Octo NW skimmer to 40scfh Mod

[Skimmy]

hey luke, have you meshed a new model of octo 200 with the improved venturi/plumbing??

 

[luke33]

Nope, haven't messed with the new one's. I would imagine they are pulling around 20-25scfh like they are stock so imo, no need to mess. You could ofcourse meshmod them if you wanted and get another 5-10scfh, but there's always that chance of burning up the pump or having restart issues : )

 

[returnofsid]

WOW...Skimmerwhisper just recommended this thread for me to read regarding my 150. I'm subscribing to it so I can find it when I'm ready to mod mine. Very impressive!!!

 

[tike]

Thanks Luke this thread is VERY informative!

 

[artguy1]

lol, thanks. I have alot of mods with pics. The cheapo via aqua skimmer mods, the odyssea skimmer mods, typhoon, MSX recirc....etc. Now i just run a cnc/octo pro 300 that pulls 75scfh at 57w with a pw....no mods : )

So luke33, did you say here that you have a mod for the aqua simmer, this isn't the Aqua C (Remora) type by chance is it? I understand that these do not use the needle wheel technology, but any mod might be helpful for these. Probably asking a question that might be answered in previous posts, but wanted to shoot this by you. Thanks a bunch.

artguy1

 

[Skimmy]

no, that's not the remora he was talking about...
he was talking about the via aqua in-sump skimmers.
luke and i share a common hatred for the remora skimmer.
you could possibly modify one, but really, you dont want to,
i've done it...you would have to dremel out the injector and replace with regular plumbing into the reaction chamber, then seal the area around where the injector used to be, and then purchase and mesh mod a pump to go onto it, after you add up the cost of the remora, the cost of a mesh modded pump, and the time in hell working on that evil skimmer, you have a total fail scenario...i mean did it work better?? hells yeah it did, but it leaked so many bubbles from the unsealed sides of the collection cup, and dumped so many bubbles back into the display that it was just not worth it(and yes i tried different size pumps on it).

 

[luke33]

Sorry artguy, like Mark said, i was talking about the via aqua. Not much you can do for the remora, just hope you got one of the 5% that actually skim.

 

[Workaholic]

great thread. Definatly learned a bit of how to mod a skimmer for more power. I do have a couple questions though.

When you used the odyssea pump for a recirc how did you feed the skimmer?
The water level you pointed to when you recirc'd the skimmer with the sicce are you pointing that out because of the high water level it doesn't give the bubbles a good dwell time?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[luke33]

Tom, if you look at the sicce mod, i put a T on the input of the recirc pump and fed the skimmer that way. On the odyssea recirc i just drilled a 1/2" hole in the middle of the body and fed it that way. I did the same thing with a swc 200 extreme.

 

[luke33]

Here's the pics of the swc extreme recirc'd. It pulled 45scfh as a recirc meshmodded.

Feed pump hole

 

[Workaholic]

Luke, that makes sense. What is the significance of the water level on the nw200 with the sicce recirc'd?

tom

 

[luke33]

I was just pointing to the water level to show the foam head. To show how much air was being injected. The one with the huge foam head was way to much air for the body. The neck diameter of the swc extreme's can handle the air much easier.

 

[Workaholic]

I was just pointing to the water level to show the foam head. To show how much air was being injected. The one with the huge foam head was way to much air for the body. The neck diameter of the swc extreme's can handle the air much easier.

ok thats what I thought. So it looks like doing a recirc mod with a sicce on a nw200 is not a good idea due to overloading the neck of the skimmer.

Tom

 

[artguy1]

no, that's not the remora he was talking about...
he was talking about the via aqua in-sump skimmers.
luke and i share a common hatred for the remora skimmer.
you could possibly modify one, but really, you dont want to,
i've done it...you would have to dremel out the injector and replace with regular plumbing into the reaction chamber, then seal the area around where the injector used to be, and then purchase and mesh mod a pump to go onto it, after you add up the cost of the remora, the cost of a mesh modded pump, and the time in hell working on that evil skimmer, you have a total fail scenario...i mean did it work better?? hells yeah it did, but it leaked so many bubbles from the unsealed sides of the collection cup, and dumped so many bubbles back into the display that it was just not worth it(and yes i tried different size pumps on it).

