Venturi for DIY Skimmer

GeoSquid

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
537
Reaction score
543
Location
SoCal
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I made a DIY Air stone skimmer over a year ago and it worked pretty well. The problem I have is that I've gone through 2 air pumps already and I hate using the wood air stones. I have an extra pump laying around and would like to convert to use on the skimmer. Does anyone know of a good venturi valve that I can connect that would work? I see some on the internet but they seem to have a metal spring that probably wouldn't be a good idea and I have no idea if they would work. Any suggestions or DIY's?

1600446068314.png
 

fishguy242

Cronies..... INSERT BUILD THREAD BADGE HERE !!
View Badges
Joined
Jan 21, 2020
Messages
42,772
Reaction score
246,079
Location
Illinois
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
hi, have used in past ,exact valve ,was many years ago but spring was true stainless steel,ran for about 4 years ,never rusted :)
 

14 foot reef

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
2,166
Reaction score
3,445
Location
Apex NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The Gold Standard in the Hobby, this is the brand all big name skimmers use. They have an option of ozone safe if you're ever going to inject Ozone, but those are about 50% higher in cost. Not needed if you never plan on ozone injection.
 
OP
OP
GeoSquid

GeoSquid

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
537
Reaction score
543
Location
SoCal
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The Gold Standard in the Hobby, this is the brand all big name skimmers use. They have an option of ozone safe if you're ever going to inject Ozone, but those are about 50% higher in cost. Not needed if you never plan on ozone injection.

Thank you! I was reading about these earlier - they are a bit pricey but probable worth it.
 

ilawis

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 12, 2020
Messages
121
Reaction score
216
Location
Perth
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just made my own by reducing plumbing fittings then opening them out again and put a washer inside the pipe to reduce it further and drilled a hole in the side of the fitting to suck the air in.
20mm threaded elbow M/F , 20-15mm threaded reducer M/M , washer , 15-20mm reducer F/M , barbed hose connector (25mm tail)
I dropped the hope through the 15-20mm threaded reducer F/M
 

Attachments

  • 16158492820819035820631811983941.jpg
    16158492820819035820631811983941.jpg
    144 KB · Views: 110
OP
OP
GeoSquid

GeoSquid

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
537
Reaction score
543
Location
SoCal
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just made my own by reducing plumbing fittings then opening them out again and put a washer inside the pipe to reduce it further and drilled a hole in the side of the fitting to suck the air in.
20mm threaded elbow M/F , 20-15mm threaded reducer M/M , washer , 15-20mm reducer F/M , barbed hose connector (25mm tail)
I dropped the hope through the 15-20mm threaded reducer F/M
That looks awesome! I bought a $9 1/2" one off
amazon. It's been working pretty good for about 6 mos so far. It's nice not having to worry about replacing wood air stones.
 

ilawis

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 12, 2020
Messages
121
Reaction score
216
Location
Perth
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
That looks awesome! I bought a $9 1/2" one off
amazon. It's been working pretty good for about 6 mos so far. It's nice not having to worry about replacing wood air stones.
Yea and running off the manafold is good not having to have another pump in the system the only problem I have with it is the pipes make a bit of noise where the air and water mix I've found if I blow into the air intake it solves the issue but I can't find a pump yet that will blow enough air. I think it needs about 1500lph if air to go silent
Do you have any problem with sound?
 
OP
OP
GeoSquid

GeoSquid

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
537
Reaction score
543
Location
SoCal
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Yea and running off the manafold is good not having to have another pump in the system the only problem I have with it is the pipes make a bit of noise where the air and water mix I've found if I blow into the air intake it solves the issue but I can't find a pump yet that will blow enough air. I think it needs about 1500lph if air to go silent
Do you have any problem with sound?
No, I don't have a problem with sound. I don't have a sump, so my skimmer sits inside the tank in the corner and it's all under water. I used 3' tall 3" black ABS pipe as the skimmer body and used the air pump I was using for the wood air stones connected to the venturi at the bottom. The skimmer skims very dry, mostly solids and very little water. I have a 180 gallon tank with two surge tanks built in the cabinet above the tank that also have macro algae. It's also using a couple diy ATS's that do most of the filtering for the tank. Not sure how much the skimmer is really doing, but I do remove some serious sludge from it.
 

ca1ore

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
13,803
Reaction score
19,657
Location
Stamford, CT
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Late to the game ..... FWIW just don’t use the spring/white ball if you choose the mazzei. It’s unnecessary.
 

