Want to mod you needlewheel?

A

Angela Short

New member
I have the right stuff to do it with! I broke down and ordered 2 yards of the PF4A Enkamat stuff that is suppose to be the best to use. That was the smallest you could get and it wasn't cheap :( Sad thing is they charged me $15 shipping also!! It only take a tiny dab so I have TONS of it left. I can cut a 8.5 x 11 sheet and put it in the mail for say $3-5. I need to see how many sheets I can cut first to know how much I would have in it with an envelope and stamps.

This is a link to how its done and some of the reports of the benifits....
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=966407&perpage=25&pagenumber=11

This is a VERY long read but this page is the meat of it. I also used fishing line to tie mine down with...




I installed mine today on my ASM skimmer and gave it a test run in a rubbermaid of salt water and it was unbelivable the amount and size of bubbles this thing is now producing! I also enlarged my airline intake with a drillbit for maximum air avalibility. I am working on a gatevalve mod and recirculating mod today also. So after 4 custom mods hopefully my skimmer will be sufficent for my tank. LMK if you want any.
 
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Not busy enouph! I have been working on this thing 2 weeks! At least I tell myself I am working on it, the skimmer has basically been in the floor in front of the tank 2 weeks colecting dust till today ;).

Also FWIW I have the sedra 5000 pump.
 
Angela i might be interested.

I have a Coralife Super Skimmer 220 and i modded the needlewheel with fishing line which increased the performance drastically, but i think the messh might even do better!
 
I might be interested as well. I've got a brand new Coralife SS65 that I've not even used yet, but I'm always interested in mods... especially guitar amp mods... but skimmer mods, too. :)

Does anyone know if its been done with a SS65 or if it would even be worth it?

Thanks!

Brandon
 
The mod should work with any recirc type skimmer or even non recirc. You just see it on recirculating more often. The only thing 100% necessary is the venturi (technically it's not a venturi in this case but an aspirator, but since everyone will still call it that I might as well) to come before the pump's intake. From what most people that have preformed the mod it should be worth it on almost any skimmer. The ones it might not be worth it are already insanely efficient and expensive. Even a few of those might benefit.
 
That link alsong with other long, lenghthy ASM reads has about every pump modded with a needle wheel ever made. So far in my test run it seems to have greatly increased my bubble amount and the bubbles are for sure much smaller almost like foam from the pump which I guess is good. Smaller bubbles ='s more bubbles and air contacting the water is the way I gather from the reading.

Yes, Titansfan I just took a new razor and chopped the pins off and drilled a extra 4 or 5 holes so I could be sure and tie the mesh down real secure. I just threaded a needle and sewed away. I cut a small slit for the middle first then I took a razor and cleaned up the scraggly edges off the center after the tie down was done. I used 3 layers of mesh. I wish I had a air meter but without a doubt it is producing WAY more bubbles. Hopefully the skimmer will be back on-line tommorow night. Got side tracked with my mods today so will try to finnish them tommorow and give results.
 
Do you guys think that it would be better for me to break my skimmer in first as stock and then mod it after a week or two or longer?

If not, I'm thinking it would be better to do it now so my tank doesn't have to go without a skimmer once its up and going. :)

Brandon
 
Brandon the mod should take most "normal" people about 15 mins. but I am far from normal.... ;) I have a bad habit of starting projects gun ho only to loose intrest within no time moving on to something else. I turned the skimmer off at least 2 weeks or more ago because I did a red slime treatment and thought "what a great oppertunity to mod my skimmer". Well true to fashion it has taken 10x longer than expected. I would go ahead and run the skimmer unmodded for the break in and then mod it to make a beliver out of you on how much better the mesh works. You could actually gauge how much more air flow you are getting modded as opposed to unmodded.

I first tried the scrub pad stuff and it was way to thick and the pump wouldn't even turn over (I did get to that within 2 days). Then I cut some gutterguard up I had in the basement and never fooled with putting the pump back together even after zip tieing it all together! Then my upcomming vacation spurred me to actually sit down and order the enkamat I really wanted so the skimmer would be working by while I was gone for 10 days. Its pretty sad what all my hubby has to put up with and my poor neglected fish!
 
OH and I am planning on cutting up the mesh in the morning so I can give everyone who has shown intrest a price. Also I think paypal fees on $3-5 would be about the same as a stamp to mail me a few $$ so either way is fine with me. I hate to even charge folks for this but to order it for yourself would cost about $45. I still can't belive how much they charged to ship that stuff. Its not like it was heavy or anything! Gotta love the "handeling" charge! But they did get it here fast.
 
Cool deal... I'm definitely interested in a 8.5x11 sized sheet. Whats the bottom line on a paper-sized sheet including paypal, shipping, the product, everything?

Thanks again Angela!

Brandon
 
I am going to the post office this morning while out running errands to see about shipping that size stamp wise and will let ya know. I am also picking up some envelopes so I will have a total and be able to put them in the mail tonight. I will let ya know but I am sure it will not be over $5!!
 
If you've got extra, let me know how much a sheet is. I've got this G5 that needs some work. It already has a gate valve mod, but it never really did what it should have with 2 sedra 9000's...
 
OK Got a total. $4 coves the 8.5x11 sheet, envelope and $1.30 shipping. You can paypal me like $4.50 and I will get it right out to you. I sold 1/2 the sheet to one fellow and have 7 packaged ready to go. My paypal addy is
shortcory@bellsouth.net

and my address is my user name ;)
2796 Newport Royal Road
Thompsons Station, TN 37179

Just drop a check or $4 in a envelpoe if you don't have paypal.

Gary FWIW I think on the thread they were saying the sedra 9000's didn't really gain anything much from the mod. I would check it out before I chopped up the impeller. You are welcome to a sheet though just to have on hand. I can drop it in the box of corals probably.
 
Hey Angela please set one aside for me. I will try to stop by your house here in the next few days to get it.
 
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