The Life Reef Skimmer Club
- Thread starter d2mini
- Start date
According to Jeff, the older Lifereefs had 1/4" tubing whereas his newer builds all have 3/8" tubing. My newer SVS2-24 skimmer has the 3/8" tubing, but I think based on the barb connection for the standard venturi, 1/4" tubing would work as well. The stock Venturi has a stepped barb that will fit 1/4" or 3/8" tubing.
I'm wondering if I should buy a new venturi. Based on how mine looks, I'm guessing it's pretty old. It doesn't seem to produce a ton of foam, uses a 1/4 barb and is much longer in size. So some of you have cut your barb down? Did you definitely see an improvement?
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Fragaddiction
New member
How much is a lifereef vs2-24 worth with no pump, normal cup. Looks a little older due to haze on the acrylic. Thank you-
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Orcus Varuna
New member
I'd say 2 is fair especially since you will be supplying a $100+ pump
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I sold my old one to a local for $100, he got a deal. But, I wasn't looking to profiteer either and I wanted it to have a good home.
mizzoumed02
New member
So I joined the Club yesterday. My VS3-30 arrived and is up and running like a champ!
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Just to come back to this question from awhile back. I emailed Jeff and he confirmed that the neck should be cleaned for optimal performance.
LQT
Active member
Got some results testing air draw and current draw using a Fluval SP4 on my Lifereef SVS2-24. Let me preface my results by saying I purchased my Fluval SP4 used. It looks to be in pristine condition. Took it apart to check the insides and it looks to be in tip top shape. I tested current draw with no outlet fittings in my bathtub and it's drawing around 60 watts vs the 88 watts as specified by its specs. When testing on the skimmer fully wide open, it's drawing a mere 32 watts with around 20ish scfh air draw... it's bouncing pretty wildly between 15 and 25 scfh on the Dwyer air flow meter. Pretty happy with the relatively low power consumption based on my Kill-A-Watt EZ meter. Pretty impressed with how quiet the SP4 is for an AC pump. I'm going through run it for the next few days to see if I could get any skim. It's resting in a 5 gallon tank with my water change waste water from my Biocube.
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LQT
Active member
Grrrr! :angryfire: Apparently. I was sold an SP2, not as SP4 as the seller said.. Hence the discrepancy in current draw. Just looked at the rear sticker on the pump and it says 58 watts current draw which are the specs for an SP2. Back to the drawing board. Unfortunately this is way too under powered for this skimmer. Time to contact the seller. :headwally:
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LQT
Active member
Yeah, but I felt the output and barely any flow was coming out. I only had the Dwyer hooked up for a short bit cuz I had no stable place to put it and it kept falling over. The indicator was bouncing pretty wildly so I got annoyed and disconnected it. After running for about 30 minutes and questioning the current draw discrepancies, I noticed the specs on the sticker of the pump. Got really frustrated and bagged it.
Good news is the seller has agreed to a refund for the pump. Still intend to pick up an SP4. I'm gonna set up a better place to mount the Dwyer so I could have better more stable platform to better adjust the valve to stop the indicator from bouncing so wildly.
To be continued...
Good news is the seller has agreed to a refund for the pump. Still intend to pick up an SP4. I'm gonna set up a better place to mount the Dwyer so I could have better more stable platform to better adjust the valve to stop the indicator from bouncing so wildly.
To be continued...
I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact I feel the water in the chamber needs contact time so I would rather have a slow flow with tons of air rather than high flow and high air. It's like the water doesn't even have time to stay in the skimmer one sec before it is moved out when you're running such a high flow rate. Maybe it's just me not understanding enough.
Orcus Varuna
New member
I too am a bit confused, a fluval sp-2 should be fine for the 24" model. It's the same as running a mag 9.5 I would think. I currently run a mag 12 and often wonder if it's too much and I am not getting the best possible slime due to the size of the pump I run... The reaction chamber is super turbulent and contact time has to be about 5 seconds haha.
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LQT
Active member
SP2 has a max head height of 6 feet
Mag 9.5 has a max head height of 12.85 feet
I may have to wait for the new Sicce Syncra Advanced 7.0 1900 gph 55 watt AC pump that's coming out soon instead of the SP4. Although the height specs between the SP2 and SP4 are both listed at 7.5", in a YouTube video I saw, it looks like the SP4 is noticeably taller than the SP2, which won't give me enough clearance to connect the pump with the gate valve and barbed fittings. Good thing my tank isn't set up yet!
Orcus Varuna
New member
I am new to the whole lifereef thing only had my skimmer for about 2 months but I can see that lack of head pressure being a huge issue and would assume that's even more important because we are forcing water through the Venturi. As a side note I was finishing hooking up my bio reactor as a co2 scrubber last night and noticed the Venturi has a stepped barb. Wouldn't this limit air flow and should it be removed?
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Orcus Varuna
New member
Just hooked up my bioreactor as a co2 scrubber last night it seems to be working great. I do wish I had gotten two bio reactors though as it is just a standard fluidized design. I am not in love with the regular media reactor as I am struggling to keep the media submerged and have found I need to use 2-3 times as much media as I did in my phosban to achieve the same results. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to run the reactor differently?
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LQT
Active member
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