Skiimer Q's

M

m-fine

New member
I am thinking about building a much larger skimmer. The plan in my head is to make a tall counter current skimmer with the water fed by the sump's return pump and the bubbles coming from a wood airstone or two. Gravity would take the exit water on to the refugium and then into the display tank.

I have an old unused whisper 400 air pump but I am wondering if it will have enough power in a deep skimmer. Any one have any idea if this will work and if so how deep? If not any suggestions on relatively affordable air pumps that will work for a 4'-6' skimmer?

thanks,
m-fine
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7478643#post7478643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jcanute
build a mazzei skimmer. air pumps are one more thing to use electricity and most all are loud.
Click to expand...
the beauty of a CC skimmer is the fact that they can use way less electricity than a similar sized venturi (mazzei injector) or Beckett.
Slow feed (gravity) feed a CC skimmer for big savings on energy.
 
I want it big enough to handle a 110 and a 65 plus sump and refugium(s) so in the 200-250 gallon range. Not sure what you mean by riser.

I need to keep the project cheap, and I do not have a good external water pump to drive a venturi design against 4+ feet of head. I also can't figure out how to build a counter current venturi since the air and water enter at the same place. I want air at the bottom and water on top plus a tall chamber to get maximum contact time. Perhaps a closed loop venturi pump on the bottom with trank water entering on top from another source, but the only spare pump I have is a Rio 2100 which I don't think is up to the task. I guess I have to look at water pump costs vs. air pump plus wood airstone replacements before I make a decision.
 
One thing to remember with CC design is that the longer the bubbles contact the water the better it works.

There is no reason to try to pump air down 4 feet of water. It takes a big air pump and the deeper the louder the pumps gets.

Fill the water going into the skimmer with microbubbles. It's a lot easier on the air pump and the bubbles are in contact with the water longer.
 
Guy, The skimmers that do what you say all have their drawbacks. A downdraft or Becket in the size I am looking for requires a powerful pump in the $130+ range that I don't own and was hoping not to buy. They are also a lot more complicated to build.

Gary, that link got me thinking about an aspirating impellar design. I have a spare mp1200 I could drop in the bottom of the chamber and if it doesn't have the power to suck enough air I could use the whisper 400 to feed it in a push pull config.

That would grab water from the bottom and send air and water up, but I could then pump sump water in at the top and draw it out at the bottom and create a counter current flow. Sorta like the Euro-reef recirculating designs except with a submerged powerhead instead of an external pump. Anyone know if you can buy needle wheel impellars for an mp1200 or would I be limited to a standard impellar?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7487802#post7487802 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by m-fine
Anyone know if you can buy needle wheel impellars for an mp1200 or would I be limited to a standard impellar?
Click to expand...


MANY people have made their own needlewheel for an MJ1200 using nothing more than a bioball cut in half and glued to the impellar
 
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