tom obrecht
Active member
Hahn...pm sent .
Skimmer looks similar?
Skimmer looks similar?
Volcano club
- Thread starter tom obrecht
- Start date
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
The MRC? It looks DEAD SIMILAR in design, not as big of a main pipe, but I doubt that matters much. The water inlet is at the base though, but the you could compare the two in many ways. I will say that Im sure the Volcano, with its air welds, is more durable... but hey... at least with MRC you know you can easily get a hold of someone. I dont want to get sidetracked too much though.
Other 'related' notes: I doubt this thing would perform well without an alita forcing air into it. Also, its still a dart mixing pump. From all the makers I talked with that have tried the dart... they hate it. Too much water, too little air, etc. Dave at CoralVue said he was much happier with the Lagunas, and plans to continue with using more motors than just the 1500 in his future Octopus 'PRO' series which uses them. A 2000-2900 based Octo (for 3000-4000lph), and maybe even a 4200 based motor (thats the 6000lph one) would be the ticket here.
I suppose I am getting on sort of a tangent here, but it was very clear from this weekend at MACNA that things are changing very fast in this market. I have no doubt that CoralVue will end up dominating the US market in the long run. Many other makes like Euroreef are having some of their line made by Honya in China as well, but when I talked with Dave, he seemed very interested in NOT just going with the cheapest pumps around, or 'what was available'. Dave's development of the Laguna 1500 really proves that. Beckett skimmers? Besides the MRC and PM showings... almost not even there. It seems like there was more buzz around MRC's dart driven skimmer and their sweet looking sumps, and PM's focus was on their reactors as well as new needlewheels more than anything. The one they had there had a nice new rubber/plast needlwheel and the quality was top-notch. Euroreef has fallen on some very hard times now I hear, and other companies that were 'staples' are now not so much. The new skimmers by RK2 for instance... were just abandoned looking, as well as the ASM's. Warner Marine is another company that I was very impressed with and made a great showing at MACNA. Jon Warner was very nice to meet, honest, and of all the skimmers at MACNA, his were the ones working the best in the end.... actually collecting skimmate and having a nice foam head rather than just set on constant overflow. Companies like H&S and Deltec werent generating the interest they used to. Rumor has it, Deltec might be working on something new on this front as well...
Other 'related' notes: I doubt this thing would perform well without an alita forcing air into it. Also, its still a dart mixing pump. From all the makers I talked with that have tried the dart... they hate it. Too much water, too little air, etc. Dave at CoralVue said he was much happier with the Lagunas, and plans to continue with using more motors than just the 1500 in his future Octopus 'PRO' series which uses them. A 2000-2900 based Octo (for 3000-4000lph), and maybe even a 4200 based motor (thats the 6000lph one) would be the ticket here.
I suppose I am getting on sort of a tangent here, but it was very clear from this weekend at MACNA that things are changing very fast in this market. I have no doubt that CoralVue will end up dominating the US market in the long run. Many other makes like Euroreef are having some of their line made by Honya in China as well, but when I talked with Dave, he seemed very interested in NOT just going with the cheapest pumps around, or 'what was available'. Dave's development of the Laguna 1500 really proves that. Beckett skimmers? Besides the MRC and PM showings... almost not even there. It seems like there was more buzz around MRC's dart driven skimmer and their sweet looking sumps, and PM's focus was on their reactors as well as new needlewheels more than anything. The one they had there had a nice new rubber/plast needlwheel and the quality was top-notch. Euroreef has fallen on some very hard times now I hear, and other companies that were 'staples' are now not so much. The new skimmers by RK2 for instance... were just abandoned looking, as well as the ASM's. Warner Marine is another company that I was very impressed with and made a great showing at MACNA. Jon Warner was very nice to meet, honest, and of all the skimmers at MACNA, his were the ones working the best in the end.... actually collecting skimmate and having a nice foam head rather than just set on constant overflow. Companies like H&S and Deltec werent generating the interest they used to. Rumor has it, Deltec might be working on something new on this front as well...
