DESERTHEATRACING Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I have had stellar sucess with my ss65 skimmer in which I have documented my results in another post. Recently I took it apart & ported the venturi, cut over the silencer box and modified it to flow more air "made it more quiet than oem as well haha" Anyways I saw a very large improvement on how well it skimmed so I thought hmmmm More airflow = better hehehe. The idea is probably not new at all and has probably been done a 100x over but anyways, I ran to petco and snagged an adjustable airpump. A Tetra model made for 20G tanks. Has a small inline flow adjuster. Got it home and hooked it up to the air inlet on the pump and cranked her up. With some adjustment I have been able to increase air production on a MASSIVE scale. I always have seen photos of expensive skimmers were the reaction chamber was white with microbubbles, well now my little cheap ss65 is doing the same WOOT! It always had a decent amount of bubbles, but not the pure white froth I have seen with some models. I still have some more playing to do but the results are AMAZING. My tank is very clean with a low bioload so I would get a cup of skim a week, after this mod I pulled 1/4 cup of dark super skank in less than an hour! Anyways thought I would share my results. HIGHLY recommended! Just be patient and take your time with the adjustments, you will be glad you did! Should work great on any venturi style skimmer! The cons of doing this are.... if the airflow ever stops by unplugging the pump, line clog or pump failure... your skimmer can overflow. Link to comment
avaneaton2000 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Just read your other article for the first time, great read along with this. I have been looking to buy a used 65, and this has cemented that. Do you have any pictures of the work done? Link to comment
glennr1978 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 yeah man post a couple pics!! I may end up trying this on my CSSs. I run a 125 on my 40g, do you think using an aqualifter pump would work? I'm gonna try it regardless. I'll post the outcome in a few minutes (I already have an extra AL pump and plenty of airline). Link to comment
glennr1978 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Didn't work for me . Although I really didn't put in much effort. It's to late to be messing with that crap anyway. I'll try again tomorrow. still want those pics though. Link to comment
Sexy Shrimp Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I wish I was brave enough to experiment Link to comment
moneyman6891 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 How come it causes the skimmer to overflow? Link to comment
DESERTHEATRACING Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 Hey guys, sorry did not see these responses until now! Will definitely post some pics. I never took any of when I ported it and modified the silencer but since I no longer use the silencer, I can crack it open again and get the pics. The venturi porting is nothing that is easily noticeable on a photo. Just drill it out to the largest size you can! On the overflowing part, when you increase air the drastically, you also have to increase water flow as well. If you hook up an air pump to the skimmer, you will notice the water level will drop big time as more air is entering the skimmer than water. So you compensate by closing the output pipe which slows water in the chamber which will raise the level back up. Now if you suddenly take the air away, the water really starts flowing fast and it will overflow in seconds so this is a risk you have to live with. I may put a float switch in the lid for an emergency shut off in case the airpump ever fails. Even if it did in my tank, it would just overflow into the sump which sucks, but no flood which is good. Now on the ss65, the water pump has a valve that is supposed to be 1/2 shut restricting flow. With this air pump mod, you can open the valve fully + increase air even more and it will skim like mad! But again make sure you have some sort of safety in case air is ever cut off or your going to empty a good portion of your sump in a hurry along with the skank in the cup. A few notes on how to make it work.... - Make sure you can unplug it quick & have access to the water level valve before attempting this, if you goof up and cut off air or do somthing silly then things can get out of hand fast. If you take your time and go slow, it will be an easy setup and be reliable. - Make sure your skimmer is already setup and running before you attempt this! Will make adjustments a lot more easy. - Get it working first before opening the water pump valve fully or you will have a mess on your hands. With the water pump valve 100% open, adjustments are much more detailed. Even a small adjustment can send the water level skyrocketing up so this would be an advanced user mode if you will. - The air pump "a small one works wonders, you do not need a large pump!" has to be adjustable or you have to have a valve to throttle it back. Without this, it simply will not work correctly as you have to adjust the airflow vs. water flow. The valve that came with the wisper 20 worked flawless - Hook up the air pump to the inlet of the skimmer and have the air volume turned WAY down . Slowly increase the airflow and you will see the water level go down. Then close the water output valve on the ss65 slowly so the water raises. Once it is at the level you want, then add a little