New to forum , Skimmer Q

[Chupakabra-King]

Hello All !

I have a skimmer question . I have built a skimmer out of PVC in 1998 and I am currently revamping it . The skimmer body is 28" (4" PVC ) and the main reaction tube is 24"(2"PVC) . My question is should I increase the length of this skimmer ? I am using a Mag 7 and Kent venturi to drive it . I need to skim a 110 gallon reef tank . Will the skimmer be efficient enough as it is to skim a 110 gallon tank ?

Thanks for any info you can give !

Joe

[Little Luey]

Hey Chupakabra, don't know the answer to your question but welcome to the reef tank.

[Tim224DT]

Welcome to TRT!

So for your skimmer you have the inlet going in through the side of the 4" pvc and then going down into the 2" pvc to mix the water and bubbles inside of the 2" chamber? That is if i am reading the correctly.

I personaly would say that you should be fine with the way it is right now. But it wouldnt hurt to make it longer for longer contact time between the water and air.

What size tank do you currently have this skimmer on?



Tim

[Chupakabra-King]

Originally Posted by Tim224DT

Welcome to TRT!

So for your skimmer you have the inlet going in through the side of the 4" pvc and then going down into the 2" pvc to mix the water and bubbles inside of the 2" chamber? That is if i am reading the correctly.

I personaly would say that you should be fine with the way it is right now. But it wouldnt hurt to make it longer for longer contact time between the water and air.

What size tank do you currently have this skimmer on?

Tim

Thanks for the welcomes !!!

The tank is a 110 Gallon . The inlet is at the bottom , so it is going to force the water and air up the 2" tube , then it drops into the 4" tube , then it exits out .( I plan on adding 2 limewood airstones in the 4"pipe) I will have to draw it up to explain it further . I used a 3" - 2" reducer glued inside of the 4" PVC pipe to hold the 2" reaction chamber in place . Works like a charm . The inlet I made with a 1" paddle bit at the bottom , going through the 4" trap(the base) , 4" PVC pipe , then through the 3"-2" reducer It makes for a nice chunk of plastic to glue the inlet pipe to . I hope this helps ! I am terrible at explaining things .

[Geoff]

you might want to try my triple pass skimmer. you have all of the main components, yours is just working a little backwards from mine.

what size venturi valve? if it is the 1/2" than i would go up to a 3/4". if you can going up to a mag 9.5 would also help, but the 7 works fine.

G~

[Chupakabra-King]

Originally Posted by Geoff

you might want to try my triple pass skimmer. you have all of the main components, yours is just working a little backwards from mine.

what size venturi valve? if it is the 1/2" than i would go up to a 3/4". if you can going up to a mag 9.5 would also help, but the 7 works fine.

G~

Do you have a good pic of the inside of the skimmer so I can see the triple pass design ? I read through the instruction but I cannot picture it very well in my head to understand it fully . I am using the 1/2" venturi valve . I will have to go and take a peek at the 3/4 today at the fish store in Raleigh (if they have one) . I have to use the mag7 , as the wife is about to kill me already because of the money and time I have spent to resurrect my tank . me ---> <--- the wife

Thanks for all the help !

[Geoff]

here is a pic looking down into the skimmer from the top. here you can see the inlet coming in from the left. that elbow has another lenght of PVC going down into the 2" PVC pipe you see coming up from the bottom of the skimmer. the skimmer body is 4" PVC.



if you can get a 3/4" venturi great, if not do not sweat it, you can build it so you can upgrade later very easily. make the inlet tubing out of 3/4" pvc. all the way to where it will connect to the Venturi valve itself. end it with a 3/4" slip to MPT connector. that way you can get a threaded connectors to adapt it to the 1/2" venturi you have now and then when you get the 3/4" you can just plug and go.

G~

[Chupakabra-King]

Originally Posted by Geoff

here is a pic looking down into the skimmer from the top. here you can see the inlet coming in from the left. that elbow has another lenght of PVC going down into the 2" PVC pipe you see coming up from the bottom of the skimmer. the skimmer body is 4" PVC.

if you can get a 3/4" venturi great, if not do not sweat it, you can build it so you can upgrade later very easily. make the inlet tubing out of 3/4" pvc. all the way to where it will connect to the Venturi valve itself. end it with a 3/4" slip to MPT connector. that way you can get a threaded connectors to adapt it to the 1/2" venturi you have now and then when you get the 3/4" you can just plug and go.

G~

Ahhh ok I think I know what you are talking about now . I have to revise my design a bit but I think I can work it out . I will have to move my inlet to the top of the skimmer . Not a prob , I will have to use what I got at the moment until the wife calms down a bit !


Thanks !


Joe

[Geoff]

i think you got it. i do not know why the pic did not show up at first, but it is there now. there are a bunch of pics on my site for further reference.

G~

[Chupakabra-King]

Yep thats exactly what I thought you meant . Thanks man ! Your a great help ! I will modify this skimmer in about a month , the wife should be calmed down by then !

[Chupakabra-King]

Ok one more skimmer Q , I have a telescoping outlet tube for fine adjustments of the water level in the tube . How should I put this on the skimmer ? Where should the max water level be when using this telecoping pipe ?

[Geoff]

that is tough to figure out. i have had the best luck when the expansion coupler is extended it is 5 inches below the top of the collection tube. there are a lot of factors that can effect this, but this seems to work pretty well.

G~

[Chupakabra-King]

Do you mean the tube that is going up to the collection cup ? 5" below that ?

[Geoff]

Originally Posted by Chupakabra-King

Do you mean the tube that is going up to the collection cup ? 5" below that ?

yes. this is with the expansion coupler fully extended.

G~