Via Aqua Skimmer Club - Page 15

bigian · #**351** 08/18/2007, 02:42 PM

no offence to anyone, but I dont like this skimmer. I have a decent size and a big one ill sell cheap... pm me

luke33 · #**352** 08/18/2007, 02:51 PM

There a great skimmer if you can figure out there personallity. Otherwise you may not like it. There's lots of ways this skimmer won't work great, but its just like all other in sump skimmers. But is one you can mod the heck out of for cheap.

luke33 · #**353** 08/21/2007, 10:18 PM

Well I spoke with Bigian about buying his skimmer but I think he wanted much more than it was worth. Must have paid 220 for the 388. Much to money for it stock. Anyhow, here's the last 2 days of skimmate its produced.

I'm skimming dryer then ever. Seems like the deltec guys will tell you your skimmer sucks unless its as dark as coke. Well this is raw sewage folks, smells like sewage. Freakin disguisting. I wish someone lived around me so they could come check this baby out. Its tough when there aren't any reefers around here!

And I don't want to hear the you must have a huge bioload. I don't. I have a few softies, a 3.5" rock beauty angel, a 2" blue tang, a cleaner wrasse(tiny), valentini puffer, lawnmower blenny.....cleaner shrimp and a few snails. 125lbs of LR and 150lbs of LS. Oh yea I fogot whats making the huge bioload.....I have a sea cucumber!!! lol Thats it. In a 125g tank. So the skimmer is just that cool! lol

bigian · #**354** 08/22/2007, 01:13 AM

I totally forgot...I cant beat the price luke paid for a full pallet of these skimmers. I have a sk200 and an sk388... $120 for both...

OnlyCrimson · #**355** 08/25/2007, 11:28 PM

thats amazigng luke. Mines skimmin just as good as ever.

oldreefer76 · #**356** 08/29/2007, 07:14 PM

I have a HOB Via Aqua what mods if any can I do to this thing, it skims ok but not as good as it should on a high bio load 55g fowlr and no wheres near as good as my tunze 9005 did on my 15g nano

luke33 · #**357** 08/29/2007, 07:37 PM

What a strange contraption you got there.......well, heres what i would do. You can't cut down the tube or you'll have micro problems so I would take the pump out, grind down the impeller and add a layer of mesh or two if you can, then pull off the crappy air injector. I'd add a 1/4" hose adapter and a 1/4" air tube on the volute cover and you'll be pulling 2-3x's the air. Then you will see a much better performer. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

luke33 · #**358** 08/30/2007, 09:56 PM

I'm gonna show some mudd here in the next couple days. The last time i cleaned it there was literally half an inch of black mudd all up the riser tube. It was sickening, but i didn't get any pics. Its been two days and the skimmer is sick looking. More sewage.

Its funny, no one ever realizes this skimmer is 9.5-11" in diameter with an 11cup collection cup. lol

oldreefer76 · #**359** 08/30/2007, 10:27 PM

yummmmy

luke33 · #**360** 08/30/2007, 10:33 PM

You still plotting the moding oldreefer?

oldreefer76 · #**361** 08/31/2007, 12:17 PM

yep, going out of town for the weekend will work on it next week

luke33 · #**362** 09/01/2007, 11:09 PM

Here's the follow up. 4 days of skimmate. I've never let it go this long without cleaning before....it stunk up the first level of my house for over an hour. Sickness.

Completely black......black as black can be.

And here's some of the sludge.........

No worries, i took a shower and washed my hand.

GuySmilie · #**363** 09/02/2007, 12:05 AM

Now that's what I call some tar, jack!
Funkadelic!

luke33 · #**364** 10/02/2007, 09:22 PM

Its been a month so i thought i'd show that the skimmer is still rocking out. Here's 1.5days of skimmate.