more air, then close the water valve more to raise the water level to the desired point... then add a tiny amount of air again "1/8th turns of the airvalve are plenty" At a point, the air will overpower the pump and it will go into psycho cavitation and not flow any water "you will see the water drop all the way in the ss65 and the pump may make noises" You will then turn the air down a tad, pinch off the airline to get the water pump rocking again, then release the airline to let the air in again. If the pump stops flowing water again, reduce the air a tiny bit more and try again. Once all is setup, you can literally set the level just as if it was naturally aspirated. - With this mod, every time you re-start the water pump, you will need to pinch the airline to choke it back to get it running, then let the airline go. "gotta love all the auto references, sorry!" Sounds complicated but it really is no biggie. Took about 10 minutes of fiddling with it to get it perfect and has been running flawless ever since. Skim production still amazes me! Enjoy Link to comment
moneyman6891 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I see, I would try this with my SeaClone but I dont want it to over flow on my floor. Link to comment
DESERTHEATRACING Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 I see, I would try this with my SeaClone but I dont want it to over flow on my floor. Guys, right now I can only recommend this if your skimmer has a valve to cut off waterflow from the output of the skimmer like the ss65. If you have a stand pipe, I do not thing this would workout so well. So for now this is just for ss65 and ss125 owners. Makes it one heck of a wicked skimmer! Link to comment
Break Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Would you mind telling us the model of air pump you purchased? Link to comment
DESERTHEATRACING Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 A Tetra model made for 20G tanks. Has a small inline flow adjuster. On the box, a tetra wisper 20. Link to comment
Matty1124 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 i have been toying with the idea of getting a new skimmer and then doing some major mods to my css65... been comtemplating making it drain/gravity fed and converting it to a recirculating skimmer... anyone see anything like this before? again this will only be after i get a new skimmer Link to comment
DESERTHEATRACING Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 i have been toying with the idea of getting a new skimmer and then doing some major mods to my css65... been comtemplating making it drain/gravity fed and converting it to a recirculating skimmer... anyone see anything like this before? again this will only be after i get a new skimmer I do not think it could handle the flow as in stock form, it does not flow that much with the pump cut back 50% on stock settings + airflow through it reduces total flow as well... Well unless your return pump was really small... I would guess it would have to be under 175gph. I know this as I tried an experiment with it once were I hung the output tube of the ss65 over the divider in my sump to see if the skimmer flowed better than my gx 1500 pump that was turned dowm a bit and rated for 300gph. Even turned down, the gx1500 was flowing more water than the skimmer was useing and I still had a waterfall over the baffle in the sump along with the water from the skimmer being dumped into the next chamber. Hope that makes sense. You could also just go with a larger needle wheel pump / go forced induction like I did and crank up the air volume to balance it out the volume of water from the pump. One thing that crossed my mind, was when you gravity feed it, do you eliminate the intake pump all together? hmmm never thought of it really. Link to comment
Kraylen Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Totally off topic, but a AZ tuner/reefer is an awesome thing to be!!! Link to comment
avaneaton2000 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Would a mj 1200 be enough flow for a recurc pump with a venturi or air pump? Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 - With this mod, every time you re-start the water pump, you will need to pinch the airline to choke it back to get it running, then let the airline go. "gotta love all the auto references, sorry!" What if your power goes out and you're not home to do this? Your pump will run dry until you do? Sounds like a recipe for a dead pump... Link to comment
Matty1124 Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 One thing that crossed my mind, was when you gravity feed it, do you eliminate the intake pump all together? hmmm never thought of it really. yeah you would eliminate the feed pump and just use water comming from the drain (not all of it just some branched off) see props design it helped me to understand it a little better... again this would only be as an experiment Link to comment
DESERTHEATRACING Posted August 1, 2008 Author Share Posted August 1, 2008 What if your power goes out and you're not home to do this? Your pump will run dry until you do? Sounds like a recipe for a dead pump... Yes for most homes this could be the case on a power failure, the pump still flows some water to cool it, just does not fully prime like it should. Bet yes good point in general. I always have someone home, 98% of the time so I have no worries as they are fully trained on my tanks haha. Link to comment
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