In-Line fan for skimmer outside air line?

Ocelaris

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Has anyone looked at incorporating a fan to their outside skimmer intake lines? I know the back pressure isn't significant if it's a large enough pipe, but essentially the more air the better as long as your skimmer can handle it right? I see all these skimmer reviews, and the biggest thing that stood out when BRS tested was the amount of air that a skimmer could pull. Essentially a fan with some shroud to give the pump an extra "boost". My skimmer pump (a varios-6 pump) is rated at 70 SCFH (or 1.16 CFM). Has anyone attempted something like this? It really doesn't need almost any pressure, as it's already being sucked in via venturi, but a little extra "oomph" might be something cheap/easy to implement if we could find the right application.


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Gtinnel

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I had never though about it but if you were slightly forcing air into the skimmer with a fan I wonder if it would effect the bubble size and make the bubbles too big?
Interesting idea though.
 
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Ocelaris

Ocelaris

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Actually, wouldn't more pressure create smaller bubbles? Imagine high pressure air, super small bubbles. Remember the beckett nozzles of the past? Super fine bubbles with higher pressure. The logic is that the venturi slows the pump down, so injection or at least enough that you equal the regular static pressure (before adding the outside airline) would relieve that? I'm just spit balling here.
 

Gtinnel

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Actually, wouldn't more pressure create smaller bubbles? Imagine high pressure air, super small bubbles. Remember the beckett nozzles of the past? Super fine bubbles with higher pressure. The logic is that the venturi slows the pump down, so injection or at least enough that you equal the regular static pressure (before adding the outside airline) would relieve that? I'm just spit balling here.
I remember of beckett skimmers but I have no clue how they worked. I was just thinking that if a venturi works buy sucking air into the liquid stream that forcing the air would possible effect bubble size.
Again I'm also just kinda thinking out loud.

I suspect if you could get better performance by just adding a small fan some manufacturer would have done it. Although I guess it's possible they never thought of the idea.
 
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KStatefan

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I had never though about it but if you were slightly forcing air into the skimmer with a fan I wonder if it would effect the bubble size and make the bubbles too big?
Interesting idea though.

It does on my Lifereef skimmer. I use a pump to move air from outside and if I hook it up directly to the skimmer the bubbles change so I just use a tee and let the extra escape.
 
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Ocelaris

Ocelaris

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Can you share what air pump your using? The problem is that most air pumps I've seen don't have a dedicated inlet, so unless the pump body is outside, I'm not sure how to get some extra pressure behind the air flow.
 

KStatefan

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Can you share what air pump your using? The problem is that most air pumps I've seen don't have a dedicated inlet, so unless the pump body is outside, I'm not sure how to get some extra pressure behind the air flow.
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Gtinnel

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Can you share what air pump your using? The problem is that most air pumps I've seen don't have a dedicated inlet, so unless the pump body is outside, I'm not sure how to get some extra pressure behind the air flow.
You could also put the pump body into a sealed box and then attach a hose barb to force it to pull air from the hose connected to the hose barb.
 

Calm Blue Ocean

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This was something I just recently started looking into as well. My skimmer is undersized (AIO space restrictions) and doesn't really have the power to get a lot out of a CO2 scrubber or an extended air line to the outdoors. I stumbled across a few mentions of people using inline air pumps to help. Still not sure if it's the right solution but it might give you some more direction for research.

AL-6SA In-Line Vacuum Air Pump
 
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Ocelaris

Ocelaris

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Yeah, I had thought about it. The other issue I'm running into is that the moist outside air is condensing inside the tube, so I have to purge the water that pools in the tube every few days, otherwise it cuts off the air flow. So the thought with putting it in a box is that it also might pool in that box, although it might make it easier to clean.

I found one closer to the max air that my varios-6 pump is capable of (20-40 lpm). I love brs and all, and I appreciate them finding the right products, but they're over priced sometimes. The same pump is like $40 cheaper here:

 
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Ocelaris

Ocelaris

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I never pulled the trigger. One point to note is that you need the version with the suction ie AL-15SA as opposed to the pond pumps I linked to which don't have the S in them.
 

sculpin01

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I run outside airpumps to my skimmer. To avoid overloading the skimmer with excess airflow, the outside line connects to the skimmer through a 1/4” T connector. One side of the T is left open to air. This has been very effective at lowering pH without affecting skimmer function.
 

Pistondog

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I think it depends on the skimmer and length of run. I run the skimmers air intake hose 4 feet to a fitting on a 2 foot piece of 1/2" pvc thru the floor, to,the outside. I have a valve that restricts the air down. I think a pump would be too much air. If the runs were longer, it might be required.
 
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