The Life Reef Skimmer Club

Got my new 36" in today and after a vinegar wipe down at noon, starting it up at 12:30, 5hrs later producing good foam. Never had one break in this fast. Using the 978 injector and a Panworld 100PX-X (high flow model) pulling 18scfh on the air draw. Had the 1078 hooked up but the air draw was too high (2-2.5" foam head had to run the water level 3" from the bottom of the flange). Will probably get me the 100px down the road but for now I will use what I have on hand.
 
I also got time to hook up my new pump, a panworld 200ps. I've got it running the skimmer and my carbon reactor and still have to measure the flow through the reactor. The foam head is about 1" thick, and 1" below the flange, and it seems to produce pretty good results. I'll let it sit here for a week or so before trying it more wet or dry. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to the 100px once it settles in.
 
The 150 and the 200ps should be fine with that big body. I started to get the 150ps but in the long run I know that skimmer was going to be too big for my system since I downsized.
 
Yeah I'm shooting for something in the 1500 gph range and the rest through the reactor. I was looking for the 150 or 200, and similar iwakis and blue lines, and this was the first to be offered so I figured I'd start here. If you want a 100px let me know. If I do change to something different I don't think I'd go that low with the flow, it'd probably be the 150ps, 55hd, or 55rlt.

For anyone running one of the larger skimmers, 48"+, and a high flow pressure rated pump, what kind of head does it produce and where do you set the water level?
 
Got my 30" with 978 Mazzei and Mag 18, got the Laguna 2000 too. Happy Friday to me. Got it all together and running on my tank. Decided to try out the Laguna first. I have to say it is dead silent and producing a ton of micro bubbles. Will get a SCFH reading on it tomorrow. Been running for just over an hour. No foam in the cup yet but starting to get a bit of a foam head on top of the water in the main chamber. Level is about 1" below the top. Here is a pic before putting it to work:

 
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I picked up Kris101's 30" LR (was delivered yesterday), which he used for a couple months before upgrading to a 300g setup. I'm waiting for the jebao dc9000 to be delivered. If I'm not satisfied I'll give the mag18 a shot, or drill the sump and go panworld 30hdx (would keep the skimmer in the sump).

0EJRt15l.jpg
 
Well the skimmer is very inconsistent with the larger pump. I had planned on running it for a few weeks to test but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. I have to check it at least once an hour to make sure it hasn't filled the cup. Already have about 4 gallons of almost clear skimmate from the cup getting filled in the last two days. It either doesn't produce because the bubbles don't make it up the neck, or it overflows. And it switches back and forth between the two seemingly random. Very erratic.

Any ideas besides setting the water level very low (+/- 1.5" below flange) and letting it sit for a few days assuming it doesn't overflow?
 
hobbzz said:
Well the skimmer is very inconsistent with the larger pump. I had planned on running it for a few weeks to test but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. I have to check it at least once an hour to make sure it hasn't filled the cup. Already have about 4 gallons of almost clear skimmate from the cup getting filled in the last two days. It either doesn't produce because the bubbles don't make it up the neck, or it overflows. And it switches back and forth between the two seemingly random. Very erratic.

Any ideas besides setting the water level very low (+/- 1.5" below flange) and letting it sit for a few days assuming it doesn't overflow?
Click to expand...

Try turning off all flow to the reactor and see if you have the same issue.
 
I found a little trick on optimizing my skimmer with a pressure rated pump. I have the 36" skimmer sitting in 7" of water in my sump, Panworld 100PX pump and 978 mazzei injector. I first powered the unit up with a 1078 injector and the air draw was crazy (35 to 40 scfh) which is way too much for this body. I put the 978 on and still too high (around 30 -35 scfh). If I choke off the pump output then the air dropped to within reason BUT I lost alloy of flow in the process. Then I remembered I had a 3/8" inline barbed needle valve left over from a Beckett skimmer. I installed this in the air line off the cup and BAM, instant success. Tweaked the air down to 18-20 scfh and now the skimmer is performing great and with full flow from the pump ( same concept as a beckett). See the pictures I have attached. Also I cleaned the cup yesterday evening and you can see the results. You can also use a mini 3/8" barbed ball valve.
 

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rEeFnWrX said:
Please humor us. How is ~790 gph in a 36" skimmer too much flow?
Click to expand...

How about you tell us how long the bubble is in contact with the water in other words contact time.
If you increase water flow you decrease contact time. Don't you think.
 
The Life Reef Skimmer Club

Sure, but The point is at 790gph in a 36" body you'll get very high contact time.

790gph is not a lot of flow = high contact time.
 
How about you tell us how long the bubble is in contact with the water in other words contact time.
If you increase water flow you decrease contact time. Don't you think.
Click to expand...

This is not a pinwheel skimmer with a 4-6" neck, short body with less contact time and requires lots of air draw to work. Explain why on a beckett skimmer it requires a huge pump and comes with air control valves for the beckett tube? I tell you why, the becketts require a lot of flow but you have to tune the air draw down to match this. I had one and tried to run it with 45-50 and all the skimmer did was fill up the cup with clear water which then ran into my skim locker and tripped the switch that cuts off the skimmer pump. After reading on RC I found that most people ran their becketts around 28-32 air draw. When I tuned the air down to this the skimmer ran great, no more overflows. And the bubbles in my Lifereef are churning around in the water column quite a bit before exiting.
 
bayoupr said:
This is not a pinwheel skimmer with a 4-6" neck, short body with less contact time and requires lots of air draw to work. Explain why on a beckett skimmer it requires a huge pump and comes with air control valves for the beckett tube? I tell you why, the becketts require a lot of flow but you have to tune the air draw down to match this. I had one and tried to run it with 45-50 and all the skimmer did was fill up the cup with clear water which then ran into my skim locker and tripped the switch that cuts off the skimmer pump. After reading on RC I found that most people ran their becketts around 28-32 air draw. When I tuned the air down to this the skimmer ran great, no more overflows. And the bubbles in my Lifereef are churning around in the water column quite a bit before exiting.
Click to expand...

He's correct. If you open up the air all of the way on a Beckett it won't perform. It needs to be tuned down.
 
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