Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
I tried that and the air injection creates too much turbulent action in the neck. I tried to bleed the air and it helps with the turbulence, but it them makes larger bubbles in the neck.
North Dakota Mini-Ocean
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Did you get the modified NW from Scott? It just seems that more needles would chop the air sufficiently. I have wondered about injecting air into the pipe with an air stone inside the pipe.
Its too bad Scott is having issues with his skimmers. They seem to be built well, but maybe a bit more R&D is needed. I do feel for him being so busy, I know the feeling.
I wonder what the prototype air #s were before starting production of these skimmers and what if anything changed?
Its too bad Scott is having issues with his skimmers. They seem to be built well, but maybe a bit more R&D is needed. I do feel for him being so busy, I know the feeling.
I wonder what the prototype air #s were before starting production of these skimmers and what if anything changed?
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
No, Scott did not send me the needle wheel, diffuser plate, or venturi. I don't think he is that busy, but its more that he is stressed out about the situation he has put himself in.
I honostly think the first couple skimmers he built were 100% custom. He also was on hand for the first few skimmers to test and fine tune them to each system. Now they aren't 100% custom and he doesn't have a set of standards (instructions) to give to people when they set up the skimmer...He tells them play around with it and "every system is different". He tell people when he sends them a new part that it will "vastly improve" the skimmer...Yet he hasn't tested the new part. He more less tries stuff by process of elimination. When he is spending time fixing mistakes he makes no money and all the other skimmers get pushed behind. This creates a snowball effect and one thing leads to the next. His product might be built well, but what about performance? How many of these skimmers do you think he has built? How much R&D do you think was done on each model? Do you think he tested each model (not unit) on a tank? he told me the custom needle wheel built by him would make the cost of the skimmers go up substanially. He says it takes 5 hours to build one. Also, if you look at the pictures of Stan's skimmer he has a different venturi than mine. Why didn't Scott put a bleed valve on the Alita input? I don't even he knew how the skimmer was going to perform.
I honostly think the first couple skimmers he built were 100% custom. He also was on hand for the first few skimmers to test and fine tune them to each system. Now they aren't 100% custom and he doesn't have a set of standards (instructions) to give to people when they set up the skimmer...He tells them play around with it and "every system is different". He tell people when he sends them a new part that it will "vastly improve" the skimmer...Yet he hasn't tested the new part. He more less tries stuff by process of elimination. When he is spending time fixing mistakes he makes no money and all the other skimmers get pushed behind. This creates a snowball effect and one thing leads to the next. His product might be built well, but what about performance? How many of these skimmers do you think he has built? How much R&D do you think was done on each model? Do you think he tested each model (not unit) on a tank? he told me the custom needle wheel built by him would make the cost of the skimmers go up substanially. He says it takes 5 hours to build one. Also, if you look at the pictures of Stan's skimmer he has a different venturi than mine. Why didn't Scott put a bleed valve on the Alita input? I don't even he knew how the skimmer was going to perform.
Agreed. Sadly, more R&D should have been done before launching the product line.
This is why I dont have a line of Blue Planet Waterworks skimmers. I have built plenty, but all are custom and involve tweaking which equals time. I also like to change my designs from the norm, so havent settled on one design yet.
Scotts fabrication skills and tooling are there. Hope he gets it all in order.
This is why I dont have a line of Blue Planet Waterworks skimmers. I have built plenty, but all are custom and involve tweaking which equals time. I also like to change my designs from the norm, so havent settled on one design yet.
Scotts fabrication skills and tooling are there. Hope he gets it all in order.
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
Exactly.
I hope before he goes forward he makes good on all the skimmers he has problems with.
I hope before he goes forward he makes good on all the skimmers he has problems with.
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
I thought I would give an equipment and livetock update just so people don't have to page through the thread to find answers.
Tank - 3/4" thick 96 x 48 x 30T (Dual overflows 14 x 7 w/ 1/4" teeth) - Three drains in each overflow (2", 1.5", 1").
Sumps (Dual connected by 2" pipe) - 27 x 47 x 18T (8-9" of water in sump)
Refugium - 27 x 12 x 18T (17" of water in fuge)
Main Display return pump - Reeflo Barracuda connected to dual 1" WavySeas and dual stationary 1" returns.
Closed Loop - Reeflo Barracuda connected to OM-4 way that connects to four acrylic legs under the sand and rock in the tank. There are eight holes per leg and lock-line is used to distribute flow.
Media Reactor (Dual chamber) - Next Reef MR-1 Monster carbon and phosphate reactor.
Calcium Reactor - Custom built 8" w/Ehiem 1262. Holds 35 lbs of media.
