The Life Reef Skimmer Club

back to lifereef... I'm curious the specific results and improvements to the tank.. Any changes in husbandry or have accessory filtration techniques been take off line or abandoned/removed? Also curious the neck diameter of the skimmers?
 
Newbie question

Newbie question

This may be old hat to everyone here but I'm trying to figure out the different parts of the Lifereef skimmer, understand the general flow and how it works. I read everything on their site and others as well as watched hours of videos until my head is spinning. What I am really struggling with is how air is introduced to produce the bubbles/skimmate? When I look at the photos of the product I just don't see/comprehend what is going on.

Thanks in advance for any help here.
 
Look at the photos in 5 he original post

See the black tube connected to the collection cup. Air is pulled from the collection cup down into the venturi.

Reason it's pulled from the collection cup is the air there is humid and will create condensation in the tube to help keep the tube clean and prevent salt creep from clogging it.
 
Also the air intake design assures your skimmer won't overflow and go all over your floor. If your cup gets full ducks in water and lowers the water level
 
rEeFnWrX said:
Look at the photos in 5 he original post

See the black tube connected to the collection cup. Air is pulled from the collection cup down into the venturi.

Reason it's pulled from the collection cup is the air there is humid and will create condensation in the tube to help keep the tube clean and prevent salt creep from clogging it.
Click to expand...
Yup, just note that my tube is black ozone resistant tubing with a T fitting for the ozone generator to hook up to. This is the "ozone kit" listed on the website. The standard setup has regular tubing with no T fitting.
So mine is drawing air from both the cup and the ozone generator.

JasonD said:
Also the air intake design assures your skimmer won't overflow and go all over your floor. If your cup gets full ducks in water and lowers the water level
Click to expand...
But I have had foam come up and out of the hole in the cap and drip down the skimmer.
 
Thank you for the quick responses guys. I had it in my head that there was a some mechanical piece I was just not seeing. Now that I've slept a couple hours and read up on the Venturi principal of physics it seems so obvious. I think that was the last piece and my decision has been made to purchase one.
 
Tvarr said:
Thank you for the quick responses guys. I had it in my head that there was a some mechanical piece I was just not seeing. Now that I've slept a couple hours and read up on the Venturi principal of physics it seems so obvious. I think that was the last piece and my decision has been made to purchase one.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but another benefit of pulling air from the collection cup is that it almost completely eliminates "smelly sump syndrome."
 
EvMiBo said:
I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but another benefit of pulling air from the collection cup is that it almost completely eliminates "smelly sump syndrome."
Click to expand...

My issue with this, is that the smell which comes from gas is now recirculated back into the skimmer and into the water, and to some extent CO2.

For years people have said that you should try to have your venturi input bring fresh air into the tank to help raise PH.

Jeff, who never met a sales pitch he never liked tries to cover all bases here from his website:

* NO STINK, NO ODOR, NO SMELL! Since the air is recirculated within the skimmer none of the stinky odors will foul your home.

* YES, outside air can be plumbed to the venturi for pH.
increase

You can't have it both ways here.

To take this a step further, every skimmer manufacturer has ALWAYS copied someone else's good ideas. How come no one has ever copied this one?
Ken
 
I know it's probably relative to everyone's system, but how much of a drop in pH would you think? I never thought about that, interesting..
 
I don't really know if there is a drop or how much increase there is in getting fresh air, I just always thought those two items on his website were contradictory.

I think the most interesting thing is that if this idea was so good, then why hasn't anyone ever copy this idea in the 20+ years this skimmer has been around?

As you know, everyone copies someone else's pinwheel, needle wheel, pump design, cone shape body, wine glass shape body, etc, etc. So why not this idea, if it is so good?

Ken
 
Technically mine sucks in outside air because I have the ozone kit, and I don't see any increase in pH, with the ozone on or off.
 
bayoupr said:
Never had my PH drop using his skimmers.
Click to expand...

Who knows if it drops or not. My issue is the contradictory claims on the website (and I am a Lifereef owner). He tries to cover every base by shotgunning everything.

He obviously thinks either (A) venting outside will raise the PH, or (B) he doesn't think it it does but says it anyway as this has always been a discussed topic of fresh air through a skimmer raising PH.

Either way, this flies in the face of him saying that sucking in the warm moist air from the collection cup keeps the venturi clean unlike other skimmers.

But also, how good can it be to constantly recirculating the same CO2 over and over?
 
As everything else in reefing, there are multiple variables....

Where do you live, do you keep your windows open (in texas house is sealed shut for months at a time during summer), how old is your home, how many people live in your house, how many pets do you have etc etc etc....

I have 4 big dogs, and my family. A brand new home built 2 years ago and without windows open there is practically no air coming in or going out...

Due to this we have high CO2 loads in the air during summer... I prefer a stable pH over constantly buffering my pH. I go from 7.9 to 8.05 night to day during the summer without bringing in outside air. I used to have a carbon filter that I ran outside that was connected to my skimmer intake. When pulling air from outside my pH would be 8.05-8.2 night to day...

During the cooler times of the year if I leave my house closed I see the same 7.9-8.05... If I open the windows my pH will go up to 8.05-8.2... This is with the air being taken from the collection cup.

IME, pH is not different if the skimmer is pulling in air from the collection cup or from your ambient air in your house... the pH will be the same...


However, if you have low pH levels due to high CO2 in your home, pulling air from outside will definitely make a difference.

BTW, CO2 also affects Alkalinity... If your CO2 rises your pH drops and your alk rises... if CO2 lowers your pH rises and your alk drops....


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php
 
Last edited:
rEeFnWrX said:
As everything else in reefing, there are multiple variables....

Where do you live, do you keep your windows open (in texas house is sealed shut for months at a time during summer), how old is your home, how many people live in your house, how many pets do you have etc etc etc....

I have 4 big dogs, and my family. A brand new home built 2 years ago and without windows open there is practically no air coming in or going out...

Due to this we have high CO2 loads in the air during summer... I prefer a stable pH over constantly buffering my pH. I go from 7.9 to 8.05 night to day during the summer without bringing in outside air. I used to have a carbon filter that I ran outside that was connected to my skimmer intake. When pulling air from outside my pH would be 8.05-8.2 night to day...

During the cooler times of the year if I leave my house closed I see the same 7.9-8.05... If I open the windows my pH will go up to 8.05-8.2... This is with the air being taken from the collection cup.

IME, pH is not different if the skimmer is pulling in air from the collection cup or from your ambient air in your house... the pH will be the same...


However, if you have low pH levels due to high CO2 in your home, pulling air from outside will definitely make a difference.

BTW, CO2 also affects Alkalinity... If your CO2 rises your pH drops and your alk rises... if CO2 lowers your pH rises and your alk drops....


http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/index.php
Click to expand...

My point are the claims on the website, not the reef chemistry. He himself is bring up the the issue of PH and venting outside the cup.
 
ken6217 said:
Who knows if it drops or not. My issue is the contradictory claims on the website (and I am a Lifereef owner). He tries to cover every base by shotgunning everything.

He obviously thinks either (A) venting outside will raise the PH, or (B) he doesn't think it it does but says it anyway as this has always been a discussed topic of fresh air through a skimmer raising PH.

Either way, this flies in the face of him saying that sucking in the warm moist air from the collection cup keeps the venturi clean unlike other skimmers.

But also, how good can it be to constantly recirculating the same CO2 over and over?
Click to expand...

There is a hole in the lid of the cup. Doesn't this allow fresh air in to mix with the humid air in the cup?
 
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