Skimmer Mod?

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wrightme43

wrightme43

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Wondering what you all think of this idea, from the dark recesses of my mind. LOL
Ok I have a ASM G-3 on my 75g tank. I have a dual outlet with varible rheostat air pump, sitting doing nothing. I have a Rena micro bubbler ceramic airstone with the tiny bubble out put. I am thinking about adding the airstone to my skimmer running the line in thru the little fill vent on the bottom of the skimmer body. (its a little slot on the base) using the suction cup to attach the bubbler and seeing what kind of water to air volume I get. I get lots of nasty thick skimate already though for some reason I want more. LOL
As it stands now the skimmer produces about 1/4 of the volume of mix in the skimmer body as air. (I checked that by seeing where the level was with out air input. That may be the wrong way to do it.) I want to get it up to a 1/3 air.
Anybody done this? Have any ideas? Thoughts? Opinions?
 
Well, as per homework given to me by Mojoreef (reading skimming 101), if I'm understanding what you are asking correctly and I remembered and understood what I read correctly, then I think the mixture you want is 20%. So if that is the case, then at a 1/4 you'd be better off than trying to get it at 1/3 becasue as a percentage that will equal to 25% (1/4) to 33% (1/3) with 20% (1/5) being ideal mixture...If what I just said made no sense at all to you then just pretend I didn't say anything...I'm tired...Need sleep :( Bronchitus is a killer.
 
Right. I'll get right on that. LOL
I have a bunch of clear acrylic from a bank drive thru. I have been wanting to make one. I need to practice till I get smooth like don.
 
Hey Steve, I'm thinking on just getting my sump rebuilt because all of the good skimmers that can fit in my stand seem to be in sump skimmers. I was looking at the skimmer you had and I liked it. How much space does it actually take up in your sump with the pump. I need to work out the dimensions to have this sump built if I decide to go with it. I'm only giving myself this weekend to decide on what to do. Monday is my deadline. I was going to order my skimmer yesterday, but had a "vision" LOL. So Monday is the big day. Thanks
 
Oh yeah...And how high will I need the water level to be in that chamber for it to function properly? Thanks.
 
Steve heres yer problem. If you increase the air you are going to reach a problem with the bubble begining to meld together and they are going to get to large. This will result is less surface area for the organics to attach to, so we dont want to go down that route.
Your problem is not more air, the problem is with design. The skimmer is feed by a needle wheel pump with a venturi for air injection. What this does is to introduce the air and the water from the same location. This means that the air bubbles and the water molecules enter in the same place and travel together through the skimmer. This is not effecient, you want those clean air bubbles hitting as many water moles as possible (to aid with both mechanical stripping and chemical adhesion). So we need to fix that.
Second we want to increase the dwell time in the skimmer. Basically we want to allow the process of mechanical stripping and chemcial adhesion to be longer and thus more effective.
Other then those the skimmer is viable. It creates the right amount of air, the bubble sizes are correct, and it does evrything in a passive way so as not the distroy the bubbles.
If you could do this you would fix it no problem. You need to drill the skimmer with 2 holes. Take the needle wheel pump and instead of having it feed the skimmer make it recirculating As in taking water off the top and injecting it into the bottom of the skimmer. 1 drilled hole and a uniseal and that is done. Then drill one more hole as close to the top of the mixing chamber as you can and use that as the input of raw water line, again a hole and a uniseal and then either a small PH or gravity feed.


hope it helps



Mike
 
i wonder why a.s.m. doesnt just jump on the band wagon and make some recirculating models, although, that extruded might be too flimsy for that, it's pretty thin stuff. they would have to incorperate a thicker plastic band to accomodate the recirculating pump, especially a sedra 9000. or just have it sit on the bottom w/ some xtra plumbing.
 
Krish, its 11"x12" base with pump. And it needs about 30" of clearence to remove the collection cup at the top. It can be as low as 27" the water level is set by the overflow tube (it is adjustable) It skims fine from shallow to full in the sump area.
Mike, so take and drill a hole up top, use 90s to get that back down to the input venturi so it shoots it back in at the bottom and use a power head to feed in saltwater from the sump at the top of the skimmer. By doing this I will be cycling the bubbles and water thru the skimmer for a much longer period of time and increasing the skimate output.
Am I on the same page?
Steve
 
Leave the output from the pump into the skimmer where it is, then attach a pipe from the suction end of the pump and then drill a hole and put the suction end into the skimmer. Basically a closed loop with in the skimmer. venturi operates the same way.


Mike
 
Thought so, sorry my description was so confusing. That is the same thing I was trying to say. I have the tubing to replace the body if I destroy this one, so now all I need is a uniseal. Anybody know where to get them?
 
Yo Stevo, that's a huge bi#@! Like they say here in the Bamamas, "Boy...She'll buck da tank dem!" (a little Bahamian slang which means, it will hit the tank). Thanks anyway.
 
ROTFLMAO
Yeah it looks even bigger in the sump. I have a 20 long sump, which should of been a 30 but oh well. It takes up a big part of it. I have to say it kicks butt now, and when I do Mikes little mod. I cant wait to see what happens.
 
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