Those octo's do great with the sicce pw. 30-35scfh is all they can take and work well. The QO will take the sicce pw but it doesn't have a deep enough volute to work right, believe me i've tried all the pw's in them and all are to tall.
skimmer mod...am I nuts???
- Thread starter reedman
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reedman
Well-known member
Thanks Luke. Sounds like I will try this thing out the way it is with the mesh mod and seriously consider the sicce as an upgrade in the not-to-distant future. Man it's nice to have the wealth of knowledge we have here.
reedman
Well-known member
A little more progress....got the pump mounted to the new base plate and the bubble plate drilled and ready to mount. Next is just a matted of capping the old holes and firing it up to see what I have. Sure hope it works out well. Stay tuned.
Yes, he is right!!!!
reedman
Well-known member
Thanks guys. I am getting there. Had some minor delays, but it is getting close to ready to try out. I'll have to mix a little water change water with some old skimmate and see what happens...lol...like a good mixed drink.
A man after my own heart.:lol::lol::lol:
reedman
Well-known member
Fired it up today with freshwater and it bubbled like a champ. Had to create a gasket for the bottom due to head pressure to keep it from leaking. I am guessing I have a little more work to do there to ensure a good seal. Other than that I think it is going to be great. The noise level was low and the bubbles were even coming out of the plate. We'll see what it looks like with dirty salt water when it is smaller bubbles. I'm pretty happy with the mod at this point. Tight fit in the bottom, but that is good. Also a little tricky getting the venturi line on/off when removing/installing the bottom....but I shouldn't have to do that too often so it should be OK. If it becomes problem I would think I could find a quick release joint for the airline that facilitate an easier removal. Thats about it for now. Once I have it up and running I will try to get some good pics to share.
Skimmy
SKIM FU
good to know, i thought they went straight in...
i suppose you would be able to sand the pins down slightly to make then fit though.
reedman
Well-known member
OK, down to the final part of the project and struggling a little. Toss me some advice all you DIYers. I need to get the bottom to seal onto the skimmer better. What do people use for gasket material and where can you get it? I tried the old silicone bead trick and it worked pretty well, but pealed when I removed the bottom....no good. I was thinking rubber, but not sure where to get it. tried the o-ring from an IO bucket and it wasn't sealing. I'm thinking I need to add a few more fasteners around the base to clamp the two pieces together. Also thinking I may need to stiffen the bottom to prevent flexing when fastening the two pieces together.
Thanks in advance all.
Thanks in advance all.
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
Home depot and lowes or Mclendons sells O rings for almost any size
reedman
Well-known member
Thanks Mike! I looked at Lowes, but I will look again. The plumbing department? I need something that is about 9" diameter - I think.
reedman
Well-known member
Just a little update.....went to TAP plastics yesterday for a thicker piece of acrylic for the base (need it to be more rigid) and found they have rolls of vinyl 12" wide. Picked up 2 feet of this stuff to use as a gasket. We'll have to see how it works, but it seems promising.
So I doubled up the bottom to increase the rigidity and it also allowed me to route the power cord between the 2 sheets providing a good seal (I think) and a smooth surface to the joint between the bottom and the main skimmer body. I siliconed the 2 pieces together so if I ever need to change the pump I don't have to start all over again. Gonna let this cure for another day or so to ensure the silicone is fully cured, then it is water test time again. I am hopeful this will be a success. Only other thing would be the airline routing, but I have a solution for now that I will use while I think about alternate solutions.
more to come.....
So I doubled up the bottom to increase the rigidity and it also allowed me to route the power cord between the 2 sheets providing a good seal (I think) and a smooth surface to the joint between the bottom and the main skimmer body. I siliconed the 2 pieces together so if I ever need to change the pump I don't have to start all over again. Gonna let this cure for another day or so to ensure the silicone is fully cured, then it is water test time again. I am hopeful this will be a success. Only other thing would be the airline routing, but I have a solution for now that I will use while I think about alternate solutions.
more to come.....
reedman
Well-known member
Mod is complete and the skimmer is running in the sump now. It's definitely quieter and the bubbles seem more uniform. Not sure it is a complete success at this point as the input for the water is causing some turbulence in the bubble tower (need to work on that). The ease of getting to the pump is great and the footprint is smaller which was my ultimate goal. There are no fittings on the pump input or output to restrict flow so it is better. I never got a complete seal on the base, but since this is an in sump application it is not a concern. The seal is pretty good and certainly good enough for my application. I am declaring this a success with more to come on the water input.
Thanks for following all! If you have further ideas/suggestions please post. I love tinkering with this thing
Thanks for following all! If you have further ideas/suggestions please post. I love tinkering with this thing
Skimmy
SKIM FU
well, this is on your 75g?
then you should only be feeding it like 100gph of process water, so like a maxijet 1200 would be 3 times too much flow through the skimmer.
a maxijet 400 (106gph)would be more like it, and i bet no turbulence with that amount of water.
or one of those mini jet pumps they use to give away in the salt buckets.
then you should only be feeding it like 100gph of process water, so like a maxijet 1200 would be 3 times too much flow through the skimmer.
a maxijet 400 (106gph)would be more like it, and i bet no turbulence with that amount of water.
or one of those mini jet pumps they use to give away in the salt buckets.
reedman
Well-known member
I'm actually feeding directly off the overflow which is split between my refugium and the skimmer. I can try to bleed more off to the refugium, but then I start to get air gurgle into the skimmer since it is a 1" input. I'll need to tinker a little. Thanks for the advice though, I appreciate it.
Skimmy
SKIM FU
dont mess with that nonsense....
just feed it with a small pump, trust me on this.
you'll never get ANY recirc skimmer to be totally stable/work at it's full potential gravity feeding off the drain, and not worth whatever miniscule benifit it might have sucking protein from the top of the tank. your overflows are sucking the protein anyway, so it really doesnt have to be piped directly to the skimmer.
just feed it with a small pump, trust me on this.
you'll never get ANY recirc skimmer to be totally stable/work at it's full potential gravity feeding off the drain, and not worth whatever miniscule benifit it might have sucking protein from the top of the tank. your overflows are sucking the protein anyway, so it really doesnt have to be piped directly to the skimmer.
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reedman
Well-known member
I was beginning to think along the same lines. I'll see what I can gin up. The pump I need is so small I might actually be able to get it from Petco
. I probably have a total of 90-100 gallons in the system so 100-150gph sounds about right?
