Frankie's 120 gal. reef.
- Thread starter FFrankie
- Start date
I am really digging the Radiums now that they are burned in.
FFrankie
New member
There just non permanent fittings to extending the water in under the surface to prevent splashing. It will all be getting cut back after i make the frag tank.
the mangroves are slow growing. It will take years for them to become an issue. When that happens i'll just upgrade the tank size for them. I believe Machado deSousa has been successful in pruning them also He has an awesome mangrove setup!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1215102&perpage=25&pagenumber=4
the mangroves are slow growing. It will take years for them to become an issue. When that happens i'll just upgrade the tank size for them. I believe Machado deSousa has been successful in pruning them also He has an awesome mangrove setup!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1215102&perpage=25&pagenumber=4
Bax
Premium Member
Frankie
I;ve just been too busy to make the changes and swap out the skimmer and chiller. And now, in two weeks, I am on vacation for a week. My tank sitter has requested that I don't try anything new on his watch. A reasonable request. So, I,ll wait till I get back to hook anything new up.
I'ts all good as it is giving me the chance to include a change to a Dart return with a manifold and a different return sump too during the swap out.
I;ve just been too busy to make the changes and swap out the skimmer and chiller. And now, in two weeks, I am on vacation for a week. My tank sitter has requested that I don't try anything new on his watch. A reasonable request. So, I,ll wait till I get back to hook anything new up.
I'ts all good as it is giving me the chance to include a change to a Dart return with a manifold and a different return sump too during the swap out.
chenzo1099
In Memoriam
Nice setup
FFrankie
New member
Thanks Chenzo 
Bax, the manifold was the best thing i have done in a long time. You won't be sorry. It has saved me a ton of heat issues and electric. I wish i had bought a bigger pump for the skimmer though. The Marlin i bought was just for that, not running a manifold, so i had to cut back on my tank return line to keep the skimmer working right. NBD, When i upgrade the tank itself I will be needing a bigger pump then. So i will run the skimmer solo again at that time.
Bax, the manifold was the best thing i have done in a long time. You won't be sorry. It has saved me a ton of heat issues and electric. I wish i had bought a bigger pump for the skimmer though. The Marlin i bought was just for that, not running a manifold, so i had to cut back on my tank return line to keep the skimmer working right. NBD, When i upgrade the tank itself I will be needing a bigger pump then. So i will run the skimmer solo again at that time.
FFrankie
New member
Hello Paul,
That is very understandable. I am happy you are busy, so am i but a lot of people here are not unfortunately.
2" tubes made no difference I am afraid. I ended up having to drill a hole into the side of the 2" tube and installing a 1/4" quick connect ball valve. That helped me a lot in not having to open the Beckett housing bottom flange to relieve the air lock.
I have tubes coming out of this and at the end of those i put check valves. When the skimmer shuts down in a power outage or what ever then starts again the air is pushed up this tube until it hits the back pressure from the checks. This seems to work great. It allows enough air out of the downdraft tubes for the foam to rise and kick in. Here is a picture you can see it in.
Thanks for checking in Paul
That is very understandable. I am happy you are busy, so am i but a lot of people here are not unfortunately.
2" tubes made no difference I am afraid. I ended up having to drill a hole into the side of the 2" tube and installing a 1/4" quick connect ball valve. That helped me a lot in not having to open the Beckett housing bottom flange to relieve the air lock.
I have tubes coming out of this and at the end of those i put check valves. When the skimmer shuts down in a power outage or what ever then starts again the air is pushed up this tube until it hits the back pressure from the checks. This seems to work great. It allows enough air out of the downdraft tubes for the foam to rise and kick in. Here is a picture you can see it in.
