DIY skimmer tuning issues and proposed solution

[jgvergo]

I built a DIY skimmed that can be seen in the attached photos. As you can see, I ran an air line into the intake of the skimmer pump. The impeller does a great job of "atomizing" the air into tiny bubbles, exactly what I wanted. It skims like a beast...when it is tuned. Tuning is the issue.

I have two controls on the skimmer: 1) a needle valve that controls the amount of air I inject into the pump intake and 2) a gate valve that controls the amount of water that exits the skimmer. It has been difficult to get the controls stabilized and I finally figured out why. The air going into the pump has a BIG, negative (and sometimes unpredictable) impact on the pressure and flow rate of the pump. In retrospect, it's not a surprise. (Hindsight is always 20/20, right?)

The solution I'm considering is to inject the air via an aeration stone that is located in the main body of the skimmer. That way, the pump only pushes pure water (no bubbles) and should be MUCH more consistent.

Does this sound like the right approach? Does anyone have examples of a design for an aeration stone in the skimmer? Are there any pitfalls or guidelines I should be aware of before making this mod?

TIA,
John

 

[jsker]

Hello my friend,

1. I would cut the bottom off
2. then make a flange with a hole the same size as you bottom diameter and before gluing, I would drill and tap the holes for nylon screws, or wing nuts
3. I would make a new bottom and line it up drill and tap the hole
4. I would drill the side of the bottom tub for an in let
5. put in a DC pump that you can control the speed and the pump needs to set up for a skimmer so that there is a air line and also the aeration wheel thing
The reason I am suggesting this is I had a DYI skimmer wwwwwway back and it worked well, but I was constantly changing the air stone to keep up with the effectiveness.

I do have this Brand of skimmer, the exact skimmer in the artical and it was $249.00. The skimmer has a small foot print and the skimmer works so much better then my DIY ever did. The pumps Rlss uses are apex ready

 

[jgvergo]

jsker, how often did you have to change your aeration stone?

 

[hybridazn]

Have you tried adjusting the water level the skimmer sits in? It appears that your skimmer is not set up for recirculating so water level plays a big part on how the skimmer will run and affect tuning greatly

 

[reefwiser]

Also looks like the output of your pump is high.

 

[jgvergo]

@hybridazn and @reefwiser , I have been suspicious of my water level. The water discharges from the skimmer about 2 inches above the water level in my sump. Should I be considering cutting down the height of the skimmer? What is considered best, a discharge that is right at the sump water level?

 

[jgvergo]

I have a newbie question...Is it normal for the skimmer to change its behavior after a water change? That is, should it foam less because the water is cleaner?

 

[kateater]

Why not place the Venturi on the output of the pump rather than the intake? This way the pumps pressure will not be effected. I would try this before I started chopping up the skimmer body.

 

[jsker]

jsker, how often did you have to change your aeration stone?

Every two to three weeks

 

[wowkingjames]

Thanks for the information.

 

[jgvergo]

Wow, that would be very annoying! I want a better long term solution

Every two to three weeks

 

[jgvergo]

Why not place the Venturi on the output of the pump rather than the intake? This way the pumps pressure will not be effected. I would try this before I started chopping up the skimmer body.

Do you think the bubbles will be fractionated enough using this approach? Have you tried it?

 

[jgvergo]

Hello my friend,

1. I would cut the bottom off
2. then make a flange with a hole the same size as you bottom diameter and before gluing, I would drill and tap the holes for nylon screws, or wing nuts
3. I would make a new bottom and line it up drill and tap the hole
4. I would drill the side of the bottom tub for an in let
5. put in a DC pump that you can control the speed and the pump needs to set up for a skimmer so that there is a air line and also the aeration wheel thing
The reason I am suggesting this is I had a DYI skimmer wwwwwway back and it worked well, but I was constantly changing the air stone to keep up with the effectiveness.

I do have this Brand of skimmer, the exact skimmer in the artical and it was $249.00. The skimmer has a small foot print and the skimmer works so much better then my DIY ever did. The pumps Rlss uses are apex ready

I'm a little reluctant to try this, in part because I don't fully understand how it works! I watched a bunch of videos that show the operation of your skimmer and it works incredibly well! However, I'm like a dog with a bone and I really want to make mine work well.

 

[kateater]

Do you think the bubbles will be fractionated enough using this approach? Have you tried it?

I am using a setup like that on my current 80g build. The Venturi is made out of a coupling just below the black 90 elbow. These pictures are from day 1 of the setup but you can see there are tons of small bubbles. The problem I see with your design is that needle wheel pumps struggle pumping any head pressure.

 

[reefwiser]

A venturi pump doesn't have any head pressure as the pump is cavitating due to the air injection. So you want the output of the pump lower so that you have more contact time with the water in the skimmers body.

 

[jgvergo]

A venturi pump doesn't have any head pressure as the pump is cavitating due to the air injection. So you want the output of the pump lower so that you have more contact time with the water in the skimmers body.

Ed, are there specific Venturi pumps that are commercially avaialable, or do I just create one by adding a 1/4 inch hose connector to my existing pump on the high pressure side of the pump?

 

[reefwiser]

Well there are pumps that have needle wheels made for them.
http://www.aquacave.com/water-pumps-powerheads/needle-wheel-water-pumps.html

 

[kateater]

I run mine on a Danner mag 7 pump with Venturi installed on the high pressure side of the pump and it skims very well. Is it as efficient and my reef octopus SRO-6000INT with bubble blaster pump? No, but it does pull out a good amount of waste.

 

[jsker]

Wow, that would be very annoying! I want a better long term solution

It was, but that is what you did back before on the new products on the market

I'm a little reluctant to try this, in part because I don't fully understand how it works! I watched a bunch of videos that show the operation of your skimmer and it works incredibly well! However, I'm like a dog with a bone and I really want to make mine work well.

My thinking was having your aeration on the outside being pushed up a hose and then down a tube, I lose almost all of the effectiveness of the aeration. Moving the pump inside the unit would give you full capability of the pump and aeration. The only other way I would see is to move the bulkhead down so the the aerated water would not have to travel as far.

Here is my thinking of rerouting the plumbing

 

[bobman]

If it were me I would do 1 of 2 things (or both is fine)

First idea would be to just make it a recirculating skimmer and get a small feed pump to feed water to the skimmer. Then your (air/water pump) would not really affect the water level inside the skimmer much if at all and you are almost in complete control of the flow in and out of the simmer.

Second would be as mentioned move the venturi to the output on the pump however the venturi to have may not work well in this case as it looks like you dont have a big enough restriction. However I got a awesome working venturi from lifereef for about 20 something bucks.