Questions About Building a CC Skimmer

Slight change of topic. Does anyone know how many airstones I can drive with a Tetra Luft pump? I currently have one 6" airstone hooked up on a 4" diameter 36" Larry Jackson CC skimmer. I am wondering if putting another airstone in the skimmer will up the air volume.

Thanks.
Fred
 
Fredfish... There is more to it than the pump being able to drive the stones. :( You can find this out by hooking the stone up and see what happens. The next issue is the diameter of the bubble tube neck. Most CC skimmers have necks that are to small. Neck diameter limits how much air you can pump into the skimmer before it overflows. What is important is the air/water ratio. If you are pumping all of the air into the skimmer that you can then lower the water feed rate and the efficency of the skimmer will improve.
 
There's only one way to find out FredFish... lol

I do agree that you need to maximize your bubble producing area of the airstones. I can easily see how you could max it out in a hurry.

KW: is there any way to get a prototype of your airstone? My skimmer is almost done and I'd like to try it out if you would be willing to have another beta tester... :)

liquid
 
Liquid,

Thanks for the offer. Right now, It's too soon to say. Maybe later

[Edited by KW on 12-27-2000 at 09:17 AM]
 
Fred,

I used (2) lufts each hooked-up to one 6" diffuser on a 4"x48" skimmer for several years. It did fine.

There are a lot of variables which effect skimming. If you don't enjoy thinking about it, I wouldn't be concerned over it. The major guiding principle is your tank. If all of your animals look great then who cares if your skimmer is running like an old beat-up volkswagon or like a Porche ;)
 
Snailman. I did all the research (more like reading) a long time ago. The neck on my skimmer is 2.5" (one inch larger than the original design). The diameter choice was one of materials avialable, I just happened to have a 8" piece of 2.5" clear PVC hangin around from another project.

I think my skimmer can handle a more air volume than it currently gets.

I was hoping someone would have some idea what volume of air the Luft puts out in a given period.

I may try using larger thickness airstone (1.5x1.5x6) and see if that gets me more foam.

Liquid. For a change I thought I would ask questions first then fiddle. Foolish me.

KW. Not too worried about the tank, just thinking of ways to improve the skimmer if I should ever need to.

Ironically, with the low bioload in my tank, my live sand bed has shut down the skimmer, so for the moment, skimmer efficiency is a non issue.

Fred.
 
Fredfish said:
I was hoping someone would have some idea what volume of air the Luft puts out in a given period.
Click to expand...

The Aquatic Eco Systems catalog says that the tetra -G Luft Pump puts out .09 CFM @ 1 PSI and .05 CFM @ 3 PSI and that it shuts down at 7.5 PSI. They also say that it will run an air stone in up to 7' of water. HTH
 
Liquid. For a change I thought I would ask questions first then fiddle. Foolish me.
Click to expand...

No reason to get worked up about my comment FredFish...I wasn't flaming you or anything. :/

It's really not all that hard to add a second airstone to your existing setup and as long as you can see into the skimmer body you should be able to make the determination of whether or not a second airstone will help. What it boils down to is that the water column in your skimmer cannot hold anything more than 13% air volume in the form of bubbles. If you see a lot of water voids in your water column right now w/o the second airstone then I'm sure that adding a second airstone will help. You know your setup and your equipment better than we do and you know how it's been running for the last couple of months, so try it and see what happens. No flame intended.

liquid
 
Snailman. Thanks for the Luft volume info.

Liquid. Didn't mean to sound upset, just don't know how to get smilies into the middle of a post yet :-).

Unfortunately, my skimmer body is not clear so its not that easy to tell if there are water viods.

Fred
 
Please forgive me for reviving an old post.

I was going to start a new post asking experiences with DIY CC skimmers and noticed that many design considerations had been already explored in this post. I just didn't want to make people restate things they'd already said. BTW, it is a very informative thread.

I was looking at Beckett, EAP, and HSA skimmers and reallized the catch-22 in these types of designs: to increase the amount of air injection one has to radically increase water flow which in turn decreases contact time.

I noticed that many of you folks were just setting up new CC skimmers in December, 2000 and have had time to evaluate your designs. Do you have any comments/pics for someone following in your footsteps?

I've collected the acrylic, PVC, endcaps, etc. for a 4" diameter 4' CC skimmer and was planning on using the Jackson/Sellinger design. Should I do away with the reducers and narrow throat altogether?

I'm planning on using the skimmer on a 70 gallon system.

Also, I see that Tetra has discontinued the Luft air pump. Is the Tetratec DW96 a suitable substitute?

Thank you very much,
-Lee
 
No problem about dragging up an old DIY post because like this one there is a ton of information. If you would like a nice an easy 4" cc skimmer design emial me and I will reply with the instructions and a drawing.
 
Snailman,

You've got mail. If for some reason you don't get my email my address is : wlmorey@aol.com

Thank you,
-Lee
 
I personally have never used the old luft pumps, but the DW-96 doesn't seem to get the job done on my 5' CC. I'm probably going to sooner or later have to get another air pump... and I still have to try KW's air diffuser (so much to do, so little time).

Nick
 
That's disappointing. I just got a DW96 last week. The way things are around here it will be 2-3 weeks before I can finish the skimmer. I'll be bummed if the pump won't drive it.
 
I have an 18" tall and 4" column CC. Just bought a new TetraTec DW24-2. Both outlets connected to a Coralife Limewood differsor. I couldn't get skimmate out of this pump if I purchased from the LFS and put it in the skimmer. I too would like to know if the DW96 could do the job?
 
Hi,
I use a 96-2 on my 4" by 4foot skimmer. It works really well, and is quiet. I added a T to the airline with a small needle vale, so I can let some air out of the line when i put a new airstone in. With 2 new 3 inch airstones I have to cut the air volume down a bit for the fist day or two, otherwise it will over flow. That is with, and I am guessing here, a 50 gallon per hour flow.
jason
 
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