Skimmer for 300g+

[Bruttall]

So I been doing this thing with skimmers and figured I better just do a build thread on these things. This all started with a friend giving me an old MTC Power-Pro III. Model#PP3MDQ. I had to refurbish it some to make it work and WOW does it work, but I just do not think it is big enough for my system, it would be amazing on a 180 to 240g system, with a single Mazzei 684 injector. Could even run the feed with a Jebao DCT-4000 and the recirc venturi with a DCT-6000 and chances are good you'd never run either pump above 50%.


Later I found several MTC reactors used at my LFS, they were so cheap I bought all 5 never knowing what I was gonna use them for, but I tried various experiments and stuff. Pretty simple unit.



I'd been thinking for a while now my skimmer needed more reaction time, 12 inch tall reaction chamber on a 340g tank is not enough, I can overdrive the recirc and keep the tank manageable but I think I can do better, so I got slow at work and Idle Hands syndrome set in, decided I was going to pull the trigger n building a Skimmer, or trying to re-build, refurbish misc parts into something useful that works. I had an old Eshopps s300 skimmer, bad pump so I scavenged the Bubble-Plate out of that piece of junk and it fits perfectly into the 6inch reactor with about 3/8ths inch all the way around and will give the Fractionated water a Clockwise rotation entering the chamber. Started mocking up the recirc pump.





I am sorry for the base, All I have laying around that would work was wood, and I know the humidity and damp will eat the wood, but for now it works. Completed it will be right at 5 feet tall total with a 40inch reaction chamber. You can see the Dual Venturi pipes at the base, I will run a pair of Mazzei 684 Kynar (Ozone safe) 3/4" threaded venturi on a 1inch feed line powered by a Jebao DCT-8000 pump. You can see that Pump and the mazzei's in the background on the working skimmer.



Feed for this is via a Jebao DCT-6000 return pump and fed thru a 5/8th line, 3/4" gate valve drain, only need to achieve between 300 and 400gph flow, 3/4" should handle that just fine, gate valve is to set water height in reaction chamber.

So now I am waiting on some 1/2 bulkheads to plumb the Water Inlets, they will be on either side of the Top Chamber approx 4-5 inches down from the top, and angled with 90's on the inside to provide water flow in a counter-clockwise rotation opposite of the rotation the bubbleplate provides. Cross Current flow should proved tons of contact time with the water.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Following along!

 

[Bruttall]

This is copied from lifereef.com, the skimmer section. It is what got me really started thinking about this piece of hardware. Lifereef makes very nice products I think, never owned one, but the simplicity of their design is very appealing, however I wanted a Recirculating Skimmer, I feel it gives me a lot more control over the amount I skim being able to control not only the flow thru the skimmer, but the Air-Draw thru the Venturi via Pump speed on Recirc as well. I discovered this thru experience using these venturi's on the skimmer I am currently using, The higher volume I pump thru the venturi the more Air Fractionation and Air Draw I get, equates to denser foam in reaction chamber.

MORE EFFICIENT than needle-wheels due to much more contact time, varying bubble size, and an engineered riser neck with specific neck-to-body diameter ratio and specific neck height.

LESS MAINTENANCE than needle-wheels, no need to take apart a Lifereef protein skimmer for maintenance, it can set in your sump for years without interior main body cleaning. Only the cup and neck need cleaned and maybe every few years you can remove to clean out little tubeworms, seasquirts, and small sponges, none of which interfere with the performance of a venturi protein skimmer.

LESS PARTS, look at all the internal parts of a needle-wheel skimmer. Some even have the pumps inside. Then look at all the bubble-plate gimmicks, all for calming the water flow which reduces efficiency. What's inside a Lifereef Venturi Protein skimmer? Nothing but a baffle tube and an enhanced bubble/water action. This DOES NOT decrease the skimmers performance as the needle-wheel folk tell you it does.

PLANKTON AND LARVAE FRIENDLY! Needle-Wheel skimmers destroy/shred anything entering the pump! But standard water pumps just pass these critters through fully intact and alive!

NECK CLEANERS are a GIMMICK! They tell you that your skimmer works better after a neck cleaning. So, here is what really happens..... Neck cleaner comes on and swipes all that crud off the neck and where does it go? It falls into the skimmer where your now concentrated proteins cause an immediate foaming action which then deposits more gunk on the neck and very little into the cup. Doesn't it make more sense to take the cup off, take it to the sink, and rinse that crap down the drain? And guess what, you soon become a neck cleaner cleaner, adding more maintenance to your schedule.

I have noticed that I do not need to clean this skimmer I am using very much at all, usually just shut the recirc pump off for a second or two, allows water to back feed thru the venturi into the Air Draw and that start it back up, this rinses the venturi's and I dis-assemble the Air Intake on them every month and make sure the ball and rubber valve are clean and salt free. Every couple of months I clean the cup and neck out really well, mostly because I like to see the foam in there.

The other major driver on this was the cost of new skimmers and what I can buy the parts for, or fabricate. The Mazzei injectors are about $75 new i think, one 684 would be enough for up to a 250g heavy bio load system I believe with a 12 inch tall, 6inch diameter reaction chamber. Basing this of what I have observed with this MTC, and compared to research I have done online. For a 300 to 500 gal I am seeing a lot of 36" tall, and 500g + 48" tall and taller. Of course as water volume increase so does diameter of the reaction chamber. but not as much as you would think, 8" diameter on 48" tall seems to be in the 750g range. Also as you get bigger you'd need to step up the injector, 784 is still a 3/4" thread would work good for the 400g to 750g range, I think anything over 750g should use a pair of 1" Mazzei 878 model I think and an 8" diameter 48" tall reaction chamber.

