Skimmer contact time?

[House of Laughter]

rich, have you considered the sedra ? with the air intake? I would love to see if someone has tried this attempting to increase bubble time.

QUite honestly, I don't think the skimmer is ineffective, I think it's just not as quick to remove nutrients as other skimmers are. Mine produces serious gunk - take a look at the pics I just snapped.

House

 

[cali_reef]

Sorry guys, Skimmer technology\methodology have evolved a little since lifereef came out with this venturi design. I skipped the venturi and went with a spray foam and a needle wheel when I came back in the hobby.

My thought would be getting rid of the less foam producing venturi and retrofitting it with a RC NW, feed it slow so the bubble will have longer contact time and less of it will exit from the bottom. Or you can replace the venturi with a "super" venturi, AKA. Beckett valve.

 

[House of Laughter]

Poerce, thats what I was thinking - you could always slow the output flow to accomodate.

Hmm, any other thoughts

House

 

[Iceman]

Hey jim its Alex. How do i send you a pm? i dont see that option. I want to ask you something. See ya

 

[House of Laughter]

Al, check your PM's or click on my nake and choose the PM option

Jim

 

[kimoyo]

What is your definition of "faster"? Skimmers are like fast cars, you can always go "faster" if you are willing to spend more and there will be no limit as long as your bank account can support the hobby (or habit).

Like a car, you can have "enough" utility or the extreme head turner.

I know bioload has a lot to do with this but...

An extreme example would be to put an ap1006 on a 30 gal tank. As you drop down to an ap1004 and ap1003 on the same 30 gal tank I don't think you will see much of a difference because they are so oversized for that tank size. But as the skimmers and tank sizes get closer I'm wondering how do you know when you have a large enough skimmer to get the most skimmate out of your tank in 24 hours.

Will an ap701 make that much of a difference on my 120 than an ap600, and is it worth the cost?

 

[Rborgia]

House...

Any suggestions as to who carries the Sedra pumps? I would definately give it a shot, if it works then great.

I just want to see more bubbles in the main cylinder which will give me more contact time. I'm not necessarily looking for more skimate... as others are discussing here, although that would be an effect from more bubbles. Right now I don't believe the LifeReef is providing enough... to effectively remove much of a load. Given a larger load with the same amount of bubbles... im not skimming all that much.

Rich

 

[Gmandese]

One thing I noticed with my ER DIY skimmer. I was getting very thin bubbles, too. The normal reaction is to open up the air valve to get more air. WRONG! By trial and error, I realized that the more air let into the venturi, the less water flow, and the bubbles went almost straight up!. My final solution was to close down the air intake to just about nothing, allowing a strong circulating water flow. Then open the air valve SLOWLY while watching the bubbles. You'll be surprised how little air it takes to make a nice thick opaque screen of bubbles!
Remember: Less is more!

 

[cali_reef]

Remember: Less is more!

I think the "right amount" is optimum, not less and not more.

 

[House of Laughter]

all good points - Gman, you are pointing to exactly what we are saying and Cali said - the right amount for our reefs.

Rich, I have the same skimmer , only the VS3-24 on my 180 and the total water column is around 245g - and I see a ton of production. Wonder is we try the sedra and put a ball valve between the collection cup and venturi is that will change the effectiveness of the skimmer? man, I almost pulled the trigger on a modded ASM G4x - I think I am going to hold on now to see what we can generate.

House

 

[cali_reef]

Jim, I know someone that knows someone can you get you a chinese BK copy for around 2 bills. It looks like it can be a good performer if the right pump is mated to it. Here is a pic of it

 

[cali_reef]

Here is another pic of it with a H&S knockoff

 

[Rborgia]

I went and Ordered the Sedra 9000 pump (900gph). It is really close to the flow rate of the Mag 9.5 but it has its own Venturi and Needle wheel. I will take pics once I get it setup and see if there is much of a difference in the quantity of bubbles and or size of bubbles.

I requested to be part of the BK knock off that was started... (first to reply to it actually). So hopefully I can get one of those.