AlexG

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 20, 2013
Messages
2,112
Reaction score
4,897
Location
Illinois
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Here is the design I used to make my own venturi out of PVC. I have been using them for years with great results.

venturi.png
 

dadarara

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 16, 2020
Messages
88
Reaction score
38
Location
Israel
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
hope someone will see this question: maybe AlexG
I am trying to build DIY skimmer
I bought a low cost venturi on Aliexpress. its not producing the amount and size of bubbles I would think it necessary for the skimmer to work properly. I AM interested in NO pump solution but the original Mazzei venturi cost is high and make this project not economical (compared to average market second hand skimmer).
SO I am thinking maybe to make my own ventiri injector
have a ±500L(130G) reef. the maximum hight I have under the display is 90cm (±35")

Any suggestions of the diameter of pipe fittings I will need ? any other ideas and suggestions ?
 

AlexG

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 20, 2013
Messages
2,112
Reaction score
4,897
Location
Illinois
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
hope someone will see this question: maybe AlexG
I am trying to build DIY skimmer
I bought a low cost venturi on Aliexpress. its not producing the amount and size of bubbles I would think it necessary for the skimmer to work properly. I AM interested in NO pump solution but the original Mazzei venturi cost is high and make this project not economical (compared to average market second hand skimmer).
SO I am thinking maybe to make my own ventiri injector
have a ±500L(130G) reef. the maximum hight I have under the display is 90cm (±35")

Any suggestions of the diameter of pipe fittings I will need ? any other ideas and suggestions ?
I would say the design above should scale down with 1" & 1/2" pipe. What do you mean by no pump solution? A venturi will need a pump to push or pull water through it in order to efficiently make bubbles.
 

dadarara

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 16, 2020
Messages
88
Reaction score
38
Location
Israel
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Thanks for coming back
I mean no extra pump. I do indeed have 2 main head pumps (10kL/h) working in parallel and one of them is intended to be used to push the ventiri via a manifold.
 

14 foot reef

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
2,166
Reaction score
3,445
Location
Apex NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The venturi's rob a HUGE amount of head pressure no matter what size pipe you use. I would guess your problem is pump size and head pressure, not pipe size. I experimented with many pump sizes on my RK2 Commercial skimmer. Until I went to the suggested 1 HP ( yes 1 HP ) pump the venturi did not perform at all. I tested a 1/4 hp,1/2 hp & 3/4 hp. Until I put the 1 HP on the 2" mazzei, it just would not perform. Of course you dont need a 1 hp pump, but you are going to need something with a lot of head pressure to make a venturi work.
Mazzi.jpg
 

dadarara

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 16, 2020
Messages
88
Reaction score
38
Location
Israel
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
what would be the translation of 1HP to water flow measured in GPH or LPH ?
does it depend on the pipe size? I have 1" pipes.
 

14 foot reef

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 22, 2018
Messages
2,166
Reaction score
3,445
Location
Apex NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
what would be the translation of 1HP to water flow measured in GPH or LPH ?
does it depend on the pipe size? I have 1" pipes.
GPH & LPH can really vary if you have a high flow pump vs a pressure rated pump. I would contact Mazzei and describe your size venturi and they should be able to tell you the recommended pump size. You are going to need a pressure pump most likely for example, an MD20-30 RXT.
Venturi's take a lot of power, to drive, so now your talking expensive pump, AC most likely, so now louder and energy inefficient.
Here is a good place to start your research, Jeff is the master of venturi skimmers.
 

dedragon

5000 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
5,895
Reaction score
4,399
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
With above on this you do need a load pressure rate pump for this which is why you see the usually used for much larger systems. It is soo cheap to find a used skimmer and just buy a new pump for it if it needs that i dont see a reason to do diy for these size tanks IMO
 
Back
Top