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Uh, no... at least I never said that Spazz was making Volcanoes for MRC.
tom obrecht
Active member
Air pump just arrived and I ran down stairs to install it. In a matter of minutes I could tell a difference. The water level in the body is not as high and there is alot more foam. I still need to tweek things but perhaps the air pump is a must with these units. I will post some pics later when I get a chance.
Charlie's Angel
New member
That is great news.
can't wait to see pics
tom obrecht
Active member
:lol: :lol: :lol:
I think the missing link may have been found. In the last hour or two after force feeding air the skimmer has a nice foam head, has been producing skimmate at a rate better than anytime since it has been set up and has cleared the water of a "haze" in the main tank. I'll try and get some pics up in the next day or so.
Mr James
Premium Member
To tell you the truth, I was saying in the back of my mind, no no no, please don't let the Volcano die... I think his skimmers could be some of the best on the market, on a custom made level of course. I'm just sorry to hear he is MIA. MFatwork (on TCMAS and here too I think) works with him or worked (past tense) with him, or knows where his shop is.
In a nice way, I hope something happened to him rather than he's just avoiding his customers.
In a nice way, I hope something happened to him rather than he's just avoiding his customers.
hahnmeister
In Memoriam
Well, if it removed a haze that quick (that actually tells me something I had not considered on the phone), it is likely that you have had a perpetual bacterial bloom (cant think of much else). The danger of that is it most likely dropped your ORP to some 'not so healthy' levels... maybe even dropping your pH (depends on how much CO2 everything else is adding), but low ORP/pH will really choke off your coral's ability to collect nutrients. You are sort of 'carbon dosing' without the skimmer...lol.
I forgot to mention it on the phone, but you might want to watch your lighting then... dont know how much that haze was blocking out, but some corals might be under such stress to begin with that the light might be a bit much. Lowering photoperiod doesnt help so much (think of sunburn... 1 hour may be less than 2, but you can still burn in 1... just not as much) as lowering the intensity somehow... maybe move the lights back a little (I know you cant go up... lol, or start moving all your corals down) or only run half the bulbs for a bit... Im my case, I just drape fiberglass screening here & there, but your tank is alot larger.
We talked about turbulence in the neck... keep a close eye on that skimmer for the next day or so because its likely to change. When I hooked up that ATB Med in your sump I was shocked that it took so long to build up a head. At first I thought the fresh applied silicone grease that I had put on the next o-ring was the culprit (usually that thing starts collecting dirty froth in half a minute so its kind of a good 'benchmark' to test how 'skimmable' a system is), but I have experienced it in the past with low ORP conditions in the past on my own tanks.
So in that respect, as the oxygenation increases (proteins like to stick to oxygen and are more hydrophobic), you might find your foam head starting to last alot longer. Just running my air intake from the outside (less CO2 without all those pesky humans) always makes me have to drop my waterline a little. Tom, you mentioned your waterline was just above where the reducer meets the neck right now but Ill bet that head is going to start getting bigger as the conditions improve... so you dont want any 'skimzilla' problems where your collection cup gets encased in a ball of dirty foam (as great as that sounds).
It may not be the ultimate solution (still a very large body for such a small neck so that reducer isnt going to be as great as your 902 was), but Im glad to hear its turning around... mystery solved it would seem.
I agree though... we demand PICS PICS PICS!!!
The next step would be to use an even larger air pump, like an Alita 60, to fill that 18" body like it should, but then you end up with needing a larger neck (10-12"). And I dont know about how much air that dart can take before it starts having problems (you might need two or you might have pump problems with that much air)... it might have to be a meshwheel or something at that point. I cant remember but I think there are some Volcano users with Alita 60's on theirs... dont remember the circumstances though.
