Via Aqua Skimmer Club - Page 4

luke33 · 05/06/2007, 04:32 PM

OK, here's the skimmate for teh last two days.

Thats a 23oz glass, and there was about half a cup leftover that i dumped.

GuySmilie · 05/06/2007, 07:08 PM

OK Lukester.
You seem to be the only one on here who's attempted to mod the SK288 to any degree, at least that I know of.
So this Bud's for you.

I've had a 288 for a few months now, but have not yet run it in a real-time marine environment. Still building a working system, so I've only ran it in a tank of pure salt water (no contaminants) just to see how well it fractionated. It looked pretty good to my mind. But like you, I think that tall inner tube that constricts the input dispersion of water/air (to reduce micro bubbles escaping into the discharge tube), just looks like it's too big. Like you, I also observed that the bottom third of the skimmer is practically devoid of any fractionation. Thus, the inner tube is causing the skimmer to be less efficient than it could be, imo.

So even though I'm fairly pleased with how well it fractionates in its stock configuration, I'm not convinced that upgrading the pump will produce enough of an improvement to warrant the added expense and trouble to do so. But I do believe that a simple mesh mod of the existing pump would probably help it out significantly.

So here are the questions for you:
In your opinion, if I were cut out most of the inner tube and leave just an inch or so stub, do you think the existing stock pump will still be able to provide the same (or better) degree of fractionation? Or, would I be better served by completely removing the inner tube, then fabricate a small shield out of it and glue it in place around the discharge tube? Your thoughts would be most appreciated.

luke33 · 05/06/2007, 07:42 PM

Guy, here are my thoughts so far. I'm not sure which skimmer your talkin about the sk200 or the sk388....there is no 288. lol. So my opinions are this. The stock pump with a mesh mod works good stock, i wouldn't cut the inner tube down with this method. If you do cut the inner tube down, you will need to get a NW pump and mesh it out. This will make for more skimmate. My next venture will be to add a small piece of plastic to the bottom that is flat so it disperses the bubbles better and i'll add a small three sided box with an open top around the water leveler to compensate for the turbulence. This is going to be the best mod imo, and you'll be able to add a larger pump than what is able right now. The genx2400 is more powerful than the viaaqua 2600 740gph pump.

So to answer your question bluntly.......mesh it out and leave it stock or go all out and cut the inner tube and get a different pump.

GuySmilie · 05/06/2007, 08:01 PM

Whoops! That should have read SK-200, not SK288.
OK, so I understand you're saying that the stock pump is not capable of providing enough flow with the inner tube removed to fill the bottom third of the skimmer body. Gotcha. That's what I wanted to know before I started hacking it apart. I'll keep an eye out for a good deal on a used needle wheel pump. That's the only way I'd attempt to upgrade the pump on this skimmer. If I were to go to the expense of buying a new NW pump, I'd just go ahead and build a 6" DIY recirc.

luke33 · 05/06/2007, 08:21 PM

Yea, i'm actually just getting started on a 25-26" 8" diameter DIY skimmer. Should be fun. All the pvc is free......Family plumbing business. Nice! Yup, if you do decide to go with a pump, the octopus 2k is a good one. The genx2400 is as far as it can go flow wise. I just got a 1000gph NW pump i'm gonna mod to fit the sk388. Should be fun......oh the DIY projects just keep comin.

crázy clowntang · 05/07/2007, 06:42 PM

here some pics like i promised

As you can see luke made sure this baby was gettin here in one pieace

there it is fresh out the box

and here it is in action

not much but i said i was gonna have pics so i had to show some lol When i do the mods i will post more pics

crázy clowntang · 05/07/2007, 06:44 PM

sorry guys i didnÂ´t mean to show the same pic twice

OnlyCrimson · 05/07/2007, 07:43 PM

Alright crazy clowns officially up in this thread! My skimmer seems to be breaking in a little more everyday. Bubbles are actually rising above where i set the water height to! Won't be too long until its working well.

crázy clowntang · 05/08/2007, 05:59 PM

hey guys, you think a using a dremel might be better than using a hot blade to get the inner tube out?

crázy clowntang · 05/08/2007, 06:00 PM

one more thing, how high do you guys have your water in the sump?

OnlyCrimson · 05/08/2007, 06:16 PM

Yeah a dremel on the bottom will be a lot better. Just be ready to use something to fill in the holes that it makes.

I have the water just above the portion of the body that slopes upward.

fatrip · 05/08/2007, 06:23 PM

hey luke what are some other pumps you would recomend for the sk388 besides the genx2400???

luke33 · 05/08/2007, 06:50 PM

Crazy as long as you can get it cut nice and clean, it'll work. Keep the skimmer in 4-9" of water, it'll produce skimmate the same.

