Protein skimmer "Has anyone done this?"

[ashish]

I have a aqua medic turboflotor skimmer and have an old air pumps laying around so to get extra bubbles in my skimmer I simply hooked it up to the air line to the skimmer pump. I did this 6 years ago on a junk skimmer with success but did not feel the need on this skimmer, until now.

Few months ago I added the air line to my 4 year old turboflotor skimmer and literally get the same amount of junk out in half the time. It's so effective that I even had to completely remove the valves that regulate the skimmer line. You know when your bubble production slows down after a while when salt builds up? Well this method made it so enough air was forced into the skimmer which was literally 80% clogged with salt creep.

The skimmer was actually pulled out and cleaned over night in vinegar and looked and performed like brand new. When I re introduced the skimmer after a clean and water change the air pump was too much bubble production. After seeing the skimmer production settle after few days I added the air pump to the skimmer once again and the results are awesome.

The picture shows how fast the skimmer removes junk.. I have not heard of anyone doing this so thought I might share with people who might need to get more out of there skimmer:lol2:

This is maybe 6-8 hours of skimming. You can see the air line going into the skimmer. Notice the clear tube filled with micro bubbles to the brink. Only downsize I have to clean my collection cup/neck every 2-3 days.
<a href="http://s1324.photobucket.com/user/ashish0584/media/IMG_5088_zpsb60ec146.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1324.photobucket.com/albums/u613/ashish0584/IMG_5088_zpsb60ec146.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_5088_zpsb60ec146.jpg"/></a>

 

[sirreal63]

It can be helpful with some skimmers that are underpowered for the skimmer body. It isn't new but hasn't been needed on most new skimmers, some draw more air than they should.

 

[pjewett]

I actually did this as well but for a dual purpose...increasing skimmer efficiency was secondary in my case.

My primary issue was that the CO2 levels get so hi in our home over the winter when the house is all sealed up (summer too when AC is on) that I could never achieve a max diurnal PH level of more than 8.02 if I was lucky. (I realize other things could have been supressing PH but I went for the low hanging fruit first.)

Anyway I mounted an airpump I had lying around in my sump room and ran the tube through the wall into the dining room, along my PVC piping (for WC's & ATO), into the back of the cabinet and plugged it into my skimmer intake line. The key here is that my sump room is VERY well ventilated to the outside and CO2 levels are much, much lower than in the rest of the home.

I have an APEX so the moment I plugged this rig into the skimmer I witnessed my PH rise from 7.8 to 8.14 in less than 5 minutes (this was done at night w/ mains off). Now I get a max diurnal ph of 8.2+ and so far never lower than 8.08 or so in the middle of the night.

Anyhoo my skimmer also went into "turbo" mode and I had it set to wet skim so it started overflowing within an hour so I made adjustments.

HOWEVER....a few folks in another forum cautioned me about "forcing" air into my skimmer intake. So, until I confirm the wisdom of all of this I unplugged the remote air pump from the skimmer intake, attached it to a simple airstone and dropped it into the skimmer section of my sump.

I'd really like to hear what others say about this notion of forcing air into the skimmer intake so I can decide whether it's wise or not?

 

[ashish]

Thanks, I had no idea that the PH could increase by doing this. I was just going for the junkies faster lol
For a few days my skimmer outtake tubes where being filled with access large bubble. So you could hear loud bubble sounds in the sump. My air pump is kind of to large for this so I need to install a small valve to the airline..

 

[Paul B]

My homemade skimmer is 5' tall and that is the only way it will work. I actually have 2 airpumps pushing water through the venturi

 

[pjewett]

Thanks, I had no idea that the PH could increase by doing this. I was just going for the junkies faster lol
For a few days my skimmer outtake tubes where being filled with access large bubble. So you could hear loud bubble sounds in the sump. My air pump is kind of to large for this so I need to install a small valve to the airline..

Yep...if you're pumping in outside air that is. Too many issues that can effect PH so why have something as dumb as C02 masking another potential issue that could lower ph. Was an easy fix.

 

[pjewett]

My homemade skimmer is 5' tall and that is the only way it will work. I actually have 2 airpumps pushing water through the venturi

Wow, that's a serious skimmer. So what do you think? My understanding is that the skimmer intake is "drawing" air in rather passively for the purpose of creating bubbles. Could "forcing" air in at a much higher pressure damage the skimmer pump? It's the only reason I can think of that I shouldn't pump air into the skimmer intake.