Kalk Reactor - Custom built 8" w/Ehiem 1248. Fed by RO/DI water and solenoid switch (controlled by ACIII Pro). fed to keep water at pH 8.3-8.4
Auto Top-off - Fed to keep salinity at 1.025-1.026. Monitored by Tunze Osmolator.
Skimmer - Volcano 1860. Currently looking into other options.
RO/DI - Bulk Reef 6 stage unit w/dual TDS and booster pump. Water fed into 100g resevoir monitored by Flowline Echo Pod.
Lighting - Six 400w Lumenbright Mini's powered by Ice Cap ballasts w/12k Reeflux bulbs. Lights hang from an aluminum lighting track 19" above water. 6 Ice Cap fans for cooling. Moonlights are Neptune Lunar Sim 5 LED model.
Powerheads - Six 6201 Tunze Streams powered by AquaSurf hidden by custom acrylic plates.
UV Steralizer - Aqua UV 80w dual bulb. Plumbed off 2" drain and fed back into sump.
Ozone - 100mg Ozotech unit w/air dryer. This unit will be fed by air pump into a reactor (skimmer or stand alone reactor).
Controller - ACIII Pro. Controls everything in the room.
Air Exchanger - Venmar Titanium-core high effciency model HE 1.3. Turns over room 10 times per hour.
Rock - 550 lbs of dead rock from Bulk Reef Supply.
Sand - 600lbs of live fine sea floor grade sand.
Inverts - (350) Astria, Cerith, Turbo, Trochus, and Nassarius.
Anthais - (21) Bartlett, Carberryi, Lyretail, Lori's, Ignitus, Squareback, Dispar.
Tangs - Vlaminigi, Purple.
Chromis - (6) Blue/Green, Blue Reef.
Wrasse - Red Head Solon Fairy, Carpenter's Flasher, Six Line.
Clownfish - Ocellaris pair.
Tank - 3/4" thick 96 x 48 x 30T (Dual overflows 14 x 7 w/ 1/4" teeth) - Three drains in each overflow (2", 1.5", 1").
Sumps (Dual connected by 2" pipe) - 27 x 47 x 18T (8-9" of water in sump)
Refugium - 27 x 12 x 18T (17" of water in fuge)
Main Display return pump - Reeflo Barracuda connected to dual 1" WavySeas and dual stationary 1" returns.
Closed Loop - Reeflo Barracuda connected to OM-4 way that connects to four acrylic legs under the sand and rock in the tank. There are eight holes per leg and lock-line is used to distribute flow.
Media Reactor (Dual chamber) - Next Reef MR-1 Monster carbon and phosphate reactor.
Calcium Reactor - Custom built 8" w/Ehiem 1262. Holds 35 lbs of media.
Kalk Reactor - Custom built 8" w/Ehiem 1248. Fed by RO/DI water and solenoid switch (controlled by ACIII Pro). fed to keep water at pH 8.3-8.4
Auto Top-off - Fed to keep salinity at 1.025-1.026. Monitored by Tunze Osmolator.
Skimmer - Volcano 1860. Currently looking into other options.
RO/DI - Bulk Reef 6 stage unit w/dual TDS and booster pump. Water fed into 100g resevoir monitored by Flowline Echo Pod.
Lighting - Six 400w Lumenbright Mini's powered by Ice Cap ballasts w/12k Reeflux bulbs. Lights hang from an aluminum lighting track 19" above water. 6 Ice Cap fans for cooling. Moonlights are Neptune Lunar Sim 5 LED model.
Powerheads - Six 6201 Tunze Streams powered by AquaSurf hidden by custom acrylic plates.
UV Steralizer - Aqua UV 80w dual bulb. Plumbed off 2" drain and fed back into sump.
Ozone - 100mg Ozotech unit w/air dryer. This unit will be fed by air pump into a reactor (skimmer or stand alone reactor).
Controller - ACIII Pro. Controls everything in the room.
Air Exchanger - Venmar Titanium-core high effciency model HE 1.3. Turns over room 10 times per hour.
Rock - 550 lbs of dead rock from Bulk Reef Supply.
Sand - 600lbs of live fine sea floor grade sand.
Inverts - (350) Astria, Cerith, Turbo, Trochus, and Nassarius.
Anthais - (21) Bartlett, Carberryi, Lyretail, Lori's, Ignitus, Squareback, Dispar.
Tangs - Vlaminigi, Purple.
Chromis - (6) Blue/Green, Blue Reef.
Wrasse - Red Head Solon Fairy, Carpenter's Flasher, Six Line.
Clownfish - Ocellaris pair.
