OBD Signature Protein Skimmer Owners Forum

[1guydude]

K been 36-48hrs.
My pellets r getting small so I may have to add more and do some adjusting on the ball valve there... .
However I am the owner of a pellet reactor and now skimmer!
Soooo at 100-300gphs and 80+ scphf s or watever....
It takes some time to build a foam head. Worth the wait. I like dry skimate.


I don't know if working under the tank with mfinn or maybe the foam just stinks lol.
But my sump area smells like fish poo lol.
I've been trying to air it out... maybe the vent holes on the lid r a bit big idk...


Do u guys run ur skimmers when feeding? My old swc skimmer on my obd tank would really go crazy... this one dies out and losses foam head.
Still to early to call it lol. So far ok. I'd like to see it thicker acrylic...
-d

 

[1guydude]

Also wats up with the bubble plate? Can someone shine some light on that?
Bubble plates in my mind r above the water and air mixing zone. So the air bubbles are tiny and the water is displaced evenly in the skimmer body.
Mine seems to be more of a screen for outgoing water. It does catch larger bubblee which I like...
Idk just my .02
D

 

[1guydude]

My obd pellet reactor

 

[1guydude]

To my skimmer

 

[1guydude]

Skimmer body

 

[1guydude]

Air pump

 

[1guydude]

Still tuning

 

[1guydude]

Bottom of the lid... she does indeed work ladys and gentle man's
D

 

[1guydude]

Finally a before and after.
Skimmer barely fits my sump and pictures lol.
D

 

[mojoreef]

Do u guys run ur skimmers when feeding? My old swc skimmer on my obd tank would really go crazy... this one dies out and losses foam head.
Still to early to call it lol. So far ok. I'd like to see it thicker acrylic...

All skimmers should shut down on making foam when you feed, unless their is some kind of product in the food that promotes it? The oils from the food stop surficants from forming on the bubble, in skimming you need to have surficants in order for the rest of the process to happen. When you feed you should see the bubbles come up to the surface but then burst (same thing when you put your hands in). After the oils and such from feeding are gone then it should return to normal.

On the thickness, yes I would love to see that to for the tube but the cost would be double on it.

Also wats up with the bubble plate? Can someone shine some light on that?
Bubble plates in my mind r above the water and air mixing zone. So the air bubbles are tiny and the water is displaced evenly in the skimmer body.
Mine seems to be more of a screen for outgoing water. It does catch larger bubblee which I like...
Idk just my .02

A bubble plate wont make the bubbles smaller Dev, only the source of the air can dictate that. In our case it is the air stone which is rated for bubbles between 90-250 microns or as little as .09-.25 millimeters in diameter. Some builders put a bubble plate on the top of the mixing chamber to stop the violence that is occurring from popping the bubbles in the foam column, this violence is happening because they are using a large pump to draw in the air and with the fact the water is only spending 10 seconds or so with this kind of set up things are moving to fast.

With our the water comes in separately and only at a rate of under 300 gph so no violence from that. In this skimmer all the air comes from the bottom of the mixing chamber and goes out the top, water happens counter current so from the top and out the bottom, this way the raw water has to pass all the air bubbles prior to exit...we like that. If I were to put a plate up high it would disrupt the bubbles moving up the mixing chamber and would get covered in the organics we are trying to remove, so I put it on the bottom to act as both a shelf for the air diffuser and to stop any bubbles from going out the output of the skimmer.



Looks like you got some protein skimming going on Dev! Keep in mind that this skimmer is designed to go after dissolved organics and not just particulate, so dont run it to dry or you will not pick up the DOC's as well.


Mike

 

[BoxerbREEF]

Good Idea!

 

[1guydude]

 

[1guydude]

 

[1guydude]

On my 2nd cup of skimate.

Skimmer builds up and dumps the dump.
Really like it so far. Water is a bit clearer but I was already running bio pellets and a skimmer before did fine.
This skimmer i think is capable of 300-400g.
However with that much bio load...ud need a taller skimmer or a bucket for the 5gals of skimate.

Thxs obd and mfinn.
-d

 

[mfinn]

On my 2nd cup of skimate.

Skimmer builds up and dumps the dump.
Really like it so far. Water is a bit clearer but I was already running bio pellets and a skimmer before did fine.
This skimmer i think is capable of 300-400g.
However with that much bio load...ud need a taller skimmer or a bucket for the 5gals of skimate.

Thxs obd and mfinn.
-d

I'm happy to read this Devin.
Really glad it's working for you.

 

[Ichthys]

Thought I would check in, haven't been active lately, health issues and all. My OBD skimmer still runs well, I never really have any issues with it, it is stable, skims well, and doesn't require a lot of tweaking. I have the original model with the cone neck and no collapsible plate. Only thing I wonder about is the Bio-Pellets. I run the OBD reactor with pellets as an intake to the skimmer and the pellets NEVER seem to get smaller or dissolve. I was under the impression that these pellets deplete over time, but i still have the original bad half full I bought when i purchased the skimmer in April of 2013. So 16 months still tumbling original bio pellets.

 

[CarlaW]

That looks exactly like mine.................LOL, I am July 2013

 

[myindoorocean]

I've gone through some pellets, but not many.

 

[CarlaW]

I am not even using them anymore

 

[Ichthys]

How do you all clean your air stone? What do you soak it in?