Icecap k1-200 skimmer mods

[PPBlimpy]

Thinking about modding this skimmer.

Looking to do 3 things.
First will be turning it into a recirculating skimmer.

I am thinking I will ad another hole and unseal and pipe in pump input back into the body. This will be located above the exit flange on the bottom of the skimmer.

Second is 180* from the hole I just placed for the recirc intake I will ad another hole, maybe 1.25” and run it direct from my return plumbing. I want to utilize this to collect as much of the crap in the water column. Prior to the input I will have a T and a gate valve to adjust input flow and bypass excess flow into my current filter socks.

Third is drilling out the Venturi to as large as possible without sacrificing wall strength

I will also have to lift the skimmer higher in the sump as the head pressure should be higher since it will be gravity fed by returns and not the pump.

Any thought? The skimmer works pretty good as is. Just want to direct feed it to help bring out the most possible.

System is 265g. Going for more sps / LPs dominant after a recent crash

 

[Peace River]

None of this sounds unreasonable. I have modded a lot of aquarium equipment over the years and I have learned to ask myself - What if this doesn't work? Can I put it back? Will I have to discard it? Is it worth the risk? Then I usually jump in and do it anyway!

 

[PPBlimpy]

I have a backup skimmer if something happens.

Prior to this idea I was thinking of making a skimmer from scratch. Old school diy pvc outside the stand 3ft tall etc.