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
I left this weekend and just returned home this morning to find out I did not have to clean the front acrylic pane. The snails did their job!!
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
I did some modifications to the alita pump input (bleeding)...I also adjusted the three gate valves until I started to get a decent foam head. The waterline in the neck of the skimmer is still considerably high and the bubbles seem turbulent as they reach the base of neck.
I will keep these setting for a few days and see how much skimmate I can get.
I will keep these setting for a few days and see how much skimmate I can get.
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
Yeah, I am sure they do...But I have had 30 fish in the tank for around 3-4 weeks and I feed 3 times a day. There should be some decent bioload in there. We will see what happens in the next few days.
benihana
New member
Wow, it has been 3-4 weeks already hasn't it...seems like yesterday you put that skimmer into motion. Then I would agree with the poster above, the foam you are getting is still pretty good, keep tabs on the water level and continue to dial it in, it will turn into a monster skimmer with a little patience
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
Jon,
Yeah its decent...but i prolly could get that much from a cheaper skimmer...Volcano was "guaranteed to be the best of the best". I just cleaned up the neck and cup so i have a clean slate to evaluate my modifications.
Yeah its decent...but i prolly could get that much from a cheaper skimmer...Volcano was "guaranteed to be the best of the best". I just cleaned up the neck and cup so i have a clean slate to evaluate my modifications.
jnarowe
New member
Are you able to post a vid of it in action, and specifically of the turbulence you are talking about? I am not sold on the whole turbulence thing, but I am really curious to see what you are referring to. My skimmer has what I think is a LOT of turbulence but it skims pretty darn good anyway.
Does it skim better with the collection cup off? I see it's been filled up...how are you draining it? Based on the pic you posted of the neck, it sure looks milky white to me!
Does it skim better with the collection cup off? I see it's been filled up...how are you draining it? Based on the pic you posted of the neck, it sure looks milky white to me!
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
Right now the skimmer has a waterline of 2 1/2 - 3" below the top of the neck.
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
The collection cup was filled because i accidently hooked the alita up with no bleeding and it filled. I had cleaned the neck around wednesday and it had no liquid in the cup today until that accident happened. My video camera is charging as we speak and I will post results soon.
The problem is I will get some liquid in the cup, but it has to be so high in the neck to do so. i will try your suggestion and keep the top off as well and see if that helps.
The problem is I will get some liquid in the cup, but it has to be so high in the neck to do so. i will try your suggestion and keep the top off as well and see if that helps.
jnarowe
New member
Unfortunately I don't know enough about skimmers to coach you and some of the best skimmer dudes have either been "moved on" or won't comment on the boards.
So what you are saying is that it "VOLCANO'D"?? :lol: Is that really the water line in the pic? That seems a bit bizarre. Theoretically the more air you pump in, the lower the water line is...so with it wide open, it just overskims right? If I were facing that same scenario, I would slow down the water input, not the air. In other words, I leave the air wide open and reduce the flow of water to get the proper water level and skimming.
The whole point is to fill the skimmer with air, not water, as I am sure you already know.
I realize mine is much diferent than yours, but perhaps that is a good place to start? I would guess you have a valve on the water entering the skimmer right? Try to throttle that back a bit until you can run the Alita wide open without it overskimming. That should at least be a start. Sorry I cannot be of more specific help, but maybe you can get Bean and hahn to chime in?
So what you are saying is that it "VOLCANO'D"?? :lol: Is that really the water line in the pic? That seems a bit bizarre. Theoretically the more air you pump in, the lower the water line is...so with it wide open, it just overskims right? If I were facing that same scenario, I would slow down the water input, not the air. In other words, I leave the air wide open and reduce the flow of water to get the proper water level and skimming.
The whole point is to fill the skimmer with air, not water, as I am sure you already know.
I realize mine is much diferent than yours, but perhaps that is a good place to start? I would guess you have a valve on the water entering the skimmer right? Try to throttle that back a bit until you can run the Alita wide open without it overskimming. That should at least be a start. Sorry I cannot be of more specific help, but maybe you can get Bean and hahn to chime in?
Reefaquariumnut
Premium Member
Yup, I have a gate valve on the input water from the overflows. I cranked that all the way closed and opened it up a few turns and then opened the air 100%. I then have the water level in the neck about 3.5" from the top (about middle). That will be the starting point.
When i had the water input 95% closed and had 100% air from the alita it was still too turbulent and the foam head decreased. Then I backed off the alita (bleed) and then the foam head seemed to be okay again.
When i had the water input 95% closed and had 100% air from the alita it was still too turbulent and the foam head decreased. Then I backed off the alita (bleed) and then the foam head seemed to be okay again.
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