Gotcha, and thanks to you Skimmy and to luke33. I purchased a used Remora and have had OK luck skimming with it. It does skim but you have to keep it clean...needless to say I'm looking into a new skimmer. I'll be doing a new tank and sump/fuge upgrade so now I'm gathering the parts that are quality oriented without off-the-hook-pricing.

Don't want to hijack your thread luke33, should I move this to another area on RF?

Looking into the Warner HOB H1/H2 you recommended a while back Skimmy...also sump versions of the Vertex IN-80 (inexpensive, maybe marginal pump) or for more $$$ the SWC Xtreme 160. Also the Warner S125 but this has no bubble diffusion plate.

BCT182 has been quite helpful to me regarding skimmer selection, big thanks to him!!!

I'll be skimming around 50 gallons of water but as I have been talking to BCT182, I might as well get one that is rated for a bigger bioload for future tank upgrades...not necessarily bigger skimmer, just one that can handle a bigger bioload. I'm leaning towards the SWC Xtreme 160...your thoughts

 

[luke33]

ok thats what I thought. So it looks like doing a recirc mod with a sicce on a nw200 is not a good idea due to overloading the neck of the skimmer.

Tom

Tom, it actually works like a dream if you run it as a pw. I switched out the pw and was getting 32-34scfh hooked up. Which is pretty perfect for the neck of the nw200. The pic above was with mesh and pulled 47scfh.

 

[luke33]

Gotcha, and thanks to you Skimmy and to luke33. I purchased a used Remora and have had OK luck skimming with it. It does skim but you have to keep it clean...needless to say I'm looking into a new skimmer. I'll be doing a new tank and sump/fuge upgrade so now I'm gathering the parts that are quality oriented without off-the-hook-pricing.

Don't want to hijack your thread luke33, should I move this to another area on RF?

Looking into the Warner HOB H1/H2 you recommended a while back Skimmy...also sump versions of the Vertex IN-80 (inexpensive, maybe marginal pump) or for more $$$ the SWC Xtreme 160. Also the Warner S125 but this has no bubble diffusion plate.

BCT182 has been quite helpful to me regarding skimmer selection, big thanks to him!!!

I'll be skimming around 50 gallons of water but as I have been talking to BCT182, I might as well get one that is rated for a bigger bioload for future tank upgrades...not necessarily bigger skimmer, just one that can handle a bigger bioload. I'm leaning towards the SWC Xtreme 160...your thoughts

Artguy, there's lots of nice skimmers out there today that are priced well. I would suggest to look at WM, SWC, Vertex and bubble magnus. If you look at the BM only look at the one's with the ab pump's. The vertex are nice design but there draw back is the pumps. I would consider the vertex and octopus skimmers in the same entry level category. Which there is nothing wrong with at all.

 

[artguy1]

Artguy, there's lots of nice skimmers out there today that are priced well. I would suggest to look at WM, SWC, Vertex and bubble magnus. If you look at the BM only look at the one's with the ab pump's. The vertex are nice design but there draw back is the pumps. I would consider the vertex and octopus skimmers in the same entry level category. Which there is nothing wrong with at all.

Great input and thanks!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Luke, really appreciate your contributions here.
I have one of these old Octopus needlewheels that I modded the air intake on. Still need to mesh mod it. Anyone locally have a little bit of cheap flatback mesh?

 

[luke33]

I get my mesh from premium aquatics or marine solutions. Generally PA since there in Indy : ) Just make sure you get the flatback mesh and when you do the mod remove one row of impellers or the pump will draw to many watts and have startup issues. Could also burn up too if over spec.

 

[artguy1]

Luke, really appreciate your contributions here.
I have one of these old Octopus needlewheels that I modded the air intake on. Still need to mesh mod it. Anyone locally have a little bit of cheap flatback mesh?

Barrier Reef sells mesh mod kits