easy as pie euro-skimmer

[GregG.]

Hey Guys,


I built this skimmer yesterday...and feel that it has great potential. I thought I'd pass along several things. I would recommend placing the input tube high up on the canister....otherwise you will get a lot of micro bubbles coming out of the skimmer. I am using a Mag 5 and I feel it is a little too powerfull for the 1 gallon containter. I think drilling some holes in the impleller blades would both chop up the air better, and reduce the flow of the pump slightly. All in all this is a good project, and I recommend it to others.

Greg

[qwuintus]

Detailed plans of the venturi would be appreciated. What pump did you use for the pump?

[GregG.]

As stated above I used a Mag 5. The venturi is quite simple...all it is, is a 1/2" PVC tee which has female threads on the middle output. Just get a 1/2" threaded to 1/4" barb and screw it in the hole. To help the venturi "suck" a little better simple boil the tee in water for a minute or two and pich the tee under the air intake with a pair of pliars. Let the tee cool and your all set.

[GregG.]

Ok...well I thought I'd drill a few holes in the blades of the impeller for my Mag ....to see if it would chop up the air a little better. Well...lets just say the pump is no longer strong enough to run the venturi...so word to the wise....don't drill holes in your pumps impeller....it definatly seems to work better using the intact, stock impeller.

[qwuintus]

someone used a cut up bioball for that effect greg. and thanx for info.

[topjimmy]

Originally posted by qwuintus
someone used a cut up bioball for that effect greg. and thanx for info.

I tried to make a bioball impeller and it was hard to fit it into the housing. I never did get it to work well. I like the origonal impeller best.

Later
JimC

[GregG.]

Hey Jim,


How tall did you make your 2" PVC riser tube? I think mine is about 6". I'm trying to tune the water level/foam level to its optimum....I've been playing around with the height of the output pipe....to see what works best.

[topjimmy]

I'd say just about 6 inches. I tuned mine by cutting the outlet tube to lessen the head height and get the amount of water I wanted to have constant in the reactor part.

Later
JimC.

[aubbie]

I built mine today, withen 15 min of getting it set right by adj. the height of the output it was pulling out more gunk then my berlin would do in a week. Great design, thanks.

[Red_Roadster]

I can't get my venturi to work. Took a 1/2 inch T, boiled, squished in the middle, put air nipple on top, hooked up, and water shot out the nipple. What gives?

I'm using a 600gph pump. Should I be using a 3/4 inch T with a smaller outlet?

Red

[Red_Roadster]

I'm a moron; I put the venturi on the output side. I'll get back to you.

Red.

[tdool]

How do you think a Max-Jet 1200 (295Gph) would work with this skimmer? or should I purchase a Rio 1700 (645Ghp) pump to run this?

[coralnut99]

tdool, do yourself a favor, and stay away from the rio. There's a bunch of threads on RC about them, and I'll just tell you I learned a very hard lesson. I pitched 5 2100's in the garbage.

yeah, 5 of 'em.

There were other sizes too, but I stopped counting.

Maxijets are a fine product. Mag drives are good too, but bigger, more expensive, and the impeller shafts can be a problem.

Just my 2cents.

[coralnut99]

tdool, do yourself a favor, and stay away from the rio. There's a bunch of threads on RC about them, and I'll just tell you I learned a very hard lesson. I pitched 5 2100's in the garbage.

yeah, 5 of 'em.

There were other sizes too, but I stopped counting.

Maxijets are a fine product. Mag drives are good too, but bigger, more expensive, and the impeller shafts can be a problem.

Just my 2cents.

[SaM dA MaN]

got some newb related questions:

how does a skimmer actually work, and what is it doing.

I hear of a few designs of skimmer designs, venturi, counter current I think are a few. What are the diferences between the diferent designs, and is there any that are better than others. I wanna make one to save some dosh$ and just cant seem to decide on which type.

Can you use the water from an over flow on a skimmer or is the power/presssure provided by a pump needed.

What exactly is a venturi.

I think thats it
Cheeeeers

[SaM dA MaN]

oh yeh, and are protien skimmers very noisy?

[pollard]

hey topjimmy
did u ever make that detaled drawing explaining what u did?
it'd make it easier for us noobs visualize this

[topjimmy]

Nope no drawing yet. I've been crazy busy at work. Next week should be better. I'll get workin on it

Later
JimC.

[pollard]

no rush
just making sure u remembered
thanks for all the info so far, does this skimmer compare favorably to comercial skimmers?

[topjimmy]

Originally posted by pollard
no rush
just making sure u remembered
thanks for all the info so far, does this skimmer compare favorably to comercial skimmers?

Beats me ..never bought one

Later
JimC.

[GregG.]

As far as a commercial comparison goes.....it beats my AquaC urchin hands down. I would say its just a little below a euro-reef in terms of the tinkering that it takes to get it running optimally.

[qwuintus]

yeah but to be as good as it is for the price and for a simple little venturi it certainly is great.

would it make a difference if i used 2 of these in my system instead of one?

[sdr209]

I went to an orchard supply and found the 4"-2" adapter, but it had like a nut ring around, are the 4"-2" adapters everyone is using a type of coupler looking one that would slip in both of the 4" female couplers? If so maybe I should get ones from home depot.

[tdool]

has anyone had any success running this with a smaller pump like a Maxi-Jet 1200?

[SaM dA MaN]

did u ever make that detaled drawing explaining what u did?

Yeah I'd like to see some plans of this skimmer too.