Fatrip, for now i don't think the skimmer can take more than 750gph......but i do have a 1000gph NW pump coming in on friday, and i'll post my findings. I think i'll have it down 750gph and lots and lots of air. You could try the octopus 3000, which is 750gph, it would be more powerful than the genx2400, or a sedra NW which is a good pump as well. An oceanrunner nw.....there are lots of NW pump's out there you just want to make sure its from 600-750gph, but you may want to wait until next week to decide. I got a 1000gph pump for 39bux. A odyssea, which many people say are junk, but imo they have gotten much better in teh last couple years. I've had one running as my return for about a year now and never had one prob. And they are not hot either.

fatrip · 05/08/2007, 07:09 PM

i think i will wait then...lol...could you post some pics on how you get the air in with it...thanks

GuySmilie · 05/08/2007, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by crÃ¡zy clowntang
hey guys, you think a using a dremel might be better than using a hot blade to get the inner tube out?

I got one of those newfangled snap-lock arbors that Dremel makes with a cut-off wheel attached last weekend.
It will cut it like butter.

GuySmilie · 05/08/2007, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by crÃ¡zy clowntang
hey guys, you think a using a dremel might be better than using a hot blade to get the inner tube out?

Hey Clowntang, what are you planning for yours?
I'd be curious to know how yours plays if you're just cutting out the tube and running on a stock pump.

luke33 · 05/09/2007, 08:08 PM

We have consistency! A great thing. This guy is broke in i think, but with a weak genx2400! lol, i pulled over 4 cups in the last 48hrs. Here's some pics. And i added my fish back tonight so there's a bioload now.

fatrip · 05/09/2007, 10:14 PM

luke did you get the odyssea yet....i can wait any longer...the suspence is killing me....oh and can you post some picks of how you went about mounting any or all of the "aftermarket" pumps you put on...thanks

luke33 · 05/10/2007, 05:55 AM

It's supose to be in tomorrow and i'll post some pics of what i do to it. I'll be at lowe's for a bit this weekend messing with fittings i'm sure. I'm sure the venturi that comes stock is a POS, lol. And i'm also guessing i'll have to cut off some of the footprint on this skimmer to fit the pump as well. I'll try and post all of them. I'm guessing i'll get a 1" fitting then attach it to a 1/2" pvc piece, then back to a 1" piece, should work as a good venturi, but we'll see.

The genx2400 fits stock on the 388, but i had to cut off some of the footprint on the sk200 to fit it on there.

bkdaaa · 05/10/2007, 11:01 AM

I cut the tube entirely off of my SK200 and am running the stock pump. It seemed to work well, lots of bubbles. But as my sump is really deep, I was overskimming and could not adjust anything. I plan on building a stand to raise it up. By playing around with it last night I am thinking I need to raise it up to where the container becomes cylindrical. Is this about how deep everyone is setting them? I also got an octopus nw pump that I have not fitted yet, and some enkamat coming. Has anyone fitted the octopus yet?

Thanks,
Doug

skimmy · 05/10/2007, 11:34 AM

so, have you guys seen the pics of the new via aqua skimmers with needle wheel pumps???
i saw the add on the last page of CORAL magazine (vol 4, #2 april/may 2007) it looked freakin strange...i couldnt tell by the pic, but i heard a rumor that they might have a seio pump on it.
interesting....

also you see a pic of via aqua's new calcium reactor...cheap? mabye,,but interesting..

luke33 · 05/10/2007, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bkdaaa
I cut the tube entirely off of my SK200 and am running the stock pump. It seemed to work well, lots of bubbles. But as my sump is really deep, I was overskimming and could not adjust anything. I plan on building a stand to raise it up. By playing around with it last night I am thinking I need to raise it up to where the container becomes cylindrical. Is this about how deep everyone is setting them? I also got an octopus nw pump that I have not fitted yet, and some enkamat coming. Has anyone fitted the octopus yet?

Thanks,
Doug

Doug, you want to run it about 4-9" of water, but i have the best results when the water is about 1-3" above the pump stock.

luke33 · 05/10/2007, 12:13 PM

Koraltec, can you post a link, i'd like to see that skimmer pic. I've seen there calcium reactor, looks good to me. I like there prices and products to an extend, they are somewhat cutting corners with acrylic, but it works well.

crázy clowntang · 05/10/2007, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GuySmilie
Hey Clowntang, what are you planning for yours?
I'd be curious to know how yours plays if you're just cutting out the tube and running on a stock pump.

