Skimmer help!?

It's def a DIY skimmer that was probably made inhouse by that company, probably not much info on pumps for this one. is that 3/4 or 1" pvc for the standpipe aka tall pipe? Is the black piece on the intake a barb for airline or is it a ball valve? I'm assuming the main body is 6" pvc? It looks to be a basic venturi skimmer, the key to finding a pump is matching it up with the previous questions and if it is suitable for your tank size and bioload.

 

I'm no skimmer expert, but if you need to get a pump for it anyway, maybe you could just mod it to use a needlewheel pump?

I'm guessing that would improve it's performance.

-JB

 

Having built some DIY skimmers myself I would say you need to throw a needle wheel or mesh mod pump on there. An economical pump would be a Gen-X and I would say minimum of around 900 GPH and 1500GPH would probably be better although may be too much for that tall of a skimmer. It is very possible to get a regular pump and mesh mod it your self as they charge a good amount extra for needle wheel pumps. I have done this with a Gen-X 6000 but am not using it anymore as I changed my design to a Beckett.

 

Hey Dave, This is Chad, Emily's husband. If you need help putting a sump together I'm right down the street. I have a few extra things that might help out. Let me know.

 

Dave I would go with this pump, or the next size down! http://www.aquacave.com/ocean-runne...-1030.html
I don't think that chamber can handle anything larger!!
Hope this helps,
-Rick-

 

If your looking to keep the skimmer as is I'd say your probably looking at a pump with an output of 500gph or less, that 3/4" is really restricting the amount of flow you can run through it. Having the barb on the output with hose running to your tank/sump would only make it worse. I'm sure you can get it to work as is though. The only real drawback to keeping it stock is the length of the venturi inlet. By the time you connect a pump to it you have a pretty wide footprint for a sump. Do you know of anyone that has a mag5 or similar pump sitting around to test with?
If you feel like changing some things you can....
Turn it into a recirculating skimmer, the output diameter would not be as critical then since you'd be running a minimal amount of water through it. One idea would be to make a stand that looks like an upsidedown u and place the skimmer on top of the stand. Then place the pump under the skimmer with the output going up through the bottom of the skimmer. After removing the inlet pipe inside the skimmer, I would take a small piece say 3" round and 4" tall and place it inside the skimmer to prevent too many bubbles from exiting the skimmer output. You could even make a bubbletrap on top of the 3" piece to calm down the turbulance. This would allow a larger pump to be used. You could then use a needle wheel or mesh pump and use the existing inlet hole for the new pumps input by connecting them.
Or you could again remove all inlet pipe, mount the pump on on the existing hole and using the same inside diffuser run a small pipe from the inlet hole into the diffuser, this would again allow the flow to be directed upwards and away from the output preventing bubbles from exiting the skimmer. Then make a new hole somewhere outside the diffuser to connect to the pumps input. Both of these are assuming your going to be running the venturi on the inlet of the pump like needle wheels and mesh pumps do.
Another option is mounting a pump on the side of the skimmer body with unions similar to H&S, Deltec using the existing input hole as the new inlet for the pump and making a new output higher up on the body. you could leave the output as is or add a type or flare to direct the water similar to how yours is now.
I'd say unless you change the output pipe size your going to be limited to running it as intented or changing it to recirc and feeding it with a mai-jet or small feed pump
These are just some quick ideas and like most DIY's it might be trial and error and could be $$$