Skimmer Delay

[ecoreefguy]

For those that shut off your pumps for feed, how long do you guys delay the skimmer for?

 

[civics14]

3 min was plenty of time to have the return to being the sump back to nominal water level

 

[bg2311]

15-30 minutes. It comes back on when the return pump turns back on. Power heads enter low-rpm feed mode for 10-20. This is for broadcast feeding and frozen food. When power is restored so long as the water level was good in the sump when it was shut off, the DC pump ramps up over a few seconds and that seems to be enough to keep it from overflowing due to higher than normal water level in the sump. By the time the skimmer is back at full power, the water line in the sump has stabilized.

 

[gainesvillereef]

2 minutes. Depends on the system.

 

[hzheng33]

30min

honestly doesn't matter and is not scientific. just don't want the skimmer to overflow from the changes in the water height.

 

[Adam]

I believe I had mine at 3min before I went external. Then I set a feed button to shut it down for four hours when I dosed CoralAmino or Phyto.

It really depends on how long it takes an individual system's skimmer chamber to normalize after the return pump starts up.