Mesh mod / Bak Pak skimmer

[ac7av]

I have been helping my brother setting up a sweet 29 gallon system the last few months. He had been having a bad run of things and it continues with pump failure on the skimmer. After collecting materials to deploy the new and improved aquarium at his house I got a Bak Pak skimmer from a local reefer and several other things to help. The Bak Pak skimmer was replacing a POC skimmer that never really worked. The Bak Pak skimmer was and had been working pretty well with an unbranded pump and a skimmer venture. Last week the skimmer pump failed just after we just stocked the tank with 20 or so coral frags. Talk about your bad timing. In a hurry we picked up a maxi jet 1200 from the local pet store and hooked it up. What a piece of junk, this thing doesn’t work worth a darn compared the other pump we had on it. I’m wondering what all the hype is about using the maxi jet on the Bac Pak now cause it isn’t doing anything! We have the cup pushed an inch below the water level just to get something into the cup. It is definitely not doing the job. So I looked up skimmerwhisperers mesh mod on that pump to get some ideas. I didn’t know what this material was that is being used for the mesh mod so I just started walking threw all the isles in the hardware stores around here and found synthetic steel wool #3. Guaranteed not to rust or separate. It looks like some kind of braided thin line with some sort of adhesive on it to hold its shape. It is in a sponge type shape in the package. This looks like the stuff in the picture and its pretty ridge. We went on to do the mesh mod with this stuff and had to slice off the appropriate thickness layer with a box cutter and cut a hole in the center of it to mount on the pump impeller. Wish we had had a hole punch, it could have made this a bit easer. Anyway we got it mounted on the impeller where I use the fishing line and a needle to individually tie each arm of the pump impeller that was left after cutting them to the mesh material. Then put a touch of superglue on the knots, Bam! Done, it only took an hour or so. Trimmed it all up nice and put the pump together and rinsed it in water in a bucket and checked the impeller for any stragglers that needed to be trimmed after the rinsing. We hung this bad boy on the front of my 210 to see how it was working now. Crazy, Sick, Amazing, what every you want to call it this think rocks hard and the bubbles are so small. We started getting some junk in the cup on less then 5 minutes. WoW WoW WoW, now I see this thing working with the mesh mod. Now I’m wondering if my SWC 200 extreme is not up the level I need in my tank seeing how fast that Bac Pak was starting to rip stuff out of the water. Here are a couple of pictures of the mesh mod impeller. I will get some video of this bad boy over at his house as soon as I can but he is saying it’s awesome. He told me he couldn’t get to sleep last night he was just in amazement of its operation and has had to empty the junk from the cup several times and it’s only been 24 hours.

http://media8.dropshots.com/photos/570488/20100608/b_194705.jpg
http://media7.dropshots.com/photos/570488/20100608/b_194713.jpg
http://media7.dropshots.com/photos/570488/20100608/b_194722.jpg

 

[Skimmy]

excellent meshing job....
just check that the mesh doesnt fall apart. keep me updated if it holds together, because that would actually be a little better for smaller pumps, (because the plastic tines are smaller and closer together) but most people use enkamat, and you have to order it online or get it from another reefer.
did you make the venturi from spare maxijet parts??? (you have to get a small air valve at hardware store, gardening section, water drip line valve)
that's a huge pwer increase too

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCH

 

[Skimmy]

oh, and you could mesh mod the sicce on your extreme 200, but with the advent of the new pinwheel impellers and venturis made for the sicce, your better off doing that...almost the same power as mesh, but more stable pump operation.

with this combo, you'll get up to 40 scfh out air injection out of a sicce that is running in 10" of water in the sump.
http://saltwaterconnection.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=72
http://saltwaterconnection.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=54

rumor has it SWC is working on an even better pinwheel as we speak that will be available in a few weeks.

 

[mfinn]

I used that same material on a sedra powered skimmer 5-6 years ago and got great results. ( very high air draw numbers compared to enkamat).
But it did fall apart much faster.

 

[ac7av]

Hay finn
What size was the pump on the sedra? How fast is faster on the material breaking down? I figured that any mesh would need cleaned every to often or replaced.

We ran the pump in water full on and with air for a while, then took it apart and removed any loose ends. The pump starts right up and is very quiet. We used a skimmer venturi off of some pump. Don’t know what kind it is but it looks like the shape of intake that comes with the penguin pumps only there is a reducer inside with the air injection tube in the middle of the reduced area an the end of the air injection is cut at an angle open towards the pump. We tried the mod on using the parts that came with the pump and cut the tabs off and slipped it in the end of the pump but the performance was just not as good. Definitely more water and less air. The venturi we recycled preformed better in our short test, a noticeable increase of air and a little less water flowing threw the system. And I mite add there are no micros coming out the exhaust. We are running the tube wide open. Didn’t see the need for a valve on the air line. Just let it run wide open and there is no noise coming from the tube that simply putting a air pump filter on didn’t reduce it to 100% quiet. I have no way to measure the air intake but the performance is amazing.

The mesh was pretty easy to work with except for the center hole. A hole punch would have been the ticket. I spent more then half the time just getting that trimmed out. Its hard to cut that hole like that because of how rigid that mesh is and its also tuff to cut, very hard material.

 

[mfinn]

I can't remember. It was the sedra that was used with the ASM G4X. The one before the upgrade.
The material lasted about 3-4 weeks, but was very easy to replace.

 

[ac7av]

That’s not very long. I guess we should check it in a couple of weeks to see what it looks like. How long does the other stuff last?

 

[ac7av]

That ASM G4X has a 450 gph pump and ill bet the diameter of the impeller is quite a bit bigger. I’m hoping in the smaller pump it will hold up better.

 

[ac7av]

Just a quick update. The skimmer is still working excellent. bens63imp said in even a short period of time there is a noticeable increase in clarity of the water and reduction of red slime algae in the main tank.

 

[bens63imp]

yes it is working like a champ! so far im very happy with the out come and hope in the next few days to be completely out of the horrible algea; ohh baby what a great skimm will do for you!!!

 

[ac7av]

Just an update on the mesh mod maxi jet 1200.
The mod seems to be holding up well. Ben just took it apart for cleaning and it looks like the day we put it into service. Still producing lots of gunk and working great. The mesh is not showing any signs of breaking down it this time.

 

[dtd87]

I still want to mod the HoB I got from Mark, it already pulls amazing I can only wonder what the mod would turn the beast into! I'm honestly just to scared to eff it up! But great job!

 

[ac7av]

I still want to mod the HoB I got from Mark, it already pulls amazing I can only wonder what the mod would turn the beast into! I'm honestly just to scared to eff it up! But great job!

What skimmer did you get from him? He usually mods all his skimmer unless it’s a new one you got from him. If your skimmer has a needle wheel in it I wouldn’t bother. The hassle in doing it and what you will get in return is just not big enough improvement to bother with it.

By the way I felt the same way about the mod before I did it. This is my first one too. It actually isn’t as bad as it sound on paper.

 

[dtd87]

SWC bh100f HOB skimmer it's a beast!