Its still a killer skimmer. I don't know how many more times i can post pics as it just takes to long and stinks up the whole freakin house. Its sick.

dhnguyen · #**365** 10/02/2007, 09:25 PM

nice breakfast sandwiches sign in the back there Luke. Almost make iyt look like you're trying to market it as a new cola drink or something

luke33 · #**366** 10/02/2007, 09:27 PM

Yep, definately keeps me goin in the am before work! lol
Let me know if you would like me to bottle and ship it to you.

foshizzle · #**367** 10/02/2007, 10:17 PM

I've got my sk200 to for sale since I plumbed my frag tank into my main system. It does a great job, but I need some T5 gear...

clownfish2020 · #**368** 10/04/2007, 02:16 PM

foshizzle, what are you asking for including shipping. Did you do any other mods other than mesh mod and driilling the volute? Is this the stock pump ?
thanks

clownfish2020 · #**369** 10/04/2007, 02:16 PM

foshizzle, what are you asking for including shipping. Did you do any other mods other than mesh mod and driilling the volute? Is this the stock pump ?
thanks

joelabu · #**370** 10/18/2007, 11:19 PM

While waiting to save some bucks to get a chiller, i cant afford a good skimmer yet..so this is what i did to my SK200 clone..mod it baby...

Before...

the center tube was blocking the flow, thus creating a small contact time...we need to remove it so we can fill the chamber with some bubbles..

Cut the center segment of the base so we can remove the center tube...

Make a T junction with a 1/4" at the bottom of the base..and then we silicone it all together..

side view..

Lets test it now...

not sure if creating more bubble will have effect on the skimmer..but now all the skimmer chamber is full of bubbles..and after washing it..need to start all over again and wait for it to break-in...2days maybe?
did not mod the mesh mod...maybe after this? hope to get more skimmate like urs!!

luke33 · #**371** 10/19/2007, 07:11 AM

Looks good man, I would suggests taking the stock venturi off and making your own venturi. Add a layer of mesh and use a 3/4" male threaded fitting. Then cut a small piece of 3/4" pvc you can slide in the fitting but before you do cut a small piece of 1/2" pvc and slip it into the 3/4" pcv(you'll have to boar out the piece a bit) then put your air injector right after the 1/2" piece. It'll pull quite a bit more air.....alot more than the stock venturi. Did you do a gate valve on that guy? Looks good.

joelabu · #**372** 10/19/2007, 08:10 AM

i only remove the center tube...was going to see if it could extract more and darker skimmate...appreciate if you could post a pic of what u are talking about..really cant imagine it...heheh...me kind of slow bit..

btw..how do u control the air and flow after we mod the venturi? cause its hard enough right now to control the flow using the stock venturi..

luke33 · #**373** 10/19/2007, 09:03 AM

You want to get this pvc fitting and a hose adapter and put it on your pump like this. The hose is 1/4" ID. You can get the fittings at lowe's.

Here's a pic of the inside of it.

I don't have a pic of this but you want to take a small piece of 3/4" pvc about 1/2" or 1/4" and drill out the inside of it a bit. They you want to put a 1/2" piece of pvc inside it that is just a bit larger. You then slide it into the fitting where its close to where your air hose adapter comes in. That will cause some pressure and will pull alot more air in.

Here's a pic with one done, notice the small piece of pvc in it.

This is the exact pump you have with it done.

joelabu · #**374** 10/19/2007, 10:07 AM

quick question..why dont we just get a 3/4 to 1/2 converter?...is there any purpose for the 1/2 into the 3/4 pvc? btw we only drill hole on the 3/4" only right?

luke33 · #**375** 10/19/2007, 10:20 AM

Yes, you only want the hole after the 1/2" pvc insert on the 3/4" fitting. Reason you want to do it this way instead of having the 3/4 to 1/2 converter is because this makes your venturi work much better. Basically the reason you want to do it this way is the water is pulled in from a larger diameter, then shrunk down to a very pressurized flow at 1/2", then it meets your air injector and pulls more air out with the pressure. If you just had the 3/4" to 1/2" pvc converter it would just be the water being pulled in at a slower rate when it contacts the air venturi. This is the simplest way to make a good venturi.