Odessa protien Skimmer

[el_vulture619]

Any one have one of these Odessa Protien skimmer or heard anything about them?

 

Please fill me in

[Grendel0501]

There's a REALLY long thread about them on RC , with some mods it does a decent job.

[Whacked]

heres your homework

 

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...mp;pagenumber=1

 

I have one. did the meshmod and air muffler mod. I have the PS75 as a HOB on my 20H but will eventually use it in a sump for a 40B. Been running it for about 6 months and it does a pretty good job.

 

The downsides to it:

takes a bit of tweaking to get it dialed it.

sensitive to water levels (thus why it will go into a sump, consistent water levels)

the acrylic is the cheap extruded so be warned if you want to drill the collection cup to have a external drain. But one PS160 owner cut the bottom so he could put a 90deg elbow in the inlet to force the water downwards so the bubbles will have a bit more dwell time. so its not entirely fragile.

 

after it broke in, I had it overflow on me once. and that was my fault. I added too much top-off water and went above the 'sweet-spot' that I set the skimmer to. not really a downside to the skimmer 'cause its more a user error.

 

The positives:

dirt cheap.

2 cheap mods and its dead quiet and performs well.

once dialed in, no more tweaking needed.

 

I bought mine from a LFS. basically the same price as if I bought from aquatraders and paid shipping. Still, its definately worth the $50. I broke the intake tube, LFS gave me another free. This last weekend I busted the impeller shaft during cleaning, I ended up replacing that with the red spray tube that comes with the computer canned air.

 

Looking at the skimmer now, I have about a inch of nog in the cup, and I emptied it about 6 hrs ago. I'll have to empty it in the morn before work.

[el_vulture619]

Hey thank for help with my homework friends! I never really wonder off NR to much...kinda a house fly!

 

Wow 40 pages....

 

So it would not make a good hang on skimmer than? I am setting up a 40b with no sump. I may just have to get it and try it out.

[Whacked]

and actually your homework is more than 40 pages, the thread split

 

anyhow, if you buy one, run it in a bucket with a vinegar solution for a day. that will shorten the break in period. Put it on your tank when you have time to watch it for tweaking. keep in mind that any adjustments you make, it can take a couple hours for the skimmer to react.

[dreboogie]

I just got the PS 75 about 2 weeks ago. I only got it to suck in air after i did a mesh mod and took off some of the front pieces, I just placed some PVC and stuck the airline in. I don't really have anything to skim in that tank yet, but it has a good foam head.

[el_vulture619]

Trying not to be to lazy... I was looking into that mesh mod and couldnt understand what it is. Could you tell me what it is?

 

I will probably order one next week!

[Grendel0501]

I've never done a mesh mod , but from my loose understanding of it.

 

You take some kind of mesh ( a buddy of mine uses Enkimat ) and glue it to the propellor , the mesh chops the bubbles finer , and improves the protein skimmers performance.

[Whacked]

I've never done a mesh mod , but from my loose understanding of it.

 

You take some kind of mesh ( a buddy of mine uses Enkimat ) and glue it to the propellor , the mesh chops the bubbles finer , and improves the protein skimmers performance.

 

thats pretty much it. Enkamat P4 is whats usually used. Meshmod kits with enkamat can be bought off ebay.

instead of glue, most use very small zip ties or fishing line. just make sure th mesh is trimmed enough so that the impeller will spin freely.

 

Oh yea, toss the foam sponges, more of a PITA and also nitrate factory.

[el_vulture619]

Ok, I know what you guys are talking about now, I've read about it before. Is it done because the impeller on the stock pump isnt very good? So this would mean that the venturi is placed before the pump?

 

Some ppl on the tread talked about just using it stock and it ran fine (maybe for them) I dont mind tweaking just never used a skimmer before. I have a 10g now that I never skim just water change. I was going to mod a sea clone I got for free from a friend, the older ones with the long inner tube but when I try to remove it makes a cracking noise and I dont want it to break!