 

[sirreal63]

There is a limit to the amount of air you can force. Too much air through a traditional venturi and the bubbles get too large, too much air into a needlewheel and the pump will stall, both methods need to move air and water, too much of either and performance is reduced. On one of my old venturi skimmers I used an adjustable Schego air pump so I could tune the amount of air being forced.

 

[Reeferz412]

I had three air pumps on my cpr bak pak with wooden airstones and the rio pump. Worked great. Hated cleaning it though. But those skimmers can take a beating. I had the turbofloater as well. Those are very nice skimmers. Idk why they make them so huge though.

 

[kissman]

i tried that with my T1000 and eventually the only way I could improve it was to a buy a new skimmer. When I did was a huge difference in what I thought was a good skimmer and what I have now. My T1000 was nothing compared to modern day skimmers. Glad your is running good for you.

 

[pjewett]

There is a limit to the amount of air you can force. Too much air through a traditional venturi and the bubbles get too large, too much air into a needlewheel and the pump will stall, both methods need to move air and water, too much of either and performance is reduced. On one of my old venturi skimmers I used an adjustable Schego air pump so I could tune the amount of air being forced.

OK, so maybe I can hook this all up again with an adjustable airpump or through something on the line to adjust the flow from my current airpump.

 

[Paul B]

My understanding is that the skimmer intake is "drawing" air in rather passively for the purpose of creating bubbles. Could "forcing" air in at a much higher pressure damage the skimmer pump? It's the only reason I can think of that I shouldn't pump air into the skimmer intake.

Well you asked if anyone did that? My skimmer is so tall that the venture alone would never suck any air into it so I have to do it. Pumping a little air into any skimmer should increase it's efficience because the air coming in is fighting the water preasure inside the skimmer and a little help from a pump should increase efficiency to a point as was said. To much air will result in larger bubbles.

 

[pjewett]

Well you asked if anyone did that? My skimmer is so tall that the venture alone would never suck any air into it so I have to do it. Pumping a little air into any skimmer should increase it's efficience because the air coming in is fighting the water preasure inside the skimmer and a little help from a pump should increase efficiency to a point as was said. To much air will result in larger bubbles.

I got ya. Guess what I'm balancing here is whether or not in "throttling" down the air I'm injecting into the skimmer intake I'll lose the benefit of injecting fresh, outside air which is doing wonders for bringing up my PH.

The air pump I'm using does have 2 "ports" (one unused) so I guess I could run a second line in...1 to the skimmer adjusted as needed and the other one to an airstone sitting in the skimmer part of the sump..wide open?

 

[sirreal63]

Tuning is beneficial, for any given container size their is an optimal amount of air/water mix. Sometimes you have to add more air, sometimes you have to reduce air to find the best fit.

 

[ashish]

I just thought it was cool how I increased my skimmer efficiency by almost 40%. But I guess there's pros and con's

 

[Ron Reefman]

I just thought it was cool how I increased my skimmer efficiency by almost 40%. But I guess there's pros and con's

ashish, I have an Aqua Medic 5000 Shorty and it works just fine as is. But I have thought about doing just what you did to see what effect it would have. Now I'm even more intrigued. If/when I try it, I'll let you know. BTW, mine is gravity fed from the tank by a 1" pvc pipe and has a recirculating pump.

My homemade skimmer is 5' tall and that is the only way it will work. I actually have 2 airpumps pushing water through the venturi

Geez Paul, that's one heck of a skimmer! If you don't mind a question or two?
How many GPH of water are you feeding the skimmer?
How big is the system you are skimming?
Are you feeding the skimate directly off to a drain or some other collection bucket?

 

[Paul B]

Geez Paul, that's one heck of a skimmer! If you don't mind a question or two?
How many GPH of water are you feeding the skimmer?
How big is the system you are skimming?
Are you feeding the skimate directly off to a drain or some other collection bucket?

Ron, you are assuming a lot here. Your assuming I know how many GPH of water I am using in a skimmer I built 20 years ago from spare parts. If I knew, I forgot 19 years ago.
The pump feeding the skimmer is under the stand and for all I know it is made out of wood as I don't think I saw the thing in 20 years, but if it ain't broke, I ain't touching it.

The tank is 100 gallons, I do remember that. The skimate goes to the 5 gallon bucket below it. That bucket also has a home made shut off switch in it in case it fills up so it doesn't overflow. It shuts off the intake pump and will also do that if there is a leak.
The outlet water from the skimmer goes to the algae scrubber or trough above the water. I use Ozone in the skimmer. :dance: