Octopus Skimmer Mods

[chastjw]

I ordered my NW200 and it should be here Thursday. Let the fun begin.

where did you order it from??? are you going to do the recirc mod yourself??????

 

[hounddog01]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9347672#post9347672 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chastjw
Has it been determened where the best place to order the Octopus? between price and service? Or is it still 6 of one and half a dozen another?
Also I currently half a 55gal. with 5 gal sump, but soon (already have the tank) I am moving up to a 150gal, would I be better off getting the 200 recirc rather then the 150 recirc????? [/QUOTE

www.premiumaquatics.com have great service and good prices.

 

[hounddog01]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9347852#post9347852 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Georgejones
I also broke my venturi airline. I put a rigid hose (1/4 water maker line) into the pump. It was getting so much air that I restricted the other end with a valve. Wow it’s moving more air than ever and we will se but I don’t thing it will clog nearly as often with the larger diameter. I ran the tube through the holder on the side of the skimmer body and then into the pump intake. Seems to stay put and along with the mesh mod it’s skimming like mad.

I would remove the restrictor and just let it pull as much air as it can. Mine is skimming like mad with it wide open.

 

[impur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9347455#post9347455 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hounddog01
Mine did the same thing. I glued it back in place and got 18 scfm. Yesterday I drilled the hole to the size of RO line. I drilled this thru the top. Then I took a drill bit that was just larger than the hole that faces the pump (the 90 degree hole). I then notched the ro line so that air can flow in both directions.

I have already mesh moded my impeller with 3 layers of mesh by breaking off the top layer of pins. Now I am not sure how much air I am pulling since the meter only goes to 20 and the pin is stuck to the top. I am looking into another meter but I would say I am pulling over 25 now. This worked very well and I would encourage everyone with a mesh mod to do this. it makes such a large difference.

I believe this made as big of a difference as the mesh mod its self.

I agree 100%.

 

[SeaView]

I then notched the ro line so that air can flow in both directions.

Not sure what you mean by notched? Did you glue the RO line in the hole or just twist it in place?

Thanks

 

[hounddog01]

Notched means that I did not just shove the airline in the hole. I cut the airline so that the air can flow thru the 90 degree and directly into the venturi. This gives the air 2 ways to flow into the pump.

I am pulling much less water but a huge amount of air and the skimate is much darker.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

also if you drill the hole like the picture shown, what happens if you have an external skimmer and the power goes out? Flood? Maybee we can fix it by putting some super glue gel over it to water seal or silicone?

 

[SeaView]

Okay I think I understand. You drilled through the venturi all the way?

And notched like this?

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[hounddog01]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9348889#post9348889 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SeaView
Okay I think I understand. You drilled through the venturi all the way?

And notched like this?

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Yes that is it!

 

[coreno16]

Do you have any pictures?

 

[hounddog01]

No sorry. I found it way to hard to post pic's here. I may post some on my club site. If I do I will post a link.

 

[Kurt03]

if you use photobucket its alot easier. just upload them there and post the link here

http://photobucket.com

 

[DevilBoy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9348069#post9348069 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chastjw
I ordered my NW200 and it should be here Thursday. Let the fun begin.

where did you order it from??? are you going to do the recirc mod yourself??????

I ordered mine from Jeremy, Jason, Luke, and the guys at Premium Aquatics. I have bought 99% of my stuff thru them and have been very happy with their customer service, prices, and their products.

Yes i will be trying the recir mod myself.

 

[Covey]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9348626#post9348626 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boxfishpooalot
also if you drill the hole like the picture shown, what happens if you have an external skimmer and the power goes out? Flood? Maybee we can fix it by putting some super glue gel over it to water seal or silicone?

This is what I am after as well I was looking for could materials that would be water tight as my skimmer runs external. I'm not trusting superglue on vinyl airline to not leak.


I was thinking that clear thin walled PVC that they sell for UGF but I haven't found the right diameter yet. The plus side would be it would be a PVC to PVC solvented connection that wouldn't leak.

 

[Kurt03]

how about tap a john guest fitting in it ? the have ro tubing come out and up?

 

[boxfishpooalot]

Im weary about that idea. I actually want to make one new all together this way im not damaging the stock unit. I hate the fact that the measuements are in metric! That sux.

Well yea why cut off the airline cant we just make the hole bigger from inside the venturi? This would increase flow. Look at the hole in the first place its very tiny. I wonder.

 

[hounddog01]

by drilling the venturi and adding the ro line your increasing the size by 50-75%

 

[SeaView]

Hey that notch was a good idea. I did something a little different. I widened the top hole where the nipple was to about the diam of RO tubing. Then I inserted a piece of solid plastic tubing (I modded this from the end of a papermate pen). I realized pushing it in far enough to stay secure, even if glued would restrict some air flow. So I notched the front of the solid tubing. Now even if inserted all the way, there is no restriction. Great idea.

I then slid a peice of flexible hose into the other end of the pplastic tube. With the water height all the way down as soon as I turned it on foam was at the top of the riser tube. Massive amounts of air now. Thanks for the tips.

 

[impur]

The problem with the venturi is the 90 elbow is makes inside that grey fitting. The hole is even smaller at that 90 giving the venturi a bottleneck. If you drill it out go all the way to the 90.

I tried this and didn't get any increase in performance.

 

[Mr Bojangles]

so before I do the mesh mod, I was wondering what is the best layout?

a layer of mesh in the front, and on in between the needle wheels

or

2 or 1 on the front needle wheel