adding a drain on the skimmer cup??

i have a reef octopus skimmer but there is no drain in the cup and it keeps filling up witch i have to then unscrew the topo section and drain out the cup then put back on witch is not that big a deal but its just a pain in the ass.
can i add a drain to the cup and have it drain to a separate container.
i dont see it being a problem just want to make sure i dont mess up a good protein skimmer.

 

Pro's and Con's my friend.

I'll try and go over the major ones here.

Drain- less emptying the cup, however, if yo08u don't take the cup off and give it a quick wipe, then the thicker sludge stays and build up.

Also- if you have some type of ATO, and your PS starts putting out alot into your drain, (which DOES happed for various reasons at times) you will be adding alot of ATO(usually no salts), thereby dropoping your SG. Depending on your system size and set up, this could be a disaster for livestock, etc.

FWIW- My SC 150 has a drain line attached. Also came with a plug for it.
MIne's plugged and will stay that way. I empty every 1-3 days, depending on output of skim. My ATO is a contious feed from my RO/DI unit (one of my BEST mods BTW), and if for some reason my PS started dumping alot of output out the drain, my ATO would keep up, and drog my SG. With it plugged, the very few times it overflowed, it dumps back into the sump. This dumping back into the sump is NO problem, at least short term like for a day, etc. After all, that;s where it came from.

Decide for your self, and Keep on Reefing!

 

Well I to have thought about adding a drain to my reef octopus skimmer. If done, I would have clamped/plugged the drain so I could manually drain without removal of entire cup. Then about every 2 weeks I was going to take cup off and clean. Now I have switched to a vertex skimmer that's suppose to be here first of next week. It already has a drain tube.

 

I like this idea much better, if i drill mine i would go this route.

 

I hate to sound rude but this is part of the process we as Reef keepers sign up for. Take pride in your equipment and put some love into your tank and go that extra mile. By taking off your cup your taking the extra 30 seconds to dump it out and rinse it out so it stays in a better condition for a longer period of time. Its like that old adage goes you'll take care of something better if you buy it yourself, by this I mean that your putting forth the extra effort to save yourself money in the long run. Who wants to buy a skimmer every year because it crapped out or broke?

 

emptying the skimmer is part of the weekly chores to do to keep your tank in check. i agree emptying the cup can be a huge PITA especially on smaller skimmers that need more frequent emptying.

iv set my skimate so that it takes exactly 1 week before the cup is full, so on sundays i clean my mechanical filters brush off the crunck from my pumps and enpty the cup ET? 10 mins

 

Yeah my skimmer fills every 3-4 days. And my skimmer is old so I have to readjust it each time I empty it and it's really a pain in the a--. Not to mention the fish crap trail of water I usually drop doing it.

I guess I missed the part of the written contract I signed saying I had to hand empty the skimmer cup and not have a convenience drain. I must be a shame to all reefers. Sorry guys/gals.

 

I am about to get this skimmer and I think adding a drain is a great idea. In regards to Brownie, I feel ya and appreciate your enthusiasm, but what about in the case of a flood situation. Still clean the cup regularly, but have the drain for emergency.

I have not received mine yet, but plan to do this as there are many horror stories of overflowing skimmers. I know this is an old post so has anyone done this yet? Results? Thank you.

 

Looks like I'm in trouble, only washed my cup this morning.... Been 2 months

 

I ran a drain hose from my skimmer cup to a sealed container to cut down on the smell of skin mate. I added a float switch wired to my apex to shut the skimmer off if it starts overflowing.