Reeflo/Sequence Skimmer Club

[benf]

Got a question on water feed pump to the skimmer!

Wondering what pump u are using to feed the skimmer and are you valving it down. Currently i have a mag9.5 running it about 7-8ft away with 1" pvc and find i have to cut my flow ~40% to ~50% with a ball valve, so i am trying to decide if i should trade it out for a mag7 that i have.

 

[ranran]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10772917#post10772917 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HDAlien
Installed as of about 30 minutes ago, here's the first picture:

Great job on getting it up and running!
Try setting your water level with no air on to the thumb screws fire up the air and wait for the nog!

 

[GSMguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10771091#post10771091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lunchbucket
GSMguy - IIRC the 250 has been out for a little while and Jeremy from PA just got the 200. They are not being sold yet. The hammerhead one is not out either

Lunchbucket

yea i saw the 200 prototype it has a new neck design i think people will be happy with no more thumbscrews. Their was a chance that the hammerhead would make macna it did not i was just reporting that..

 

[benf]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10773091#post10773091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by benf
Got a question on water feed pump to the skimmer!

Wondering what pump u are using to feed the skimmer and are you valving it down. Currently i have a mag9.5 running it about 7-8ft away with 1" pvc and find i have to cut my flow ~40% to ~50% with a ball valve, so i am trying to decide if i should trade it out for a mag7 that i have.

Anybody? I see Marco you went with the RIO3100, did u have to valve it down at all?

 

[wizsmaster]

nope, mine is open all the way, HOWEVER it does travel a bit as I feed it from my sump, to my chiller thats outside, then back in & into the skimmer.

 

[benf]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10776737#post10776737 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wizsmaster
nope, mine is open all the way, HOWEVER it does travel a bit as I feed it from my sump, to my chiller thats outside, then back in & into the skimmer.

thats is how mine is...outside! I would say ~7-8ft. Seems if i open it all the way it feeds to much water to the skimmer and it overflows.

 

[wizsmaster]

I remembered that someone posted up they removed the air silencer to deliver more air - i cannot locate that post right now - i figured i'd see what i can come up with.

I'm using a "whats up? PRO" for this:

ORCA pump w/ air silencer & valve 100% OPEN = 132w - 134w
ORCA pump w/ air silencer & valve 100% SHUT = 209w
ORCA pump w/out air silencer (wide open) = 127w - 129w


Looking at these numbers, it does seem that the air flow is restricted by the air silencer, and w/ removale we would see a small gain. Is the gain worth it? not sure. i have no real way to test, and am not going to speculate. Just wanted to give this little feedback.

 

[pwhitby]

I run mine without the silencer.

Its in my garage, so im not bothered about the small increase in noise at all.

Paul.

 

[benf]

I am running mine cause i drilled a small hole in it for my Ozone tube to poke thru, nice mixing chamber!

 

[Tagareef]

...that was me...I now run it without the valve as well. Just a straight pipe to an outdoor feed.

120 watts

Going on 2 1/2 months and my feelings about this skimmer haven't changed. It's simply awesome.

Also took my DIY self cleaning head off of my Deltec and have installed Beta version number 1 on the Reeflo...still needs more tweeking. Hardest part was making another lid! You can see the Deltec version in my gallery.

Sorry still no pictures...I'm on vacation for another 3+ weeks. I love that I can leave my reef for weeks at a time!

 

[cweder]

I'll chime in. I hooked mine up last week. It seems to work well. Gave it a rinse in hot water and it started to foam instantly right from the start. I also have a dual beckett MR-4 run by a barracuda pump. I think either will work for me, but the Orca is more energy efficient and easier to dial in. I can't agree with the current tank of the months comments about becketts as mine seems to be even more powerful than my new Orca IMO. As people have stated before, a properly set up beckett works extremely well.

Does anyone have a Dwyer air flow meter they could measure the flow difference between silenced and non-silenced. Whats your unscientific opinion of the difference? In skimming performance and air flow?

I wish they had made it upgradable. So if you had the space you could make them taller. I know they designed it this way to please the masses. IMHO it could easily be better with more water volume. Then if needed you could add an air pump, but as I said before it seems to be working well for my 450 gallon and all I have to compare it to is my beckett.

 

[JenDub]

Personally, I'm not convinced that more air=better performance. It's all about getting the right air/water ratio in the body, for me it's about 3/4 of the way open to get amazingly thick foam.

For the feed pump I like the quietone 3000 (35w) or 4000 (50w), you just can't beat the flow to wattage ratio on these pumps =)

I'm all about the self cleaning head! I'm definitely gonna build one for my skimmer once taga gives us a how-to =)

Also, I'd love to see Reeflo come out with an acrylic tray to set this in and use as an overflow catch. I've seen a few DIY dart skimmers with this and it looks like a great way to prevent overflows....

 

[Lunchbucket]

Tagareef - What is all that blue stuff on your plumbing? Blue spaflex? vinyl tubing?

Lunchbucket

 

[cweder]

I agree JenDub, the right air/water ratio is very important to get the right sized bubbles to maximize performance. Too much air can easily decrease skimming.

For my feed pump I connect off my return line which is a barracuda pump and adjust if needed. No extra pumps needed, since it was more than enough already. I am using about 360 to 400 GPH through the orca. I dialed it up to about 700 and it did not seem to make much noticeable difference.

Tagareef- please share your DIY self cleaning head, when your ready. That would be sweet.

 

[HDAlien]

How do you tune this skimmer in to get the ideal air/water mix? I'm getting a lot of skimmate already, but if it can be further tuned? Right now I'm running it with the water level at the thumbscrews and the air wide open.

 

[Jeremy B.]

DO NOT close the air valve at all when running this skimmer, let it run wide open. As long as you set the water level with all the pumps running and no air being injected right at the black neck collar, then you are right on the money. HTH!

 

[blenny90]

I am running my air valve wide open. I ran with the air valve closed for a couple minutes to set my water level and the pump got real hot. I checked the surface temperature of the motor and it was 185 degrees. After opening the valve the temp runs around 135. The pump works too hard with the air valve closed even a little bit.

 

[benf]

Still dont see how u guys are running 950gph to feed this thing. I have a mag9.5 on mine nearly 8ft away with turns and still cannot get it open more than 50-70%.

 

[wizsmaster]

i don't think i'm running anywhere near that much .. of course i don't have a flow meter to verify.

 

[benf]

Marco, did u say yours is wide open though?