Volcano club
- Thread starter tom obrecht
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Herpervet
New member
It is the 18" diameter x 4ft tall main chamber. 8" neck. Total heigth around 6' 6" I think it is the 1860 model.
I think my skimmer is very close to the size of yours and I could copy what you did with good results.
edit: Your skimmer appears to have a significantly longer neck than mine.
I wonder if that tall neck helps cut down turbulance.
I think my skimmer is very close to the size of yours and I could copy what you did with good results.
edit: Your skimmer appears to have a significantly longer neck than mine.
I wonder if that tall neck helps cut down turbulance.
Last edited:
jnarowe
New member
yeah, well get on it! 
The only risk you would incur mechanically is the hole, which you can always plug with a bulkhead.
We can talk via PM too if you like, but I am sure some people reading this thread (including myself) would like to see how it turns out. Again, I would recommend An Altia 100 - 120 and 10 - 12 9" stones or perhaps 8 x 12" stones.
The only risk you would incur mechanically is the hole, which you can always plug with a bulkhead.We can talk via PM too if you like, but I am sure some people reading this thread (including myself) would like to see how it turns out. Again, I would recommend An Altia 100 - 120 and 10 - 12 9" stones or perhaps 8 x 12" stones.
Herpervet
New member
I am wondering if I could take one of the 6 hole round manifolds and drill a hole in the bottom and tap it out.
Connect to a second round manifold and rotate these two maifolds so the holes are staggared and you could mount 12 air stones.
OR- glue two pvc end caps together then drill and tap them. The tap would probably cost less than the cost of these manifolds and you could make as many manifolds in any configuration you want.
Connect to a second round manifold and rotate these two maifolds so the holes are staggared and you could mount 12 air stones.
OR- glue two pvc end caps together then drill and tap them. The tap would probably cost less than the cost of these manifolds and you could make as many manifolds in any configuration you want.
lvpd186
Reefing in NE
I suppose the air stones would work great; you could remove the pump, use the pipe in to the bubble chamber to feed your air stones, and the pipe that use to feed the pump could be closed up with a removable fitting. In the end you'll have the most expensive CC skimmer on the market... :lol: If it were me though I think I would rather fix the problem with the pump. If you do switch it over though I'd love to see it in action.
Herpervet
New member
No laughing allowed. At this point I just want it to work. Simple is good and the ability to easily add or subract air stones appeals to me.
I am seriously considering this now. I wonder if there are any better options than the alita series.
I don't like the idea of having to replace diaphragms yearly.
I am seriously considering this now. I wonder if there are any better options than the alita series.
I don't like the idea of having to replace diaphragms yearly.
CMcNeil
New member
jnarowe
New member
Couple points to consider:
1. If you build your own manifolds, you will lose space. This becomes quite important for proper stone placement. This is not to say you can't put them in any way you want, but getting them well spread out and down low will help I am sure.
2. You cannot buy a better air pump than an Alita IMO. I have never changed diaphram on mine, but that seems a simple deal and much more friendly than running a blower. Having said that, the Alita is not a quiet pump by any means.
Why do I think they are so good? Well, I got lazy and over time forgot about the placement of my air hoses. If you look closely at older pics of my skimmer, you will see the air pump sitting on a bench well below the water level, and I had used longer lengths of hose to get a loop above the water line. Anyway, at some point it got too low, and when I had a power outage, the pump filled with salt water.
I am really not sure how long it was , but definitely for hours. SO I poured out a significant amount of SW, rinsed it out with RO/Di water, and filled it with rubbing alcohol. I swished it around, dumped it out, and started it back up on the skimmer. That was more than a year ago and the damn thing is running strong as ever.
Hmmmm...I wonder if I should change the diaphram? It has been running 27/7 for 2.5+ years! Probably not a good idea since whenever I try to "fix"something that ain't broke, it rapidly becomes broken. :shock:
lvpd186
Reefing in NE
Don't get me wrong (no offense intended) the idea that the best fix for these things is to change them in to the age old air driven CC skimmer just seems... wrong? But if that is the way you want to go I can see it working. If you could make a manifold, or even use the round one you found (which might work good considering you could use the center hole to route the air feed out of the skimmer where the original input it under the bubble plate). I'm guessing here that keeping the air stones sideways would be better (more surface area).
jnarowe
New member
I would start with an Alita 120 on an 8-way manifold with 12" stones. hhhmmmmm...that won't fit in an 18" chamber will it!
