Pulling outside air with lifereef skimmer?

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 28, 2020

Can anyone pulling outside air with their lifereef skimmer tell me if they are just running a direct line from the skimmer and have the cup disconnected or is it better to use a Tee? I am currently using a tee and my PH still dropped quite a bit during the night (7.59) but during the day it was "high" for me (7.9). So I am wondering if I am not pulling enough air by using the Tee and considering putting the outside directly to the venturi and just put a plug on the collection up and prevent it from recirculating if it were to overflow.

WVNed · Jun 28, 2020

I run the air line from outside to the hole in the top and leave the venturi connected to the cup. With a tee you will pull most of the air in from the top hole.

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 28, 2020

You mean in the top of the cup as in the lid? I don't have one big enough for this size. Just checking before I go ahead and start drilling things.

BCSreef · Jun 28, 2020

Here is what I did. See photo below. I have a 36" LR skimmer. Low pH issues. I ran a 3/8" line 20' to the patio. Skimmer didn't pull enough air. I added a pond air pump on the patio that pumped more than enogh air. On photo to right, you can see 3/8" tubing connected to tee #1 (to relive back pressure on air pump). Then to tee #2 (feed for ATO water to keep venturi clear). Then to venturi. I disconnect the recirculation tubing from cup since I use ATO water to clean venturi. The waste line from cup drains into 1 gallon bucket. Bucket sits on top of one of the sumps (in event of overflow by skimmer, waste goes back into sump and not floor). This has worked wonderfully for years. Raised pH quite a bit. Looks like time to clean skimmer

Hope that helps, Bob

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 28, 2020

I like that idea but I am not really able to put a pump outside where I have it, HOA will go nuts where I live. I can try and look for a aqualifter pump but something that uses bigger lines.

WVNed · Jun 28, 2020

The venturi is connected to the cup. The lid on the cup has a hole in it. That is where the air goes in mine. I have a 36 inch skimmer.

The other pipe going into the tube between the venturi and the cup is for ozone.

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 28, 2020

I wonder if I'm not drawing in enough air. I'm using a 1700gpm pump but the outlet of the skimmer seems really weak, but i can produce really good skimmate.

BCSreef · Jun 28, 2020

Sounds like same pump I'm using. Panworld/Blueline?

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 28, 2020

BCSreef said:
Sounds like same pump I'm using. Panworld/Blueline?

No, its a skimz leopard. I also realized I said 1700gpm but I meant to say 1700gph.

sergifed91 · Jun 28, 2020

following

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 28, 2020

BCSreef said:
Sounds like same pump I'm using. Panworld/Blueline?

Do you know what would cause a very low flow on the output of the skimmer?

sergifed91 · Jun 28, 2020

I currently am using a co2 scrubber. not really seeing the results I have had with past skimmers I have used. going to try a airline to the outside and see what I get for ph. right now with the co2 scrubber it stays 7.9 to 8.05 ppm. not a real bad number but I prefer it a little higher.

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 28, 2020

new setup said:
I currently am using a co2 scrubber. not really seeing the results I have had with past skimmers I have used. going to try a airline to the outside and see what I get for ph. right now with the co2 scrubber it stays 7.9 to 8.05 ppm. not a real bad number but I prefer it a little higher.

Man, I would be happy to have those numbers. I am still running 7.78 as my high today with the line outside... Going crazy trying to get my ph elevated. I have a friend who has a different skimmer that I am going to try and see if it makes a difference. Hoping to get to the higher ph numbers soon.

sergifed91 · Jun 28, 2020

ChrisQ0904 said:
Man, I would be happy to have those numbers. I am still running 7.78 as my high today with the line outside... Going crazy trying to get my ph elevated. I have a friend who has a different skimmer that I am going to try and see if it makes a difference. Hoping to get to the higher ph numbers soon.

The co2 scrubber works. But the media is expensive.

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 28, 2020

new setup said:
The co2 scrubber works. But the media is expensive.

The media is literally the only thing thats holding me back from running one. I used one in a different house with better ph numbers but still went through it in about a week.

sergifed91 · Jun 29, 2020

ChrisQ0904 said:
The media is literally the only thing thats holding me back from running one. I used one in a different house with better ph numbers but still went through it in about a week.

Today my ph hit 8.17. But the media wasn't the factor. Windy a as sin today. So all the wind creeped through my windows on the basement. 50 year old windows. So I got good results today but tomorrow hot and no wind expected. So ph will drop and stay in the 8.0 to 8.1 range. If u try a different skimmer and get better results fill me in.

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 29, 2020

new setup said:
Today my ph hit 8.17. But the media wasn't the factor. Windy a as sin today. So all the wind creeped through my windows on the basement. 50 year old windows. So I got good results today but tomorrow hot and no wind expected. So ph will drop and stay in the 8.0 to 8.1 range. If u try a different skimmer and get better results fill me in.

I have a different skimmer on hand right now but its a pita to swap out. I did end up putting a bigger pump on the lifereef and my numbers for this time of day (night) seems to be better, hovering around 7.78 but let's see how much further it drops as we get further into the night.

Badilac · Jun 30, 2020

I have a 36" LifeReef with Mazzei. No line outside. Max PH is 7.94 low is 7.77 and average is 7.86. I have thought about trying to run a line outside to get the PH up. I run a Sicce sdc 9.0 for the pump (max is 2500gph but im running at a little over half power).

ChrisQ0904 · Jun 30, 2020

My ph hit a of 7.82 today which is a slight improvement for my tank. I put a cup of tank water with an airstone outside the other day and checked the ph after and had 8.4ish (forget exactly) and when I got home today I did the same test but inside the house and had a ph of 7.6. So I was thinking that I am fighting myself with low ph in the house and trying to increase it with fresh air.... my system is about 240g consisted of 3 tanks with a 4x2 footprint which is a lot of surface area and I had a HIGH amount of surface agitation on each tank. So my little experiment is that I pointed the gyres down a little to greatly reduce the agitation on the surface. I didn't completely eliminate my surface agitation and feel like there is still plenty there. Going to try this for the next 24hrs before I try switching skimmers. With the larger pump I still dropped to 7.63 last night.