Or... there is that idea of replacing the whole body cylinder/reducer with a cone... I know who could do it... I would just have to get some VERY EXACT specs for the flange and twist lock to have something that mates up with it made. OR... there is another way I just thought of... would only require a sheet of 1/8" acrylic I think (leave the cylinder/reducer and add just a large funnel to the inside somehow... have to consider how to do that right...). I do hope Scott is around and he comes back... hey, mistakes happen, you know (I know, I know... this is a big one)? But in the end, the best person to make a cone adapter for his skimmers would be HIM. :artist:
Of course, I know Tom would rather just be done with the whole mess than tinker even more.
I forgot to mention it on the phone, but you might want to watch your lighting then... dont know how much that haze was blocking out, but some corals might be under such stress to begin with that the light might be a bit much. Lowering photoperiod doesnt help so much (think of sunburn... 1 hour may be less than 2, but you can still burn in 1... just not as much) as lowering the intensity somehow... maybe move the lights back a little (I know you cant go up... lol, or start moving all your corals down) or only run half the bulbs for a bit... Im my case, I just drape fiberglass screening here & there, but your tank is alot larger.
We talked about turbulence in the neck... keep a close eye on that skimmer for the next day or so because its likely to change. When I hooked up that ATB Med in your sump I was shocked that it took so long to build up a head. At first I thought the fresh applied silicone grease that I had put on the next o-ring was the culprit (usually that thing starts collecting dirty froth in half a minute so its kind of a good 'benchmark' to test how 'skimmable' a system is), but I have experienced it in the past with low ORP conditions in the past on my own tanks.
So in that respect, as the oxygenation increases (proteins like to stick to oxygen and are more hydrophobic), you might find your foam head starting to last alot longer. Just running my air intake from the outside (less CO2 without all those pesky humans) always makes me have to drop my waterline a little. Tom, you mentioned your waterline was just above where the reducer meets the neck right now but Ill bet that head is going to start getting bigger as the conditions improve... so you dont want any 'skimzilla' problems where your collection cup gets encased in a ball of dirty foam (as great as that sounds).
It may not be the ultimate solution (still a very large body for such a small neck so that reducer isnt going to be as great as your 902 was), but Im glad to hear its turning around... mystery solved it would seem.
I agree though... we demand PICS PICS PICS!!!
The next step would be to use an even larger air pump, like an Alita 60, to fill that 18" body like it should, but then you end up with needing a larger neck (10-12"). And I dont know about how much air that dart can take before it starts having problems (you might need two or you might have pump problems with that much air)... it might have to be a meshwheel or something at that point. I cant remember but I think there are some Volcano users with Alita 60's on theirs... dont remember the circumstances though.
Or... there is that idea of replacing the whole body cylinder/reducer with a cone... I know who could do it... I would just have to get some VERY EXACT specs for the flange and twist lock to have something that mates up with it made. OR... there is another way I just thought of... would only require a sheet of 1/8" acrylic I think (leave the cylinder/reducer and add just a large funnel to the inside somehow... have to consider how to do that right...). I do hope Scott is around and he comes back... hey, mistakes happen, you know (I know, I know... this is a big one)? But in the end, the best person to make a cone adapter for his skimmers would be HIM. :artist:
Of course, I know Tom would rather just be done with the whole mess than tinker even more.
tom obrecht
Active member
Think this sums it up!
dascharisma
New member
This is good news. I just ordered my Alita 40. I'll post some picture updates when it shows up. Maybe my $3000 skimmer will finally produce a foam head.
Brad
tom obrecht
Active member
I wish you good luck. Even though the skimmer is working much better I'm not 100% satisfied. There have been some larger bubbles arising that could relate to too much air being forced in, poor design or needlewheel design. I'm no pro when it comes to this stuff. Talked to Hahn today and think we will sit on it for a few days and see what happens.
saleencobra
Premium Member
i am going to hook a second air pump to try and simulate an alita 60. i will report back if it is too much for the dart or if improves production.
tom obrecht
Active member
We have some construction going on in the neighborhood. Think I will as one of the workers if I could borrow their jack hammer compressor to see if that would deliver enough air. I'm hoping for explode this thing like a fire cracker and be done with it once and for all!!:blown:
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