OK! Enough chat...Starting a 1000g+ Reef

[jnarowe]

OK so I checked it and got a starnge result:

Tank temp. 77.3F
Skimmer water 76.9F

Why that is I don't know. The lights have been off for 2.5 hours. I guess my assumption about the air pump adding the heat may be wrong. I also changed one thing. Up until a couple of days ago I had the air pump situated under the stand near the intakes for the blowers in an effort to move the air around the air pump.

Thinking that this may be causing the blower air to be warmer than neccessary, I relocated the air pump to next to the tank about 2.5 feet above the floor. Maybe that has made some difference.

 

[elephen]

Wow... quite a setup. Have a wetsuit?

 

[jnarowe]

:lol: Actually I do. I thought I was going to have to get into the tank when I did the aquascaping but it turned out to be easier to lay across the top. I can reach the bottom with my finger tips but it's not easy and I do get wet.

The real issue will come if I have to remove a fish from the tank. That will be tough!

 

[hdtvguy]

It might be easier just to use a barb less hook bait it and go fishing!

 

[jnarowe]

:lol:

 

[Roland Jacques]

Tthanks, Jonathan thats good to no.

 

[Roland Jacques]

Jonathan
do you have any photo of your new angled neck in action?
and how are you accessing you airstones via bulkheads, caps or from the top?

 

[jnarowe]

Angled neck action:

Air stone BHs:

 

[Hop]

I never get sick of seeing that skimmer! You need to do up a video that shows the whole thing in action...

 

[jnarowe]

I can do a video but I don't know how to store & post it.

 

[melev]

Put the video on your website. Keep it around 30 seconds or so to avoid a very long download. If it is an AVI file, it would be better to IMPORT that into Microsoft Movie Maker (comes with Windows XP), and then save the movie as a .WMV file.

Then once it is completed and uploaded to your site, post the link here.

 

[jnarowe]

I tried that before but I don't think I have enough bandwidth. it didn't work so I gave up, at least temporarily.

 

[tinygiants]

Compressed air does indeed have heat from the energy it takes to compress. However at the pressures we are talking it is a minimal amount of heat. That same air bubble will then go through a cooling cycle as it uncompresses. So in short, the thermal load induced by compression/decompression negates itself. Now there could be thermal load in the air from the pump working, but I would think it is minimal. It seems that your meassurements confirm that.

The thermal difference in your skimmer is .4 degrees. I would likely attribute that to the water sheeting over the teeth of the overflow. As the water sheets over it is exposed to a large evaporative effect which provides cooling. What is the temp of the return line water going to the sump?

Dale

 

[Roland Jacques]

thanks Johnathan,
i was wondering 2 things 1 was how you made the cut, but now i see the flange at the bottom of the cup (good call). and the other is the angle, it looks about 30 degrees or so, is that right?

Dale
you seem to have a good handle on the temp effects. do you think the skimmer effects are minimal with a low temp tank also? 50 degree water 70 room temp comprable size as Johnathan'sset up.

 

[jnarowe]

Roland,

I have no idea what the angle is. I just hand cut it at an agle I thought would be good...I couldn't muster he brain power to get it to work on a table saw.

Dale,

The airline going to the skimmer is extremely warm. No doubt there. I'll measure the water from the overflow and see what I get. I have noticed that my outbound sump reads about .2F less than the inbound sump which complies with your staement in that the water is mixing with a high surface to volume ratio, and therefore cooling.

 

[Roland Jacques]

By the way the arguments against the angle cup were week in my opinion. Except for one, they all had one common thyme "if it so good why isn't anybody else doing it deltec, BK..." take that to it final conclusion and nothing will ever be improved be cause no one else is doing it. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been in this industry a long time and I no that manufactures rarely lead the way. They mainly copy and tweak. I think reef central members are the leading edge for this industry in a lot of areas.

They may be absolutely right it would be very hard to prove or disprove the benefits of the angle neck. Even testing it test would be somewhat subjective. But from someone who sells and cleans skimmers for a living, I like the angled neck and agree with you on some of these benefits. I might have it on my next tall skimmer if I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t go with this wet neck. (I canââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t seem to find enough info on this wet neck I am just not sold on it yet. I need to get a premier membership so I can use the search.)

One more thing. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll take the volume benefits of a square skimmer (28%) over the smoothness of a cylinder any day. If you have the right defuser in a square skimmer it will FAR out perform a cylinder of the same footprint and height. IMO That can be tested and proven.

 

[jnarowe]

I appreciate your comments. It's too bad it is lost on some. I too believe the members of RC that actively DIY better and better designs essentially save the manufacturers a lot of R & D expense. I know that when spazz is done with his NW it will be immediately knock-off by more than just Sequence. There's no way to ignore that kind of innovation.

That said, my square skimmer is doing a great job. It gives me high water capacity in a smaller footprint but I really did it for cost reasons. I also have NO diffuser. Mine is a true conter-current air stone skimmer. If I was rolling in cash I would have bought the giant tube, but then again I might have whimped out and bought a high-end commercial skimmer. No pride in that!

Regarding the arguements against the slanted riser, they do not take into account how bubbles react to surface adhesion. If you want to learn more about wet necks, this new thread may help. Nothing to see yet but I am sure someone will post wet neck shots. i know I have seen others and if I remember well I'll let you know.

 

[Roland Jacques]

Thanks for the link, as far as some of the large commercial skimmers you would be very diapointed in some of them. bills skimmer pulls almost 3 xs more air than a 12 foot tall 32" dia skimmer big name skimmer.

 

[jnarowe]

That's why I boast about mine and am so interested in what Bill and Scott are doing. Scott is a bit testy with me but I think that's because he doesn't realize what a fan I am.

 

[asnatlas]

How is all of your new live stock doing ??