Mojo's Airtones Clone Skimmer =)

[mojoreef]

Hey fishfood do you have the stones pointing upwards??

how about you Don and Jon??


Mike

 

[reeffan]

Hey fishfood do you have the stones pointing upwards??

how about you Don and Jon??


Mike

Mike, mine is pointing down. I will run the skimmer again this weekend and try what you have suggested.

Im also going to build a smaller size as a prototype so i can play arround with it.

reeffan

 

[RedEyeReef]

Hey fishfood do you have the stones pointing upwards??

how about you Don and Jon??


Mike

Mojo, what way are yours pointing? up or down.

I have everything I need to convert my skimmer over but have all 1/4" tubing and bulk heads to get into the skimmer. Do I have to re-build my air manifold and get bigger air bulkheads?

 

[Fishfood2581]

mine were pointing down. Airtubing connectors on top. I even tried gettin some to lay on the sides. Have you had a problem with them like this?

Im running 6 limewood diffusers now. Not as much air, not even close to as much but teh bubbles are sooooo much smaller. Get back to us and let us know about the orientation of the stones

 

[rufio173]

What pump are you using fishfood?

Also, I doubt air hose size has anything to do w/ the bubble size unless it is so restrictive that it actually impedes air flow. If you are flowing 80SCFH through 1/4" vs. 3/8" hose, it really should not make a difference.

Peace,
John H.

 

[mojoreef]

I have mine on thier side, but so the point of one of the corners is the lowest. I had then flat prior and I was getting small bubbles still but a bunch of huge one also.
Red Eye my stones came with 1/2 cpvc ends so I built everything out of 1/2 plumbing, manifold included.
I have my stones out of the skimmer right now, while I am finishing version 2 so I will play with them tommorrow and see if it makes a difference.


Mike

 

[Fishfood2581]

Rufio im using a Hailea V-60 its rated for 2.11 CFM or 127CFH and approx 5 PSI

Im gonna call AES tomorrow and see if i can exchange mine for 2 of the large stones

 

[mojoreef]

Hold off Fish until I play a little tommorrow


Mike

 

[Fishfood2581]

ok i will. What do you expect to find out? or what do you plan on doing?

 

[RedEyeReef]

I have mine on thier side, but so the point of one of the corners is the lowest. I had then flat prior and I was getting small bubbles still but a bunch of huge one also.
Red Eye my stones came with 1/2 cpvc ends so I built everything out of 1/2 plumbing, manifold included.
I have my stones out of the skimmer right now, while I am finishing version 2 so I will play with them tommorrow and see if it makes a difference.


Mike

Thanks Mojo, let us know. I don't want to re-build my manifold and bulkheads again (many trips to HD and Lowe's) but if tubing size does make a difference then I would rather do it now before I pull my skimmer out. I got 1/2 cpvc and 1/4 stones. I planned on using the 1/4 stones and tubing all the way through, I hope I still can?

 

[rufio173]

Redeyereef,

Since you actually have airflow meters... I think you would be doing everyone a much needed service if you actually were able to give some observations of bubble size for your stones at a given air throughput.

Peace,
John H.

 

[mojoreef]

Ok observations. I took a bunch of pics but not one is really clear enough to see. So heres the verbal. On the orientation:

Stone pointing down= worst of the three, most of the air comes out in the first 4 inches of the stones with just a tiny bit coming from the balance. The bubble size is mostly small but thier is a mix of bubbles that are about an 1/16 of an inch. I would say the mix is close to 50 50.

Stones pointing up= Same as the above but a little less big ones, I would say 35 big 65 small

Stones flat corners pointing down= just a couple of bigger bubbles I would say less then 5 %. Alot more small bubbles. Definately a noticable difference

Now my stones are 12 inches long so I dont know if that pertains or not so take it into concideration. On my new skimmer I have the stones pointing up, I was able to dial in the perfect foam by reducing the air input by about 20% less then it was in the old skimmer. I will run it like this for the weekend and se if it wouldnt be better to change out to smaller stones so I can lay them down. I think for the folks that have the stones in play already you should try to lay them down flat on the point of the square. If you cant then try reducing the air by about 50 % and then work your way back up.


Mike

 

[RedEyeReef]

Redeyereef,

Since you actually have airflow meters... I think you would be doing everyone a much needed service if you actually were able to give some observations of bubble size for your stones at a given air throughput.

Peace,
John H.

I know, I know. LASIK's eye surgery was a week ago today and I leave first thing in the morning for Seattle Supercross. I will try and convert my skimmer next week to report back my findings and what the air flow meters show.

Mojo, thanks for taking the time to test and get back to us. Have you every tested the amount of air your pumping into your skimmer?

 

[mojoreef]

No I havent redeye. Wheres the super cross at, my kid is a dirt bike feind now.





Mike

 

[RedEyeReef]

No I havent redeye. Wheres the super cross at, my kid is a dirt bike feind now.
Mike

Quest Field Saturday 7pm. It may be sold out??? I bought tickets 3 months ago.

 

[rufio173]

Mojo,

Why are you building another skimmer?

Peace,
John H.

 

[mojoreef]

John because I am a clutz!!!!!!!!! lol but a lucky one lol

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7590&page=1


Mike

 

[scubajames]

Acrylic Tube

I'm interested in trying some of my own DIY projects but I don't know were to find acrylic tubes at a decent price. Any help would be great.

 

[Zephrant]

Laird plastics if you are buying in volume.
Check mcmaster.com if you just want a few feet though- Not as price competitive, but you can by just 2 feet.

Zeph

 

[rufio173]

Redeye,

I know you're going to set that skimmer up this weekend!

Take lots of pictures.

Peace,
John H.