Recirculating Skimmers?

[dougwilliams]

I keep seeing lots of people modifying skimmers to be recirculating, or making their own. But I have yet to find a good diagram showing exactly what constitutes "recirculating". Anyone have any good references/links around? And not trying to start a war- but what are the generally accepted pros and cons of "regular" vs "recirculating" designs?

 

[sscherin]

Hmm think of a recirculating skimmer as a Skimmer with a closed loop system in it..

You have water in
Water out
Closed loop providing airation.

The idea is to increase dwell time by recurculating water/air inside the skimmer.

One advantage is you can regulate flow through the skimmer while still getting good air injection without resorting to air stones/blocks

Here's a link to the PDF for a Deltec will full diagrams.
http://www.deltecusa.us/docs/APSeries.pdf

 

[dougwilliams]

How does the closed loop provide the aeration? If it is closed loop - wouldnt it just be taking some of the water in the chamber and just put it back in? where does the aeration come in this setup- or is it a modification that is done on top of youre standard air injection systems - like a venturi or air stone etc?

 

[sscherin]

Airation is provided by a venturi on the intake side of the curculation/needlewheel pump.

Check out the deltec PDF
http://www.deltecusa.us/docs/APSeries.pdf