Venting a skimmer outside. Has anyone done it?

[Wiskey]

Hello all!

I have a Reef Octpus 200 INT skimmer on my 300 gallon tank, with the DC pump. I currently have it pulling air in from outside to assist with PH and that works great, but I find that it can make my small dedicated sump room pretty smelly if it's been a while since it's been emptied. I'd like to try also venting it outside.

I figure I will use 1" PVC to make the run over to the window to avoid restriction, but what do you think about connecting it to the skimmer cup? I have a 3d printer if that helps. Has anyone done this? How did you do it?

Thank you,
Whiskey

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

Why not just get an bathroom exhaust fan in there?
I run one 24/7 and then the makeup air hose I have just sitting over the skimmer air intake.

Another option would be dosing kalk for ato. Or even dosing Sodium Hydroxide for your Alk, it has a great ph boost.

 

[snackpack]

You could also try adding a carbon air filter pad around your outlet, may pull the smell down some

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Drill the Cap to your Skimmer, outside of the Throat area and insert your outside Airlines in the Cap. Drill and 1/4” Pipe Tap the Cup, use a Thick Dawn Dish Soap Solution as the Lubricant. When you Drill the Cup, align the center of the hole with the top of the Throat. Tip if it’s a new Pipe Tap, aggressively Wire Brush and or Run it through a piece of steel to break it in. Outside Air Goes into the Cup, Skimmer Draws the Outside Air from the

Cup.

 

[Wiskey]

Why not just get an bathroom exhaust fan in there?
I run one 24/7 and then the makeup air hose I have just sitting over the skimmer air intake.

Another option would be dosing kalk for ato. Or even dosing Sodium Hydroxide for your Alk, it has a great ph boost.

I'm already pulling air in from outside into the air inlet, and that's helped a bunch with PH, especially in the summer. And I'm running Kalk, so my PH peaks out at about 8.4 every day, even with the windows closed up. I've thought about the exhaust fan, I do keep my window in that room open a crack when it's reasonable out, but I feel like if I could direct the exhaust air back out of the room it would help even more and not affect the cooling bills as much.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

You could also try adding a carbon air filter pad around your outlet, may pull the smell down some

I've seen people doing this, especially on the large skimate collection jugs. Have you tried it? Does it help?

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Drill the Cap to your Skimmer, outside of the Throat area and insert your outside Airlines in the Cap. Drill and 1/4” Pipe Tap the Cup, use a Thick Dawn Dish Soap Solution as the Lubricant. When you Drill the Cup, align the center of the hole with the top of the Throat. Tip if it’s a new Pipe Tap, aggressively Wire Brush and or Run it through a piece of steel to break it in. Outside Air Goes into the Cup, Skimmer Draws the Outside Air from the

Cup.

This is along the lines of what I was thinking, but given that I just paid like $800 for this skimmer, I'm not really wanting to permanently change the cup. Also, I like your design better for the lid, because you have a longer acrylic piece that directs the skimate down. Mine is very short, and I feel like skimate would get in the barbed fitting. I regularly have skimate escape though the holes on the top of the lid.

I actually figured out that Reef Octopus sells a replacement lid for a reasonable price that adds this attachment, but it's out of stock everywhere

Whiskey

 

[The_Paradox]

Just throwing this out there as it’s an N of 1 but outside co2 was actually higher than what it is under my cabinet. If others have access to HVAC equipment it might be worth testing.

 

[Troylee]

I think everyone is missing the point here lol… he’s wanting to vent the smell outside from the skim mate.. ph is fine and he already draws air from outside into the skimmer.. now he wants to exhaust the skimate smell.. I’m sure it would be fine if you ran a drain from the cup wide open to a outside collection..

 

[jda]

A bit of kalk in the cup will raise the pH to where stuff cannot really live and keep the skim mate from smelling. It works great.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Another thing is a carbon cover lid thingy to prevent smells. I believe @Projects with Sam makes something like this.

Or as @jda said, throw a little kalk powder in the cup after each time you empty it and it will prevent smells. I personally have done this for years and no issues or smells.

Edit: Found the link to the skimmer top thingy.

ParlaCarbon - 150mm Skimmer Carbon Cap

3D printed skimmer cap to hold bags of carbon to reduce odors from operation. This Skimmer cap was designed for UltraReef UKB-120 skimmers.

parlaquatics.com

 

[slythy]

I use a @ReefEco stinksink. It works perfect. I have my 75g aquarium in my office which isnt very large and it cut the smell to zero. Even under the stand i dont smell it.

 

[nuxx]

Thought about this back in the day, but just ended up putting a filter on it.

 

[Projects with Sam]

There are some pictures of the recirculating CO2 cap here:

Skimmer CO2 Scrubber Cap

3D printed skimmer cap to hold bags of soda lime to reduce CO2 in the skimmer air intake. The top cap has two 6.5mm O.D. tubes protruding from the rim. These tubes should be attached to the skimmer air input. If your skimmer is not listed, contact me and I can add it. This is still in...

parlaquatics.com

The link Steve gave you is a freebie I have on Thingiverse but I'll also resize & print it if the stink sinks are too bulky.

CAD Lights PLS-150 Carbon Holder Lid by ProjectsWithSam

CAD Lights PLS-150 Carbon Holder Lid. This prints in 3 main parts. it rests on top of the skimmer and allows you to hold a bag of carbon securely so the skimmer off-gasses dont stink-up your cabinet. Checkout my Youtube channel and please subscribe if you use my prints...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[Poseidon03]

Does your skimmer cup have a drain of some sort? You could always have it drain into a container with a lid. It would help contain the smell more.

 

[exnisstech]

A bit of kalk in the cup will raise the pH to where stuff cannot really live and keep the skim mate from smelling. It works great.

I'd like try this in my dining room tank. Do you just sprinkle some powder in or mix it with water and pour some in?

 

[jda]

I just dropped a teaspoon, or so, into the cup after I washed it out.

 

[Projects with Sam]

but if your skimmer overflows you'll get an alk and ph spike.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Hello all!

I have a Reef Octpus 200 INT skimmer on my 300 gallon tank, with the DC pump. I currently have it pulling air in from outside to assist with PH and that works great, but I find that it can make my small dedicated sump room pretty smelly if it's been a while since it's been emptied. I'd like to try also venting it outside.

I figure I will use 1" PVC to make the run over to the window to avoid restriction, but what do you think about connecting it to the skimmer cup? I have a 3d printer if that helps. Has anyone done this? How did you do it?

Thank you,
Whiskey

Yea, I put my intake outside once. Instant PH correction. Then a month later my neighbor got a little willy nilly with some round up.

Fried everything. Don't do it unless you run that air through a carbon filter canister.

 

[Troylee]

Yea, I put my intake outside once. Instant PH correction. Then a month later my neighbor got a little willy nilly with some round up.

Fried everything. Don't do it unless you run that air through a carbon filter canister.

He’s not wanting to draw air in.. he’s wanting to vent the smell outside..