Thrassian Atoll Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Tonight I plugged in my Tunze doc 9002 protein skimmer, it just made a weird noise and it did not run. So I took it out, and it turned out that all the blades on the pumps impeller were stripped/broken off. I have no idea what happened. It is over two years old, so no warranty. I researched buying a replacement pump for a while but did not find anyone really selling one. Found one on ebay for $40. Way to expensive for such a little pump. I was not going to buy a replacement. I found a thread about a guy who did a mod to his maxi-jet 900 and used that for inside the skimmer. So I gave it a try and it works like a champ. At least I think. Will take a few days to break in and start producing skimmate. Is this where the bubbles should be bubbling to? Might be a little hard to see but the bubbles are just a little inside of the intank cup. Is this where you want the bubbles starting out and when it breaks in, it will begin bubbling up higher? Link to comment
DirtyC Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 i wonder if it will skim better with the mj900 Link to comment
bamboosharkbark Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 u probly know this but the right amount of bubbles will only form with salt water. just wanted to say that cus it looks like ur doin it in the sink EDIT: oops never mind, I think I misinterpreted those pics Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 u probly know this but the right amount of bubbles will only form with salt water. just wanted to say that cus it looks like ur doin it in the sink EDIT: oops never mind, I think I misinterpreted those pics That looks like a sink to you? Its in the back of my biocube....not the sink. One pic is looking down through the cup and the other without the cup. Just wondering if that is where you want your bubbles to start? I hope it works good but only time will tell I guess, just needing to know if that is where you want your water level to be. Heard the line they give never works. Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 I will post some pics if I get some good skimmate. Do not have a bioload yet so I am not sure it will produce much. Link to comment
DirtyC Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 did the mj900 fit in the holder inside the body or did you just pack it in Link to comment
bioload Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Interesting....I'd like to see how this works out.The MJ1200 is the same size so that might work even better.As far as settings I keep my water level about a half inch below the water line marked on the skimmer body. Then adj the air input so that the bubbles just rise into the lower part of the cup. Wait until the foam starts rising up the cup and then fine tune, small adjustments at a time.It would be nice to have a readily available pump substitute for this skimmer,What is the mod you have to do to get this pump to work/fit? Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1961529 - this is where I found the idea for doing this. The only thing I did to the box, was I had to remove the little piece where the cord sits on and holds the back end of the pump. I moved it down to where it would hold the maxijet in place. When the cord comes up and goes over the maxijet too, its a nice tight fit between the pump and bottom plate, so it will not shake around in there. Like in the thread above, I just cut 900's end down and glued a piece of hose to it and stuck the air thing into it. Fits well. Only time will tell if it works. Its a little noisier than the original pump but I think it will slower die down once its broken in. But so far so good. Saves me $40. I think we all have 2 or 3 900s laying around Link to comment
bioload Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Thanks let us know how it works out. I wonder if the 1200 would improve the skimming ability? Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 15, 2011 Author Share Posted April 15, 2011 Thanks let us know how it works out. I wonder if the 1200 would improve the skimming ability? I will let you guys know...I do not know if you would need more flow than the 900 or if the 1200 would do anymore. Might be to much Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 So after a day it is working well. The skimmate is not very dark but I do not have a bioload yet. Dry skimmate though. Link to comment
bioload Posted April 16, 2011 Share Posted April 16, 2011 That looks good. The Tunze usually only produces a tea type skimmate anyway.....not very dark in color. That must be one of the modified collection cups. This is a nice option since the MJ powerheads are available almost anywhere.Thanks for the info. Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 That looks good. The Tunze usually only produces a tea type skimmate anyway.....not very dark in color. That must be one of the modified collection cups. This is a nice option since the MJ powerheads are available almost anywhere.Thanks for the info. Yeah no problem, I bet everyone has a 900, so its a quick and easy mod and saves some money on buying one of those overly priced replacement tunze pumps. It is an InTank cup Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 Skimmer is working great, still tweaking it here and there to get it perfect, but making some great skimmate. Here are a couple new pics Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted April 24, 2011 Author Share Posted April 24, 2011 Skimmer works great with this pump. Been running for a little while now and I like the results better than the results with the stock pump Link to comment
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