Try it with 8 x 9" stones and see what happens. You may get lucky (like me) and that will be enough. How much water is going through it now? And give some thought to a hybrid recirc/airstone skimmer. I have toyed with the idea but at the time could not get a NW for my Sequence pump.
You might be able to create a very powerful skimmer by combining methods. And mazzei injectors are easy to come by too, so you might experiment with that with the current configuration.
What has been the result of forcing air into the skimmer so far?
Try it with 8 x 9" stones and see what happens. You may get lucky (like me) and that will be enough. How much water is going through it now? And give some thought to a hybrid recirc/airstone skimmer. I have toyed with the idea but at the time could not get a NW for my Sequence pump.
You might be able to create a very powerful skimmer by combining methods. And mazzei injectors are easy to come by too, so you might experiment with that with the current configuration.
What has been the result of forcing air into the skimmer so far?
Herpervet
New member
I have always forced air. The problem has been the dart and needlewheel.
It never produced enough superfine bubbles.
Finally I mesh modded the thing and it worked much better. Still it doesn't perform nearly like I believe it should and the chamber isn't as "pvc white" as I think it should be.
I still can't picture the manifold. The circular one won't work with 9" stones either.
I will have to mount them as in your picture.
Hybrid recirc skimmer?
Do you mean recirculating the bubbles from the top of the skimmer back to the bottom with a pump?
I have considered a mazzei injector and a pressure pump but that is high power consumption.
It never produced enough superfine bubbles.
Finally I mesh modded the thing and it worked much better. Still it doesn't perform nearly like I believe it should and the chamber isn't as "pvc white" as I think it should be.
I still can't picture the manifold. The circular one won't work with 9" stones either.
I will have to mount them as in your picture.
Hybrid recirc skimmer?
Do you mean recirculating the bubbles from the top of the skimmer back to the bottom with a pump?
I have considered a mazzei injector and a pressure pump but that is high power consumption.
jnarowe
New member
Oh, I see. Do you think you are pushing "enough" air into it, or have you gotten it to cavitate?
Yeah, you may not get the milk white with the airstones either. Mine doesn't. But it IS a lot of air, which I think is more important. 100 ltr/min. is pretty darn good.
I wouldn't do the recirc until you have the stones going and see how it works first. I am sure there are better informed people reading this thread that can give you advice on that from a design perspective. I would PM guys like BeanAnimal, Hahn etc. and get a consensus.
I don't worry about the milky white thing, but I have seen some smaller skimmers that you would think are made out of white PVC.
Yeah, you may not get the milk white with the airstones either. Mine doesn't. But it IS a lot of air, which I think is more important. 100 ltr/min. is pretty darn good.
I wouldn't do the recirc until you have the stones going and see how it works first. I am sure there are better informed people reading this thread that can give you advice on that from a design perspective. I would PM guys like BeanAnimal, Hahn etc. and get a consensus.
I don't worry about the milky white thing, but I have seen some smaller skimmers that you would think are made out of white PVC.
Herpervet
New member
No, I agree. In the end it is the skimmate that is produced that matters. No, that's not right either it is actually how the tank looks that matters.
This skimmer hasn't produced nearly the skimmate as it should imo and my tank has suffered since I cranked the skimmer up.
The mesh mod helped alot but I still think the bubbles could be SIGNIFICANTLY smaller.
I am pushing the entire alita 60 into it. Should be around 5000- 6000LPH. (100lpm as you stated)
I have played with the gate valve and used a kill-a-watt to find the point of cavitation.
This skimmer hasn't produced nearly the skimmate as it should imo and my tank has suffered since I cranked the skimmer up.
The mesh mod helped alot but I still think the bubbles could be SIGNIFICANTLY smaller.
I am pushing the entire alita 60 into it. Should be around 5000- 6000LPH. (100lpm as you stated)
I have played with the gate valve and used a kill-a-watt to find the point of cavitation.
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