Protein Skimmer Production/Improvements

[Anthony Calfo]

Vidar and Andy... if I understand your respective skimmers/application correctly... then no - I likely would not want to see any kind of restriction of flow of a pump driven venturi. Rather... manipulate the air (not water flow) coming into the venturi (boost it when/if needed, more finely aspirate it via a better needle valve, etc.)

As Mike/mojo states (and I agree) in another fab skimmer thread:

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/...ead.php?t=8250

100 micron bubbles (1/32") are a decent target. It is not of course the only(!) or even necessarily the "best" bubble size for all conceivable styles/brands of skimmers. But, disclaimer aside, its a very good range/starting point. And with a little bit of digging... the manufacturers of hardware like venturis, needle valves, needle wheel impellers, etc. can tell you what their products tolerances/capabilities are re: bubble size production.

My apologies too for the ref. to the other thread here... but there really is some fabulous and different discussion therein... and RF members have been quite supportive of RC and all free information websites. We're all working for the greater good here

best of luck and life to all, always...

Anthony

[Awright]

Anthony,
Do you know of a thread that shows a gate valve mods to Euroreef skimmer? I have a cs8-1 and it just does not put out skimmate like it should. I did installed a needle valve and it seamed to help some. I would like to install a gate valve next, after that I would probably add an air pump to the Venturi.
Any ideas?

Marc Levenson could you elaborate on the gate valve mod thread?

[ahenson]

Anthony any recomendations as to where to look for a quality needle valve?

[Awright]

Andy.
You may want to look at this for a needle valve.
http://www.petsolutions.com/default....480&sid=GOOGLE

[ahenson]

Thanks

[JustOneMoreTank]

Here are two good pictures of a Gate Valve modded EuroReef skimmers.





Hope these help

[JustOneMoreTank]

here is a link I just came across on the ASMSkimmer site. They recently put together a GateValve Mod kit for their skimmers. Here is the address and a list of the pieces needed to do the job.

http://www.asmskimmer.com/modifications.htm

[marcrothschild]

I just wanted to comment about a modification I have made since I last posted on this thread a few months ago. I added a Sanders ozone generator to my Lifereef skimmer, this has somewhat restricted the air going into the venturi. The effect has been smaller bubbles, and better skimmate production. I do not attribute this to the o3, but rater to the alteration in air injection. When I used to feed the tank, the large bubbles would simply collapse for hours. Now with the smaller bubble size, the skimmer keeps on foaming even after feeding the tank.
I just wanted to share my observations.

[Anthony Calfo]

outstanding to hear Marc... much thanks for sharing

[NewSchool04]

I have a basic Euro-Reef ES5-2 that has been working unbelievably since I got it 6 months ago. No complaints whatsoever. I was wondering if I changed out the sedra 3500 to a sedra 5000 with the same venturi, would this make my skimmer more efficient?

[ItsMee]

Originally posted by NewSchool04
No complaints whatsoever.

Ifits not broke, dont fix it!

[dogman]

Hello Anthony, I have the Remora Pro on a 125g. tank, and I get maybe 1/3rd of a cup a week. It has the skimmer box and a magnum 7 pump. Any thoughts on improving this skimmer. THANKS, Rick

[jerryc]

Dog man i have one on a 55 and get a full cup ever 2 or 3 days
for me it is keeping it clean. The pump one time a month take apart and clean in vinegar.
The cup ever time i empty it also wash it in vinegar.

If i let lime or hard water build up on pump or cup it will almost
stop producing

[NewSchool04]

ItsMee just because it's working great, doens't mean it can't work better! I'm just wondering if the skimmer could even handle the larger pump, if anyone had given it a whirl before I lay down $$$.

[gnikoli]

NewSchool04

Before buying a new skimmer, I tried larger pumps in my old ones. All I can say is that there is a definite balance to be achieved and bigger is not always better. In my case, the larger pumps produced too much turbulence and I could not do anything to get small bubbles. From what I have seen and read, while designs may be similar, some companies have that balance thing worked out better than others. Just because one company has two pumps or bigger pumps does not mean that it will skim better than one with a single or smaller pump. Good skimming is mainly about lots of small bubbles and contact time. You can either pay a company for the research they have done in the form of their product or you can experiment on your own. I would also suggest that you not take what anybody says as gospel. As long as you understand the principles, you can often improve on what you've got.

Good luck.

[Awright]

Originally posted by JustOneMoreTank
here is a link I just came across on the ASMSkimmer site. They recently put together a GateValve Mod kit for their skimmers. Here is the address and a list of the pieces needed to do the job.

http://www.asmskimmer.com/modifications.htm

JustOneMoreTank,
Thanks for the link.

