DIY skimmer #2

[big t]

Very nice Don.

 

[DonW]

Very nice Don.

Thanks Tom,

I was hoping my cheesy art work could be understood. The thing is going to need the wet neck, collects alot of crud.

Don

 

[DonW]

Anyone have thoughts about going cupless. The foam this thing makes is very stable. Without a lid it makes a 2ft tall 6" foam head before the fans blow it over. With the lid it fills the three gallon cup with solid foam then pushes a foam worm out of the 1" vent. The only skimmer I can find that is cupless is the aerofaomer. I'm just wondering if there is a good reason to have a cup???

 

[big t]

Wow I am going to have to come over and check out Mr Skimmer 2005. That is cool that it makes skimmate so dry that you can use a vaccume cleaner to clean the skimmer cup. Have you thought about raising up the water level to make wetter skimmate. Do you think that the skimmate will be so dry when you get the wetneck going?

 

[rufio173]

DonW,

I've often wondered about the cup myself and the fact is that it is the most traditional way of doing it. I doubt many manufacturer's are willing to get away from the look in favor of the new designs on the aerofoamers.

I personally don't like the no cup look, but I'm sure it doesn't really matter. Think about it this way. Some manufacturer's that use cups already have the drain line in the very bottom of the cup so you're not keeping hardly any skimmate in the cup. The one advantage with the cup is that you don't have to have a drain line since you could just ball valve it off. Some people may not like to have a large waste container they drain into... for the most part, I think it is mostly aesthetic.

Peace,
John H.

 

[DonW]

Wow I am going to have to come over and check out Mr Skimmer 2005. That is cool that it makes skimmate so dry that you can use a vaccume cleaner to clean the skimmer cup. Have you thought about raising up the water level to make wetter skimmate. Do you think that the skimmate will be so dry when you get the wetneck going?

Tom,

Really dont know whats going to happen. I'm just thinking ahead trying to make it as easy as possible to just ignore the thing for awhile. My last skimmer I had to empty the cup daily and keep the neck clean.
The thing is big enough that its actually easy to clean. I can just stuff my arm and a toilet brush down the neck while its running. A few minutes later it foams the crap back out. I raised the water level last night and it seems to be doing just fine, just paranoid I guess. Dont need a overflowing skimmer.

Don

 

[mojoreef]

Hmm and I bet you didnt spend 1K either ???


Mike

 

[DonW]

Hmm and I bet you didnt spend 1K either ???


Mike

Not even close! In fact if the motorized selfcleaning lid works, I should be into it less than $10.

Don

 

[big t]

Hey I know what you mean Don. I just set up a new skimmer yesterday, and I am a little scared of it myself. It is a beckett about the size of a MR-3. Right now I have 1 beckett and a iwaki 30. I have a port for a second beckett and will try that w/ a iwaki 70 running both injectors.

 

[rufio173]

DonW,

Could you please post a pic of the main chamber? I really want to get an idea of how large the bubbles are in the water column. A thumb or a ruler next to the chamber might help. Thanks!!!

Peace,
John

 

[DonW]

DonW,

Could you please post a pic of the main chamber? I really want to get an idea of how large the bubbles are in the water column. A thumb or a ruler next to the chamber might help. Thanks!!!

Peace,
John

Sorry I did not see your post. As of now the skimmer shut down. The theory that you cannot overskim is wrong. The first week it removed every micron of green. Then it started skimming just light green snot then nothing at all. What this has basicly done, is started bleaching and starving my corals.
If I cant come up with a way to get it to skim in moderation it will be donated to the lfs that needs one for their 400g tank.

Don

 

[mojoreef]

I dont think so Don. when you are skimming you are just pulling form the water column. Most planktonic life forms that corals use are on the surfaces and/or very close to them (in biofilms and simular) and dont spend alot of time in water column as they are prey for most critters.
A bleaching event is cause by the expulsion of thier zoox, which 9 time out of ten is caused by the release of a heat stress enyme.

What corals are effected???


Mike

 

[DonW]

I dont think so Don. when you are skimming you are just pulling form the water column. Most planktonic life forms that corals use are on the surfaces and/or very close to them (in biofilms and simular) and dont spend alot of time in water column as they are prey for most critters.
A bleaching event is cause by the expulsion of thier zoox, which 9 time out of ten is caused by the release of a heat stress enyme.

What corals are effected???


