5' Skimmer Build in Progress

Most industrial supplies have screw on type HEPA filters. You can get one of these and add a hose bard and rigid or braided tubing.

Another option would be to use HEPA type filter material on a DIY airtite box with a port built into one end and a place to secure the filter on the other.

Third option would be to buy a round replacement HEPA filter from lowes or HD and and sandwich it between two acrylic discs with a tie rod or two. Similar to an old school car airfilter. A tapped port on the top side inner radius would be your air supply. The entire perimeter would be the intake. Kinda like an orea made outa a the filter and acrylic discs.

Bean
 
Dont forget to wrap the HEPA filter with a coarser filter material. This will extend it's life for a long time with the small amount of air you will be sucking into it.
 
Concerning the water level in the skimmer, maybe I am missing something here, but I think it should be set like this: measure the body of the skimmer, and set the water level via the hartford loop at the 87% height level. As volume is directly porportional to height, and regardless of how long the air bubbles stay in the skimmer, if the water level is at 87% without the air, and you give it enough air to raise the water level to the top (or where ever you want to set the 100% level) the other 13% will be air. Then all you need to do is adjust the air until you get the level to your 100% level. Even with a recirculation pump going, you are not adding any more water volume to the skimmer.
 
That would be one way to ensurfe I got to the 13% mark, but it does not account for wet foam or dry foam.

I can do some experments based on height to figure out what is the running air volume that gives me 13%. In my skimmer once I have that number, I can set the height where ever I want, and the air saturation should stay consistent. Remember that in consistent diameter body it becomes a ratio of air to height. The air escapes the water at a consistent speed, so height changes do not change entrained volume.

Dale
 
Once you get yours figured out, and I get off my butt and build my own, I intend to cut a hole in the skimmer at the 87% mark and then glue a piece of acrylic over it. That way I will know for sure my water level is right - and also be able to see a bit into the skimmer once it gets running.

How is the new pump working? Does it provide enough air - or is it overkill?
 
The new pump is overkill, but that gives me room for adjustment.

When the air is running with a 13 % saturation, the air water mix will be 13% higher than the hartford loop. This is due to the density difference.

Dale
 
I recommend using a HEPA filter that is oversized for negligible pressure drop and long life. I use a 3M Filtrete Ultra Allergen filter. Easy to get at Home Depot or Lowes. I used the smallest sized 3M Filtrete (10" X 20")for consecutive years for two Medo's running continuously, and it could easily go more years before it needs changing.

If your design to use a filter involves enclosing the pump, you have to be cautious about allowing the pump to be able to radiate enough heat. That was mistake I made. If the pump has an intake port, you can enclose the filter and draw the air through the filter into the pump intake port.
 
That HEPA filter stuff is very interesting. I own one of those and it pushies a high volume of air. Don't laugh...Maybe I can run my skimmer with it?
 
piercho

About the simplest way to use the HEPA filter is to sandwich the round style between 2 discs of painted plywood, painted MDF, or Acrylic. A single tie rod in the center is enough to compress the discs onto the rubber filter surrounds. By drilling and tapping a hole in one of the discs and plumbing it to the input of the pump, you have HEPA filteres air.

The round filters are sold as replacements for air cleanrs, shop vacs, air compressors etc.

As I stated, you may want to buy a cheap roll of merv 8 or 10 filter fabric to stretch around the perimeter of the hepa filter.

The setup will last years with the small amount of air we are pulling through it.
 
Bean - that sounds like a very good setup to me. I got longer service out of my diffusors (over a year) than people generally say you can, and I have not needed to replace a pump part. I've taken one pump apart after 1+ year continuous operation and it appeared as clean as the day I started using it. IMO air sources and diffusors can have their life radically extended by pre-filtering the air down to a sub-micron level, so thats the main thing I'm recommending.
 
Yup... the $30 filter will save much more than that over it's life.

Clean pumps and stones produce more air and last longer.
 
So, the bubbles are still too small with the fine pore stones? The o in the 8 on my keyboard is pretty small. I ust reread the thread again... so you flood when the air is turned up too much? Even if it didn't flood, are there a sufficient number of small bubbles? Oh yeah, I missed how you are viewing the bubble size. Any skimmate news? Cheers, G1
 
I am eagerly awaiting this test. I am flip-flopping between a 4" and 6" design for my 150 total gallons. I don't think 6" would be overkill, but 4" should be sufficient.

Bean
 
I wish all the bubbles were the smallest ones, but they are not. Unless I find a way to get all bubbles that size, the search is done. I tested my stone in my sump and refugium.

I feel my bubbles match what Spazz got on his needle wheel testing. I am sorry I did not get pic for comparrison. I will see if I can do that this weekend. The thing I have to add is I also got a nice cloud of the micro bubbles. As for quantity, I can get way more bubbles than I need to max out my 13%.

I will be testing to see what my average volume loss is, and that will allow me to better adjust to the 13% goal. I will use a combination of the suggested method. I will fill the vessel to 87% of its volume and turn on my recirc to match my total flow. I will then measure how much air I add until I cause a overflow of the body. That is my air feed rate for that given flow rate to get 13%. The water level after that is independent. No matter what I set the hartford loop to, I will keep the same ratio of air and water (assuming the flow rates are in the same ratio).

Dale
 
The best bubble rise rate I achieved was 1.67 inches / second for the micro bubble. I see no way toget that any better without some sort of counter current. If laminar flow is not a concern, then the sky is the limit to bubble entrainment. I intend to stop at the boundry of laminar flow unless testing proves otherwise.

Dale
 
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