Thanks for checking in Paul
pcostanzo
New member
Thats cool. I wonder how the Barr works without having that problem? I emailed the guy from Barr who designed it and he told me to try and put a baffle at the bottom of my 2.5" down tube but that was impossible after it was already assembled. Then he told me to try a small hole back up into the injector housing and that worked for awhile. I bet a 1" tube right from the injector to the base would have worked better. I'll update my thread soon. Unfortunately I have to go through some big changes because of the humidity in my shop where the sump is.
pcostanzo
New member
Hey Jonathon, hows it going. Its does look like it skims good. Mine skimmed good too but what Frankie was saying about it starting up after a power outage was a giant mess. It would spit and sputter out the air intakes and if the downdrafts didn't fill with foam, it would keep doing it until someone saw it.
jnarowe
New member
hmmmm...I would ask Sherman (sherm71tank) about that. He has built quite a few becketts in his time and still has parts around. I would bet he would have some decent advice, but I like the check valve trick. Seems like that would work.
He's been trying to get me to build a down-draft skimmer for my system!
He's been trying to get me to build a down-draft skimmer for my system!
FFrankie
New member
Hello Johnathan
Good to see you buddy, does this mean a possible breakaway from the Square Skimmer Brigade soon!?
Maybe you can direct this Sherman person over here? It sounds like someone you respect and that go's a long way with me. Would be happy to read what he has to say on the subject.
Yes, other then that flaw i am very happy with the sludge this thing produces! I am happy i found Paul's thread build on it.
Good to see you buddy, does this mean a possible breakaway from the Square Skimmer Brigade soon!?
Maybe you can direct this Sherman person over here? It sounds like someone you respect and that go's a long way with me. Would be happy to read what he has to say on the subject.
Yes, other then that flaw i am very happy with the sludge this thing produces! I am happy i found Paul's thread build on it.
FFrankie
New member
Thank Johnathan!
I would not mind building a Volcano but I would need a tank to justify it first! Those things are huge.
IF Sherman decides to chime in on this one that would be great. I have a thought also I'll post here for him to ponder.
IF the Beckett's themselves were modified with smaller holes and more could this help the problem? My thinking is when the unit turns on the Beckett's are not foaming enough on the initial start up forcing to much water into the downdraft tubes. You can clearly see that problem in Paul's first pictures when he first fired his skimmer up. It was more of a spiral mix of water and not foam.
I would not mind building a Volcano but I would need a tank to justify it first! Those things are huge.
IF Sherman decides to chime in on this one that would be great. I have a thought also I'll post here for him to ponder.
IF the Beckett's themselves were modified with smaller holes and more could this help the problem? My thinking is when the unit turns on the Beckett's are not foaming enough on the initial start up forcing to much water into the downdraft tubes. You can clearly see that problem in Paul's first pictures when he first fired his skimmer up. It was more of a spiral mix of water and not foam.
sherm71tank
Premium Member
I'm at work right now and the pics are blocked (surprised I can get on RC at all here) so I'll have to check the pic when I get home. Here's a good read on smaller hole size.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=958085
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=958085
FFrankie
New member
Good read Sherman. From what i gathered from that thread is the smaller many hole do not make the Beckett function better. If anything people were having trouble running it with the smaller holes though they were useing smaller less pressure rated pumps then Paul or I.
The question still remains, will this idea solve the air lock issue related to this skimmer design.
There was a few posts from members removing the ball though. This is interesting. I am wondering if the Beckett will work better like that with the Marlin pump. I will need to try and find out. By removing the ball they figured out that the water build up in the Beckett chamber emptied. I think it time for me to buy a few spare sets and experiment a bit with them and the Marlin pump. It just might be the answer to the air lock issue.
Thank you for coming over and getting involved!
The question still remains, will this idea solve the air lock issue related to this skimmer design.
There was a few posts from members removing the ball though. This is interesting. I am wondering if the Beckett will work better like that with the Marlin pump. I will need to try and find out. By removing the ball they figured out that the water build up in the Beckett chamber emptied. I think it time for me to buy a few spare sets and experiment a bit with them and the Marlin pump. It just might be the answer to the air lock issue.
Thank you for coming over and getting involved!
sherm71tank
Premium Member
I really don't know what to tell you, sorry. As long as there isn't any backpressure on the becketts it should run fine. You don't have them going through any smaller unions anywhere do you? The output isn't running against gravity anywhere or restricted somehow? Sorry if you've already looked into this but thats all that comes to mind.