Anybody know where to buy just the gate valve?

[Anthony Calfo]

My Home Depot stocks up to 1 1/2" gate valves (on a very high shelf for this short chap )

Do look up local plumbers supply places in your local area (yellow pages). Gate valves are very common.

[Awright]

Originally posted by Anthony Calfo
My Home Depot stocks up to 1 1/2" gate valves (on a very high shelf for this short chap )

Do look up local plumbers supply places in your local area (yellow pages). Gate valves are very common.

Anthony,
Thanks, I checked Lowes. They only had 3/4" cpvc. I will check at HD tomorrow.

[Anthony Calfo]

very good, my friend. Do search hard. My local HD clerk said they did not have them, but my friends assured me it was there. Sure enough... they were sitting on a shelf (the gate valves that is... not my friends. They are too big to sit on that shelf) :P

But a local plumbers supply place is perhaps an easier/better place to find all sizes of valves. Every city has plumbers... and a supply store to serve them

[elfa]

Hi Anthony

Thanks for the reply and a great link. Just a small update on my tweaking: I measured the actual flow through my skimmer by provided by an Eheim 1250 return pump. On the back of the pump it states 1200 l/h and since it had to lift the water about 1 meter I expected it to be less. To my surprise the actual flow was only less than 300 l/h (according to Deltec the skimmer flow should be 600 l/h). I managed to improve the flow to 400 l/h by changing the fixed PVC with a flexible tube and thereby avoiding the 90 and 45 degrees bends. I addition I drilled a 5mm hole at the top of the 45 degree bend on the inlet of the skimmer (inside the skimmer). The hole let air that is dragged along with the water in the stand pipe escape before big bubbles forms at the top of the bend. These big bubbles used to interfere with the foam formation by making turbulence in the rising foam when they suddenly erupted.

With these two modifications I am now able to get about 0.2 liter of daily skimmate, but the color is still light brown/greenish.

As for the flow reduction of the venturi pump I think I will try reducing it by a tube placed inside the skimmer at the inlet of the pump. I already have a tube there, but I will go for one with a smaller inner diameter. The tube I use now is essential for the venturi to work as it increases the speed of the water at the point where the air is sucked into the pump.

Still aiming for a daily cup of dark skimmate.

Vidar

[wstellwagen]

Awright
if your town doesn't have a supply house and the nearest ciy is too far www.usplastics.com has them for about $10

Walt

[JustOneMoreTank]

I got my Gate Valves at www.usplastics.com as well.

[Anthony Calfo]

cheers, Vidar

its great to hear of the improvements

And no need to worry too much about skimmate color. I often tell aquarists to seek dark/coffee colored skimmate rather than tea or watery colored product... but that's not(!) because dark skimmate is better. Rather, because it is generally better for those types of hobbyists I am speaking to/advising. Namely... reef aquarists with hearty coral loads but light fish loads.

Repeating some older mentions from this thread ( for the benefit of those tagging along late)...

...skimmate quality is not so much a good versus bad/light versus dark or dry versus wet.

Much like lighting, water flow, etc... we must first address the needs of the system/inhabitants.

If your style of aquarium keeping is for big fish, heavy fish load, or an otherwise heavy bioload (feeding corals heavily, for example)... then I would more likely advise that you seek to get more wet/watery skimmate. The purpose being to use skimmer bubbles/foam for physically drive (pushing up and out in to the skimmer cup) gross particulate matter. This type of skimming (wet/light colored likely) will serve such systems better.

Now... for systems with less particulates/less solids... we are instead targeting dissolved organics. And in doing so, we really focus on bubble size, contact time, etc to finesse or improve the amounts of protein "stuck" to bubbles and climbing up and out of the neck vis a vis drier, darker skimmate.

My apologies for the redundancy... but an important point that is often lost on many aquarists. Focus on consistent skimmate production over a specific color. And please forgive my generalizations with the knowledge that it is "mass advice" sometimes

Anthony (...flying out again tomorrow, be chatting soon)

[Awright]

Originally posted by wstellwagen
Awright
if your town doesn't have a supply house and the nearest ciy is too far www.usplastics.com has them for about $10

Walt

Thanks Walt I will look into that after I check a couple of local supply houses.

[mike9515756]

Hi Anthony, I just added my gate valve mod on my euroreef. The output tube is submerged in water right over the output tube of the overflow (outputs at 90 deg). Does this create back pressure or is this bad? Also, i will shortly box in the skimmer. If i understand correctly air bubbles comming from the output of the overflow are not good. How do i avoid this? Is it a good idea to use an airstone or airline to improve performance on the euroreef?