Update on my skimmer mods

[Angela Short]

All I can say is the mods definetly give your pump a big boost! Way too much boost in my case. I actually have a major micro bubble problem now . I always had them with that skimmer but now they are SUPER bad. So bad I am afraid they are irritating the corals so its offline AGAIN. I had to patch over the recirculate mod for the time being just to see if the recirculating force at the bottom of the skimmer body was pushin the bubbles out worse and it was. It was also leaking bubbles out around the volute (?) on the pump intake while it was recirculating pretty bad so its obviousley not a water tight seal.
I am pulling way too much air still with the recirculate off and getting bubbles outside the skimmer body. I did 3 layers of the mesh and enlarged my venturi intake out with a drill bit. Now I have a air line valve on it cranked all the way down and its whistleing loud and still pulling way to much air :lol:. I need to either
A) remove a layer or two of the mesh so I am not pulling as much air.
B) add some baffels which is by far the hardest but best fix to have the most powerfull skimmer so I can keep the recirculate going or
C) keep the skimmer maxed out with this much air and add some filter floss in between the last exsisting baffel to catch the bubbles. Not real crazy about filter floss in a reef but it will have to do for a fast fix while I am on vacation.

Seriousley, I can not belive how many more bubbles this thing is producing. Its WAY to many for my skimmer body to handle, if only it was about 6" taller it would be perfect. My pump is also as quiet as ever. Now I just need to figure out how to deal with all the bubbles that are escaping the skimmer now that my whole skimmer body is totally full of bubbles top to bottom. Before without the mod the bottom 1/3 of the skimmer didn't hace any bubbles which is how the skimmer kept the microbubbles out of the display.

Anyone have any advise on my bubble problems?

Also I am going to have 12 more sheets of the enkamat if anyone is interested in getting some. I need to go read that 20,0000 post long thread to see what people who had my problem did as a solution. Because I know I am not the only ASM G3 skimmer that has been modded. FWIW I have a sedra 5000 on the skimmer.

 

[crumbletop]

Angela, I would maybe not run the skimmer while on vacation. With all of that air, and with it all being so new (so you don't really know how well it will behave) -- I'd hate to read a thread in a week about your tank crash because of a skimmer overflow while on vacation.

 

[gflat65]

Good luck with it... I'm still fighting my MR4. I know what my problem is, though. I tried to reduce the outlet from 1 1/2 to 1 1/4, thinking that I could just open the gate valve up (not the case). As soon as it is plugged in, it fills the collection cup... I might leave it off while on vacation. I didn't lose anything, but when my skimmer kinda went nuts while I was in Montreal, I came home to 20-30 gallons soaked into the floor.

 

[Siffy]

Hmm, You have any pictures Angela? I've thought about it a lil more reading it twice since the PM. I'm wondering if you're having turbulence issues. Is there a 45 elbow pointed down on the recirc line as it enters the skimmer body? It may be pushing down too hard and if you can reach inside to adjust it upward slightly it might help things. Also, the first thought I had was that your pump may just be too big for your skimmer now after the mesh mod. An ASM G3 isn't all that big of a skimmer from what I remember and a Sedra 5000 is a really big pump when talking about one that's been modded. Too bad you don't have a meter to see how much air is being pulled in. Also, your skimmer may not be fully broken in again since it's been off for a few weeks. Just thinking out loud, but I'd go with the better safe than sorry method and leave it off while out of town for a week. Mainly because the characteristics of how a skimmer acts changes quite a bit in the first 2 weeks it's up and running. And many people have commented on how differently a mesh modded pump acts on the second day compared to the first.

 

[Angela Short]

Good idea about leaving it off. I totally cleaned and dried the skimmer out so its not broke it at all again yet. There is no 45 on the recirculate, it just shoots it right back in the body but real close to the bottom. I may try a 45 and shoot it up. I also agree the modded sedra 5000 is way too much pump for my skimmer size now!

 

[Angela Short]

Got back from the beach last night and was pleasently surprised to see the skimmer had "broke in" from the total cleanning I gave it and had totally fixed its microbubble problem. I went ahead and threw some filter pad between one of the baffels to catch the bubbles till I fixed the problem and just had the skimmer dialed in to skim dry while I was gone. I hated to leave it off any longer. It skimmed a good bit of thick nasty gunk for me on a very low setting and the slime coating in the skimmer body seems to have resolved the bubble problem I was having without having to alter anything on my mesh mod. The cup was 1/2 full with a thick layer of nasty on the neck but I haven't talked to my freind yet to see how many times she cleaned it during the 10 days she watched it. So not sure the time it took to skim that yet.

I still have the recirculate mod covered over with a big peice of tape and will hook it back up soon and see if the bubbles will stay in the skimmer body now. The Sedra pump was leaking the bubbles from around the seal pretty bad recirculating so I guess it will need some silicone as a quick fix or a new seal before I can turn on the recirculate mod again. Just wanted to let you all know how the mod is working out.

On another note, man that filter pad had trapped a ton of thick nasty stuff in 10 days. Makes you kinda think should I use it to help mechanically trap junk also but then I get into the whole it will just lay and decay train of thought I keep going to on filter floss and filter sock ways of running a tank...I was amazed at how gunky it was though! My skimmer certainly lets a ton of stuff get by it!.

 

[skwirl]

angela.. you should be able to put it back as a recirc now, and if its blowing bubbles that low, its because its not getting enough air as crazy as that sounds. what happens is when you do the mesh, it makes the pump push more air, and water, and if it cant get as much air as it can take, then it will push too much water. bore out your venturi a little more, and the problem will go away.

 

[Angela Short]

Wow, thanks for the info. I will try to put it back on next week when I get back home. Should it matter where I put the feed line in at? I put it at the bottom as to not disturb the bubbles in the top of the skimmer even though the pic on ASM's site shows theres at the top. I need to put a fitting on it so it shoots it up just incase it is directing the feed directly at the exaust.

Funny thing with thtis skimmer is one day no microbubbles the next day I have them. And I haven't even touched the skimmer.