As you can see I have spent to much time mulling this over in my head :)

 

[Bruttall]

Thank you @aquadise for the Reef Life VS2_VS3 pdf manual. Lifereef.com I guess I should source them since I am using a lot of their information. FYI I think their product looks amazing, it appears to be about the simplest skimmer on the market, Mine will be a little more complicated.

Gonna borrow some into from that Manual and repost it here.
How the Venturi works.

 

[Bruttall]

So got far enough along to test flow the new build, the 3/4" drain is not enough, I will have to install a 1" bulkhead and I do not have one on hand, will have to wait a few days to get one.

Also the Bubble Plate has to go, it killed the fractionation, I was really surprised by how much it reduced the Bubbles in the water column, so just a 45 degree 1" fitting to direct the flow the direction I want it to go and should be good. We'll see in a few days.

 

[aquadise]

Thank you @aquadise for the Reef Life VS2_VS3 pdf manual. Lifereef.com I guess I should source them since I am using a lot of their information. FYI I think their product looks amazing, it appears to be about the simplest skimmer on the market, Mine will be a little more complicated.

Gonna borrow some into from that Manual and repost it here.
How the Venturi works.

Yeah but you do not need to source the same. As Jeffs clearly stated in the manual that Mazzei venturi is more effective. Mazzei venturi is easier to buy. The only downside is the appearance, Mazzei venturi looks urglier.

 

[Bruttall]

So I got briefly interrupted in my build by a lack of available funds to buy PVC with, work slowed down, it got real cold in the Omaha Nebraska area and we've not been doing much. Gotten less than 20hrs a week at work for the last 3 weeks. Monday we start hauling dirt again though so in a week or so expect more updates.

 

[Bruttall]

Repurposed an Eshopps skimmer collection cup. Ordering the Pump for this thing this week, got the Venturi last week. Sorry it has taken me so long to do anything with this. Life interrupted me briefly. I'll pick up the PVC once the pump gets here and I do a little visual layout. Kind of got some specs in mind, Venturi will run roughly 1200GPH I can adjust this up or down with the pump I'll buy, but this is my starting point, it should provide ample fractionation. There is roughly 36 inches of Reaction Chamber were air and water will collide and I will pump water thru the skimmer at roughly 600gph, again this is adjustable in a wide range above and below this number.



The Mazzei Kynar 3/4 inch injector I am using. It is compatible with Ozone if I want to inject that via the skimmer.

 

[Bruttall]

So a little update, I screwed the pooch so to speak. I did not pay attention to the model number of the injector I ordered. I am running a pair of 684 3/4inch injectors on my current skimmer. I want to just use 1 injector but I didn't research enough and order a 3/4 inch injector that allows Less air to flow thru it instead of More Air like I intended. I tried to take a cheap way out, ordered the $45 item and not the $189 correct item I need.

Mazzei Injectors have a sequence of numbers to identify them, 3/4" are 484, 684, etc the large the number the more air, I misread that when I ordered. I should have ordered a larger than 684 injector, and that requires jumping from a 3/4" to a 1" thread. I'm good with that, Skimmer is plumbed with 1" pvc already, so simple rebuild of the recirculation circuit and I'm good to go, after I get this injector ordered. That might take a week.

These injectors are a bit more expensive because they are made out of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF), aka Kynar, ozone resistant if I want to inject ozone directly into my skimmer and I have done that before with exceptionally clear water as a result.

 

[Bruttall]

Break In phase.
Mazzei 1inch 1078 Kynar Injector
Jebao DCT-12000 pump powers the Recirculating Injector circuit, skimmer is fed with a Jebao dct-6000.

 

[Bruttall]

well, it seems to be doing exactly what it is supposed to be doing!

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

Looks like it is up to the task! Nice job!

 

[That Crusso Kid]

well, it seems to be doing exactly what it is supposed to be doing!

Well done!

I built, basically, this exact same thing in 1995 for a 550 gallon predator tank that I also built. I used 6” PVC for the body with 2” PVC for the recirculating. I got the clear neck and collection cup from an acrylic fabricator. It was 7 feet tall and definitely did the trick. I drove it with a Gorman-Rupp pump.

 

[Bruttall]

I was surprised at how easy and cheap this was to build. I have less than $400 total into this skimmer, even with wasting $50 on an unusable venturi.

To buy something that would skim my tank would put me in the $1500 plus range, maybe over $2k.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I was surprised at how easy and cheap this was to build. I have less than $400 total into this skimmer, even with wasting $50 on an unusable venturi.

To buy something that would skim my tank would put me in the $1500 plus range, maybe over $2k.

Awesome!!

 

[Bruttall]

Exceeding expectations. Not much of a break in period, it started producing nasty skim-mate almost immediately.



I am absolutely convinced, no more tests needed. On large (300g plus) heavy bio load systems Venturi skimmer is the best way to go, not only for nutrient stripping, but for Oxygenation as well.

Bubble Wheel skimmers send water and air bubbles flowing together in the same direction, my x-flow design sends bubbles up thru the water from the bottom, while water comes into the top and flows out the bottom, for a true cross flow reaction chamber giving air maximum contact with the water column.

I did not reinvent anything here, I just got away from what I experienced to be gimmicks that didn't skim well enough to live up to the hype on their advertising.

 

[Bruttall]

All broke in, my skimmer preforms above and beyond my expectations, I run the feed pump wide open, Jebao DCT-6000 approx. 1500gph, the recirculate pump DCT-12000 I run at 60%. Foam is 1/3rd way down from the top of the collection cone in the cup.