Well iam gonna cut the tube out let it run with the stock pump. If it does good I will leave it but i might just put another pump on it to see if I can get more out of it.

GuySmilie · 05/10/2007, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bkdaaa
I cut the tube entirely off of my SK200 and am running the stock pump. It seemed to work well, lots of bubbles.
Doug

You didn't happen to take before/after pix of the water column by chance?
For comparison purposes?

05/06/2007, 07:08 PM	#77
GuySmilie Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Land of Lincoln Posts: 943	OK Lukester. You seem to be the only one on here who's attempted to mod the SK288 to any degree, at least that I know of. So this Bud's for you. I've had a 288 for a few months now, but have not yet run it in a real-time marine environment. Still building a working system, so I've only ran it in a tank of pure salt water (no contaminants) just to see how well it fractionated. It looked pretty good to my mind. But like you, I think that tall inner tube that constricts the input dispersion of water/air (to reduce micro bubbles escaping into the discharge tube), just looks like it's too big. Like you, I also observed that the bottom third of the skimmer is practically devoid of any fractionation. Thus, the inner tube is causing the skimmer to be less efficient than it could be, imo. So even though I'm fairly pleased with how well it fractionates in its stock configuration, I'm not convinced that upgrading the pump will produce enough of an improvement to warrant the added expense and trouble to do so. But I do believe that a simple mesh mod of the existing pump would probably help it out significantly. So here are the questions for you: In your opinion, if I were cut out most of the inner tube and leave just an inch or so stub, do you think the existing stock pump will still be able to provide the same (or better) degree of fractionation? Or, would I be better served by completely removing the inner tube, then fabricate a small shield out of it and glue it in place around the discharge tube? Your thoughts would be most appreciated. __________________ Guy Smilie

05/06/2007, 08:01 PM	#79
GuySmilie Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Land of Lincoln Posts: 943	Whoops! That should have read SK-200, not SK288. OK, so I understand you're saying that the stock pump is not capable of providing enough flow with the inner tube removed to fill the bottom third of the skimmer body. Gotcha. That's what I wanted to know before I started hacking it apart. I'll keep an eye out for a good deal on a used needle wheel pump. That's the only way I'd attempt to upgrade the pump on this skimmer. If I were to go to the expense of buying a new NW pump, I'd just go ahead and build a 6" DIY recirc. __________________ Guy Smilie

05/07/2007, 06:42 PM	#81
crázy clowntang Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: woodbridge, Virginia Posts: 179	here some pics like i promisedAs you can see luke made sure this baby was gettin here in one pieace there it is fresh out the box and here it is in action not much but i said i was gonna have pics so i had to show some lol When i do the mods i will post more pics __________________ JTCCB(jebo tuners club for cheap bastards)

05/07/2007, 06:44 PM	#82
crázy clowntang Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: woodbridge, Virginia Posts: 179	sorry guys i didnÂ´t mean to show the same pic twice __________________ JTCCB(jebo tuners club for cheap bastards)

05/08/2007, 05:59 PM	#84
crázy clowntang Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: woodbridge, Virginia Posts: 179	hey guys, you think a using a dremel might be better than using a hot blade to get the inner tube out? __________________ JTCCB(jebo tuners club for cheap bastards)

05/06/2007, 04:32 PM	#76
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	OK, here's the skimmate for teh last two days. Thats a 23oz glass, and there was about half a cup leftover that i dumped.

05/06/2007, 07:42 PM	#78
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Guy, here are my thoughts so far. I'm not sure which skimmer your talkin about the sk200 or the sk388....there is no 288. lol. So my opinions are this. The stock pump with a mesh mod works good stock, i wouldn't cut the inner tube down with this method. If you do cut the inner tube down, you will need to get a NW pump and mesh it out. This will make for more skimmate. My next venture will be to add a small piece of plastic to the bottom that is flat so it disperses the bubbles better and i'll add a small three sided box with an open top around the water leveler to compensate for the turbulence. This is going to be the best mod imo, and you'll be able to add a larger pump than what is able right now. The genx2400 is more powerful than the viaaqua 2600 740gph pump. So to answer your question bluntly.......mesh it out and leave it stock or go all out and cut the inner tube and get a different pump.

05/06/2007, 08:21 PM	#80
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Yea, i'm actually just getting started on a 25-26" 8" diameter DIY skimmer. Should be fun. All the pvc is free......Family plumbing business. Nice! Yup, if you do decide to go with a pump, the octopus 2k is a good one. The genx2400 is as far as it can go flow wise. I just got a 1000gph NW pump i'm gonna mod to fit the sk388. Should be fun......oh the DIY projects just keep comin.

