A mesh-mod saved my day!

[jledon4]

The other day I woke up to a ugly site!!! The skimmer was making a strange noise and no water was flowing through it! Took the pump apart and to my surprise, the impeller was busted!!!

Maybe things happen for a reason, for the last month I had been doing some research on this upgrade that people do to their skimmers. At first, it looked like something I never thought it could work and after giving it some thought how does all those pins push water? It gives me the impression that a mesh could push a little more... So here it is, this is my mesh mod on my Reef Octopus 150...

As you can see on the first picture, the pin wheel blew up in pieces so that part was useless for my mod. Because of this, i had to create an acrylic disk were the mesh was going to be leveled and tied down to. (Also drilled the four hose the previous impeller had because the pump needs it to run properly and also to tie down the mesh) In order for the disk to work, it had to be glued to the impeller shaft. This was done by using some Weld-On and Krazy Glue including a spacer to level the disk. After having the impeller ready, y tied down three layers of enkmat with 50lbs test fishing line and trimmed the edges so that none of the mesh is showing past the acrylic. Here's the result:

This mod is great!!! I would recomend this to anyone as a fix or as a performance booster!!! never thought the skimmer would pull out how its doing right now!!! I really don't know why I didn't do it earlier!

Here are some performance pics:

Hope it helps!!!

 

[greg0385]

i got a sicce 2500 pump that has that exact pin wheel, i also have the mesh wheel. will considering swaping mine out too to see what it does, that is if i can find it.

 

[swannyson7]

i got a sicce 2500 pump that has that exact pin wheel, i also have the mesh wheel. will considering swaping mine out too to see what it does, that is if i can find it.

For the Sicce, I would try the Red Devil pinwheel or the one from Reef Filtration. Same performance without the maintenance of a mesh mod.

 

[jledon4]

dont know about the maintenace yet, its been a month and it looks like new. what type of maintenance does the mod need?

 

[swannyson7]

The mesh will get clogged up and need to be replaced every few months IME. If you're using filter socks to catch most of the detritus before it hits the sump it will last longer, but it'll still get calcium deposits and whatnot and need to be replaced

 

[greg0385]

yea i heard of the red devil wheel, might check into getting one in the near future. does it only help with start-up or does it help in pulling more skimmate

 

[jledon4]

also saw on the Reef Octopus site a new impeller they are bringing out.

 

[swannyson7]

To resolve the start up issues, I believe you need to get a custom volute

 

[jledon4]

all i can say is that as a quick and efficient fix it works great!

 

[jledon4]

To resolve the start up issues, I believe you need to get a custom volute

ill just run this skimmer for the next few months, get a bigger one on a tank upgrade. thanks for the info!

 

[jledon4]

a new impeller sounds like too much $ for a few months.

 

[swannyson7]

The mesh mod is also less prone to start up issues than pinwheels

 

[btkrausen]

also saw on the Reef Octopus site a new impeller they are bringing out.

Where did you see this on their site?

 

[greg0385]

will google volute to see what that is and how to do one. thanks for the information. good luck to everyone with there tanks
greg

 

[mfinn]

The mesh mod is also less prone to start up issues than pinwheels

Don't you mean, the other way around? The mesh mod is more prone to start up issues.

 

[Troylee]

Mesh mods are awesome but they need to be swapped out every 3 or 4 months.... Atb has a awesome impeller with a screw on nut that holds the mesh no zipties or fishing string....1smile1 like was mentioned mesh will cause start up issues a dywer gauge for measuring schf is a great tool when playing with mesh you can dial it in....

 

[swannyson7]

Don't you mean, the other way around? The mesh mod is more prone to start up issues.

I had always read that the mesh was less of a problem as long as it was trimmed correctly, mainly because it doesn't really matter what direction the pinwheel is spinning?

 

[jledon4]

Where did you see this on their site?

you made me look into it and i might be wrong!!! when you search for reef octopus on google, the first site that comes up is a australian one. when i went back and looked at my skimmer, i remembered it was from china not au. is there a difference between them? in the au site, they talk about a new impeller called "super stream".

 

[mfinn]

I have been dealing with mesh mods and the startup issues for about 4 years. It is the mesh mods that have startup. issues.

 

[jledon4]

never had an issue with mine, works like a charm. how is it that you do the mod? cut the pins and then on that surface tie the mesh or you do a new disk like i did?

I have been dealing with mesh mods and the startup issues for about 4 years. It is the mesh mods that have startup. issues.