TheClark Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I picked up this 5' beckett/downdraft/venturi style skimmer a while back from craigslist, Patrick at Satlwater Fantaseas sold it to me for 75 bucks. What a deal! The dwell time was good, but the bubble size was a little large and the turbulence in the chamber was rough. It skimmed, but it seemed it could be better. Rudy suggested I convert it over to a recirculating skimmer. Great idea! At the same time I was wondering if a Jebao DC pump could be a skimmer pump as well. Old news these days, but at the time it was hardly google-able not many were doing it. This job called for an expert in mechanical design, and it turns out we have one here in the forum (don't kill me Jeff ). BlueZReef is an engineer and all around handy and friendly guy. He offered to design and print a DC12000 pinwheel. The old thread is lost with the crash, but he made a winner. Here it is all hooked up to the big skimmer. I owe Patrick, Rudy Golden Basket and Jeff BlueZ a thanks, this turned out great. Visions of gallons of skimmate in the morning are dancing in my head Fun stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenbasketreef Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Nice! Run more efficient overall including less electricity. You got the black stinky skimmate? Jeff / Bluzreef you need to start producing and selling this needle wheel impeller. Awesome modding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Skimming well. The bottom of a 5 gallon skimmate collection 'cup' this morning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 nice! Glad that beast is finally kicking butt now! As fun as it would be to mass produce these, I don't want to. Since its a Chinese product, they would probably buy one and just copy it and sell as their own or just make one of they see them selling. If people want them, I will make them individually for some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Super happy with results!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Also, i did the V2 plumbing / integration. The Jebao is under water now. It is eerily silent in the office after this change, the skimmer is dead quiet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I bet you could add about 80 fish and feed 3x a day with that beast. I had to pull my GFO off my tank a month ago since my PO4 was constantly reading zero. Its been a month and it stays around .02 but the NO3 is still zero. if you use GFO you may want to watch the levels, some is good and that beast may take everything out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Ya this is a bit shall we say 'Tim the Toolman Taylor' for a 500 gallon system. Too funny thanks Brad for the warning (rock2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 This skimmer is now retired, as it put too much pressure on the 1/4" acyrlic frag tank and cracked it 95' tall tube of water putting pressure in one spot). It will live again in the garage. For now SRO-5000 seems to do a comparable job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Don't worry Jeremy, we can rebuild him! Maybe dual recirc, upgraded air intake, lots of possibilities! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Ah that is hilarious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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