05/07/2007, 07:43 PM	#83
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	Alright crazy clowns officially up in this thread! My skimmer seems to be breaking in a little more everyday. Bubbles are actually rising above where i set the water height to! Won't be too long until its working well.

05/08/2007, 06:00 PM	#85
crázy clowntang Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: woodbridge, Virginia Posts: 179	one more thing, how high do you guys have your water in the sump? __________________ JTCCB(jebo tuners club for cheap bastards)

05/08/2007, 06:16 PM	#86
OnlyCrimson Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Royal Oak,Michigan Posts: 863	Yeah a dremel on the bottom will be a lot better. Just be ready to use something to fill in the holes that it makes. I have the water just above the portion of the body that slopes upward.

05/08/2007, 06:23 PM	#87
fatrip Yup That Stuff Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , ny Posts: 4,317	hey luke what are some other pumps you would recomend for the sk388 besides the genx2400??? __________________ Vince "We learn from history that we never learn anything from history." Hegel

05/08/2007, 06:50 PM	#88
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Crazy as long as you can get it cut nice and clean, it'll work. Keep the skimmer in 4-9" of water, it'll produce skimmate the same. Fatrip, for now i don't think the skimmer can take more than 750gph......but i do have a 1000gph NW pump coming in on friday, and i'll post my findings. I think i'll have it down 750gph and lots and lots of air. You could try the octopus 3000, which is 750gph, it would be more powerful than the genx2400, or a sedra NW which is a good pump as well. An oceanrunner nw.....there are lots of NW pump's out there you just want to make sure its from 600-750gph, but you may want to wait until next week to decide. I got a 1000gph pump for 39bux. A odyssea, which many people say are junk, but imo they have gotten much better in teh last couple years. I've had one running as my return for about a year now and never had one prob. And they are not hot either.

05/08/2007, 07:09 PM	#89
fatrip Yup That Stuff Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , ny Posts: 4,317	i think i will wait then...lol...could you post some pics on how you get the air in with it...thanks __________________ Vince "We learn from history that we never learn anything from history." Hegel

05/09/2007, 08:08 PM	#92
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	We have consistency! A great thing. This guy is broke in i think, but with a weak genx2400! lol, i pulled over 4 cups in the last 48hrs. Here's some pics. And i added my fish back tonight so there's a bioload now.

05/09/2007, 10:14 PM	#93
fatrip Yup That Stuff Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , ny Posts: 4,317	luke did you get the odyssea yet....i can wait any longer...the suspence is killing me....oh and can you post some picks of how you went about mounting any or all of the "aftermarket" pumps you put on...thanks __________________ Vince "We learn from history that we never learn anything from history." Hegel

05/10/2007, 05:55 AM	#94
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	It's supose to be in tomorrow and i'll post some pics of what i do to it. I'll be at lowe's for a bit this weekend messing with fittings i'm sure. I'm sure the venturi that comes stock is a POS, lol. And i'm also guessing i'll have to cut off some of the footprint on this skimmer to fit the pump as well. I'll try and post all of them. I'm guessing i'll get a 1" fitting then attach it to a 1/2" pvc piece, then back to a 1" piece, should work as a good venturi, but we'll see. The genx2400 fits stock on the 388, but i had to cut off some of the footprint on the sk200 to fit it on there.

05/10/2007, 11:01 AM	#95
bkdaaa Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Ridgecrest, CA Posts: 19	I cut the tube entirely off of my SK200 and am running the stock pump. It seemed to work well, lots of bubbles. But as my sump is really deep, I was overskimming and could not adjust anything. I plan on building a stand to raise it up. By playing around with it last night I am thinking I need to raise it up to where the container becomes cylindrical. Is this about how deep everyone is setting them? I also got an octopus nw pump that I have not fitted yet, and some enkamat coming. Has anyone fitted the octopus yet? Thanks, Doug

05/10/2007, 11:34 AM	#96
skimmy T3am Zissou Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Galactic Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha Posts: 1,123	so, have you guys seen the pics of the new via aqua skimmers with needle wheel pumps??? i saw the add on the last page of CORAL magazine (vol 4, #2 april/may 2007) it looked freakin strange...i couldnt tell by the pic, but i heard a rumor that they might have a seio pump on it. interesting.... also you see a pic of via aqua's new calcium reactor...cheap? mabye,,but interesting..

05/10/2007, 12:13 PM	#98
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Koraltec, can you post a link, i'd like to see that skimmer pic. I've seen there calcium reactor, looks good to me. I like there prices and products to an extend, they are somewhat cutting corners with acrylic, but it works well.