Making the Red Sea Berlin Classic Better?

[BrandonS]

I have the aformentioned skimmer in my tank and have for the 7 months I've owned the tank. Actually bought the thing 3 years ago when I was just starting out, but ended up going FW and then joined the USAF... SW setup just got pushed off for the time.

Anywho... The skimmer has two areas to it. The outside casing and an inside tube. If anyone is familiar with this, would it be plausible and work better if I removed the middle section to allow for more bubbles? I put an airvalve on the air tube rather than using the crappy nylon screw deal, but if I adjust it so bubbles appear in both sections (inner and outer) rather than just the inner section it'll overflow the cup.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Rockitmakr]

There is not much that you can do to that skimmer to make it work better. I had one of those skimmers a long time ago when I first started as well. there are much more efficient skimmers out there so just do yourself a favor & bite the bullet, you will be happier in the long run.
:beer:

 

[BrandonS]

that's what i was afraid of. I see people sticking mags on them and changing the venturi along with the air valve.

Buy the time I do all that i'd be probably at half of the cost of one that is more efficient out of the box.

I'll just have to bite the bullet in a few weeks and purchase one of those side entry deals. That seems to be where the better skimmers reside.

 

[Rockitmakr]

By the way, god bless you for serving this great country! The same goes to all that serve!
:beer:

 

[sirreal63]

I have been tempted to take one, ditch the venturi and put a GenX or Ocreanrunner needlwheel pump on one and see how much better it would perform. They aren't bad skimmers, just severely underpowered. Venturi skimmers need a strong pump to work well. The design of the skimmer isn't bad it just needs a needlewheel.

 

[psyco_guy_abd]

I did just what sirreal said and put a needle wheel pump on mine (which I got for free), Still not a great skimmer after the new pump but much better then it was before. Plus when you upgrade your skimmer you will already have a recirc pump to put on the new one.

 

[BrandonS]

I'll have to research the needle wheel pumps. I bought the skimmer 3 years ago and really haven't kept up with the new things available. Thanks for the help and glad to see some personal experience.

 

[luke33]

Instead of a NW pump, why not just cut down the impeller and add mesh, and a custom venturi, that way you'll only drop a few bux and it will be quite an improvement. Any normal impeller can be cut down and a custom venturi can be added on it, a NW mesh mod will perform the same as this mentioned.

 

[luke33]

Normal impeller

Cut down impeller

Meshed out cut down impeller=meshed out NW impeller

And there ya go

 

[BrandonS]

looks like a torture device.... does it flow as much still?

 

[luke33]

It flows as much or moreso, it'll pull much more air this way.

 

[JagerEinheit]

brandon red sea makes a swap out kit to "improve" your skimmer that moves the venturi to the intake side of teh pump. if you look up photos. that is all you need to recreate with any needlewheel pump whether DIY or retail. also make sure you remove your original venturi that is in teh skimmer using a quater or the tool if you still have it. that will enable the proper usage of a NW.

when i used a Berlin i put a mag 5 on it. much higher head pressure meant that the skimmer pulled alot better crap. it was the darkest and by far the nastiest skimmate ive pulled until i moved into downdraft skimmers, however it is not well suited for anythign over 50-60 gallons. if your tank is smaller then that you would be fine with just a pump swap probably. and moving the venturi to the intake side of the pump for a finer bubble size.

 

[BrandonS]

thanks... i'll just have to look towards a new skimmer since I have 75g with a 20 gal sump. I just got a T5 fixture and want to start with corals so it'd probably make more sense.

Other than perusing the equipment forum where can I read the basics on skimmers such as different types available. I haven't kept up with the new technologies that are coming out so I think the basics are due again.