulkhead would be a giant pain to deal with on the curve of the barrel.

I thought you might want to see them, I've talked to several people that have used them and they all say they are great and in some cases work better than bulkheads.

Ok that yellow thingy (technical term) is called a rubber strap wrench and I got them at harbor freight they come in a 2 pk and I used the smaller of the two. The handle part is just sitting in the hole for the UV clarifier and the rubber part is just hanging down. The reason I got the sucking sound is that the pump has sooo much draw that it would create a whirlpool in the skimmer and as the skimmer got more clogged with debris or algae the water volume slowed so the water level in the middle of the skimmer would get lower. Once it go low enough where the whirlpool bottom was at the pipe exit for the pump it was sucking air and that is what caused the sound. So all I did was put this rubber piece in there and let hang down and t disrupts the whirlpool not allowing it to form as well thus reducing the sucking sound. Now if it gets too low I still get the sucking sound but the skimmer has to be really clogged with leaves and debris. The skimmer basket is also extremely heav to pull out when it does get full. I found this out by putting my finger in the whirlpool and it stopped the sound. Not very technical but it helped.

Makes sense. I was wondering what it was because it didn't look like something from savio. LOL

 

[damian]

here is after i plumbed the bottom drain and filled partially with cement:

it is this bottom drain,

http://www.underwaterwarehouse.com/EasyPro-Bottom-Drains/EasyPro-Bottom-Drain-3-in-p-441.html

so i basically had to attach a 90 degree elbow (which rests awkwardly on the bottom of the pit i dug for it), level it the best i could with soild, and then hold it level as i poured the cement in. as the cement started to set, i just wiggled the drain around to level it here and there. it wasn't too bad.

 

[fishin4cars]

Is there any type of valve to allow you to get more bottom flow or more skimmer flow? :regular_waving_emot

I guess you could always close the skimmer door and suck just from the bottom. HMMMM I like! Thanks!

 

[damian]

Some of the bottom drain kits come with a valve that sits inside the skimmer. I didn't buy it though because in the savio skimmer the leaf basket is in the way

 

[fishin4cars]

I wonder which draws more on a regular basis? The surface or the bottom? How big is your pump?

 

[damian]

My pump is the 4900 sequence external pump. At 5' of head, which is what I have, it is about 4400 gph. I'm not sure where most of the draw will come from. The skimmer surface has a larger intake area, but the bottom drain has the help of gravity.