Mike

I guess thats good to hear. When you say "heat stress enzyme" do you mean hot tank water? The temp never goes over 81.
As far as corals the blue gomezie, and one other I dont now the name of. The large colonies are all doing fine. I thought all was going great, my ph got really stable and the water column became perfectly clear. The only thing that changed was the addition of the skimmer. I did have a few small cyno patches that I couldnt get rid of, those have died off. The one patch of green hair has bleached out and is almost gone. The razor has stopped growing and is dieing.
Are you thinking I should just let it go??

Don

 

[mojoreef]

So SPS? Then definately not due to the skimmer. As you know sps get well over 90% of their food from thier internal zoox, the balance is absorbed and slime netting of bacteria. Most of what is in the water column are the bad guys (preditors) all thought thier are some good guys to, but it would be realy hard to make an impact on this population with a skimmer.

Don here is a thought. You mentioned the fact that the tank water got very clear. This would mean that the corals were exposed to much more light intecity. This is a simular problem that some folks get into when first starting to use ozone. They over all the bases for dealing with the ozone but forget about the water clarity issue.
Ok bact to the corals, I figure that the clarity created the corals to be subjected to alot more light intencity, which caused the zoox to begin to over process, which caused the over production of oxygen. This combined with other elements in the coral can create a super radicle oxidizer. The coral has methods to deal with this, some of which is to exspell zoox and other forms nutrilize the radical. I would imagine the smaller corals were more effected as they would have enough of the counter cure to deal with it.
On the skimmer, yes I would let it go. It sounds like the skimmer is doing a great job and has reduced your doc's and simular down to the point where your water is very clean. This makes the skimmer a great tool against biological blooms and nutrient rises or events. If you are worried you could reduce the time the skimmer runs but I would just let it go. My skimmer did the same thing after the annual WC. It shut down for almost three weeks and then began skimmer green once again and has continued to date. The skimmate is of a weaker color and not as thick in the waste pale, but IMO that is because most of the skimmate is doc.


Mike

 

[rufio173]

Guys,

With such big skimmers. I really think you should start feeding more. Hehe

DonW,

I was wondering when you would start collecting less and less skimmate since your skimmer is sized much higher than your total gallonage. I honestly think you could adequately handle a 1000+ system with that skimmer.

Peace,
John H.

 

[rufio173]

Mike,

What about you? Could you post a pic of the bubbles in the box chamber? I'd like to actually see their size in the water column.

Peace,
John H.

 

[mojoreef]

john check my photo galler I post pics from different levels of the skimmer chambers


Mike

 

[rufio173]

Mike,

I know... I've looked at them several times, but you've never posted a close up pic of the bubbles in the box chamber.

The bubble size in the first acrylic tube is nice, but I'd really like to see what they look like in the box chamber.

Peace,
John

 

[mojoreef]

I cant John. I tried but the box of the skimmer is submerged into a large frag tank. So in taking a picture I have to go through two sheets of acrylic and about two feet of water. Every pic I take just looks like a white blur. I cn tell you the bubbles are about a 1/10 of what the bubbles are like in the lowest chamber. Not sure if that helps


Mike

 

[DonW]

So SPS? Then definately not due to the skimmer. As you know sps get well over 90% of their food from thier internal zoox, the balance is absorbed and slime netting of bacteria. Most of what is in the water column are the bad guys (preditors) all thought thier are some good guys to, but it would be realy hard to make an impact on this population with a skimmer.

Don here is a thought. You mentioned the fact that the tank water got very clear. This would mean that the corals were exposed to much more light intecity. This is a simular problem that some folks get into when first starting to use ozone. They over all the bases for dealing with the ozone but forget about the water clarity issue.
Ok bact to the corals, I figure that the clarity created the corals to be subjected to alot more light intencity, which caused the zoox to begin to over process, which caused the over production of oxygen. This combined with other elements in the coral can create a super radicle oxidizer. The coral has methods to deal with this, some of which is to exspell zoox and other forms nutrilize the radical. I would imagine the smaller corals were more effected as they would have enough of the counter cure to deal with it.
On the skimmer, yes I would let it go. It sounds like the skimmer is doing a great job and has reduced your doc's and simular down to the point where your water is very clean. This makes the skimmer a great tool against biological blooms and nutrient rises or events. If you are worried you could reduce the time the skimmer runs but I would just let it go. My skimmer did the same thing after the annual WC. It shut down for almost three weeks and then began skimmer green once again and has continued to date. The skimmate is of a weaker color and not as thick in the waste pale, but IMO that is because most of the skimmate is doc.


Mike

Thanks Mike, I'll just let it go and see what happens. For now I'm just running it dry. Letting the foam climb the entire neck. I'm still running my temporary rodi tube wet neck, pretty cool it makes the foam travel a long ways up.

Thanks
Don