Via Aqua Skimmer Club - Page 2

OnlyCrimson · #26 04/29/2007, 02:37 PM

I will get some skimmate pictures after this thing breaks in.

luke33 · #27 04/29/2007, 02:59 PM

Looks very nice crimson, now your going to have to wait a week for it to start skimming! lol, mine is starting to foam pretty well, but still far from broke in and thats with an old pump. But after it breaks in, its a mad skimmer. I'll post some pics after mine starts skimming great as well.

luke33 · #28 04/30/2007, 07:29 AM

Well, day 4 and i have some skimmate. I don't have anything but a couple hermits and a cleaner shrimp in the tank right now so its a very low bioload, here in another week i'll be adding my fish from qt and then we'll see what happens. It s producing skimmate right now and is nasty stuff, nothin but thick foam. I'll take some pics tonight. It looks very dark brown and thick so i'm guessing its only a cup or so, but its starting to break in nice. I did run mesh out the via aqua 2600 pump and it didn't produce nearly as well as the gn2400 as far as air. Pics coming soon enough......and everyone should have there skimmers by wed, mostly tuesday. Hopefully more people start to post.

OnlyCrimson · #29 04/30/2007, 10:46 AM

I'm gonna try the octopus pump like you mentioned. That will be sweet to have this thing totally whited out.

luke33 · #30 04/30/2007, 12:08 PM

Yep, my sk388 is completely milked from half an inch to an inch from the bottom. Its starting to become a monster. I have high hopes of filling the skimmate cup daily with 11cups of skimmate.

crázy clowntang · #31 04/30/2007, 04:24 PM

I finally got mine in today boys so i get a moving on taking that inner tube out. Will have some pics soon so we can rub it in lol.

OnlyCrimson · #32 04/30/2007, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by crázy clowntang
I finally got mine in today boys so i get a moving on taking that inner tube out. Will have some pics soon so we can rub it in lol.

ahh good more people! We need a bunch of people modding in here with pics. I'm still breakin mine in and will be doin so for awhile lol

luke33 · #33 04/30/2007, 09:25 PM

Yea, i thought mine was starting to break in, but its gonna be a couple more days! lol, here's a couple pics though. It gave me a half cup of dark brown skimmate.

Not bad for day three or four from the via aqua. I'm guessing its gonna be a couple more days, and i need to add a bioload to this tank as well, that could help!

fatrip · #34 05/01/2007, 12:47 PM

hey guys what do you think a good none submersible pump would be for this??? i have it plumbed because it wont fit in sump... just wondering some peoples inputs... thanks

fatrip · #35 05/01/2007, 01:03 PM

i have the sk388 by the way...

kirkbjerk · #36 05/01/2007, 03:14 PM

Got mine in today, soon as I get some time I'll do the tube mod and start working on the meshwheel.

luke33 · #37 05/01/2007, 03:15 PM

Glad you could join us.....hopefully i'll have some nasty skimmate to take pics of tonight! I'll try and get a glass shot of the color.

OnlyCrimson · #38 05/01/2007, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fatrip
hey guys what do you think a good none submersible pump would be for this??? i have it plumbed because it wont fit in sump... just wondering some peoples inputs... thanks

Possibly the NW Ocean Runner 2500.

luke33 · #39 05/01/2007, 08:07 PM

Crimson, i think your thinkin of the 2700, its the NW, and 625gph, should work well.

fatrip · #40 05/01/2007, 09:24 PM

well first off i desided to scrap the external pump and got a bigger sump...but i did the mod center cut...i used an extender piece for my dremel and went through the top instead of cuting off the bottom...this is the tool

very usefull tool i also used it to cut the bulk heads in my tank... here are the progression pics of the mod....(luke33) didnt have to cut it in half it just slid off and out...

this was the first cut off...cut most of it but i wanted to cut it a little lower...
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...kimmer-016.jpg
so i cut this lil piece out...the next pic is a lil cloudy because of the smoke inside the skimmer...

oh i used a carbide cutting wheel on the end of the dremel to sheer the center piler off...ohh this is the sk 338...

GuySmilie · #41 05/01/2007, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fatrip
....didnt have to cut it in half it just slid off and out...

fatrip, what are you referring to in this quote?

OnlyCrimson · #42 05/02/2007, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GuySmilie
fatrip, what are you referring to in this quote?

I beleive he is talking about the inner tube being around the feed tube. If you look in the pictures of the stock model you'll notice that the "receiving tube" as you might call it, goes around the feed tube. I think he meant he didn't have to cut the feed tube to get the "receiving tube" out.

OnlyCrimson · #43 05/02/2007, 12:12 AM

Luke, did you cut the collection cup tube down? In that last pic of yours it looks cut down.

GuySmilie · #44 05/02/2007, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by OnlyCrimson
I beleive he is talking about the inner tube being around the feed tube. If you look in the pictures of the stock model you'll notice that the "receiving tube" as you might call it, goes around the feed tube. I think he meant he didn't have to cut the feed tube to get the "receiving tube" out.

OK, I gotcha.
I'm getting ready to cut mine down from the inside (one of these days) and wasn't clear on what he was referring to.
Thanks!

hoyta · #45 05/02/2007, 06:28 AM

I'm officially in- I'm getting one that has already been modded by someone well known to this thread

in either today or tomorrow. The gen-x will be here by the 4th, so friday I should be able to get some pics up...

fatrip · #46 05/02/2007, 06:40 AM

guysmilie, i was talking to luke the yesterday and we though that i would have the cut the tube that came out in half in order to have it slide out from under the in take tube...but it just slid out..there was enought room off to the side for this...but remeber this was the sk388 the bigger one so i am not sure if it will go as smooth with the smaller one...

luke33 · #47 05/02/2007, 07:41 AM

Great job Fatrip, the nice thing about the sk388 is you can fit your hand down in there unlike the sk200. But that comes with the territory when its a BIG skimmer. I'm glad you decided to go with a larger sump, i was a bit concerned with running this thing externally, could have been a mess. Anyhow, i've been skimmin real dry and i'll make sure i post some pics tonight, i got busy last night and didn't have time. Its getting close to being broke in good i think, and its skimming some nasty foam.

luke33 · #48 05/02/2007, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by OnlyCrimson
Luke, did you cut the collection cup tube down? In that last pic of yours it looks cut down.

No, i definately didn't do that. You don't want to cut the collection cup down, thats not a good idea at all. : ) The only other suggestion i have that i may do in the future is to add a flat pieceof plastic at the bottom of the skimmer where the water feeds to disperse the bubbles around more utilizing all of the reaction chamber. If you leave any of the inner tube whatsoever it will still only use all but the bottom inch of the skimmer body. Hope that makes sense. But were only takin an inch! lol And with the sk200's it is tough to do sinse you can't reach down there. But thats still a free mod that would help. Seems like the only thing that costs anything is the new pump. So this skimmer becomes a beast under 100-120 bux depending on what pump you want to use.

kirkbjerk · #49 05/02/2007, 11:36 AM

Was curious, so I did a bit of a run lastnight in a 20g tank I had sitting around. Problem is I'm not really getting small bubbles? They're large bubbles and hardly fill up the body. Maybe this is just the case without a mesh mod?

I'm new to the hobby and skimmers so maybe it's just a setting I'm not getting right.

luke33 · #50 05/02/2007, 11:45 AM

How deep is the water in your sump? Also you need to open the venturi all the way to get max air flow. If your over a certain height in your sump, the bubbles are going to be almost nonexistant. I'd run the water an inch above the pump, thats it.