melev

This is really cool. I had always wondered what would become of the bacterial films. Sure they might be good for coral in that they can eat some of the excess, but it seems to me like there will always be more excess than can be eaten - thus a nutrient problem. Please let us know how the dinoflagelate battle goes after this modification. I realize there might not be any connection, but there could be. This is simple enough solution that I don't think it will not be very long before a company commercializes this. Maybe you could use your acrylic skills to beat them to that! Either way, very nice, very simple, very elegant! The out of the box way you go after solutions is why this is my reef keeping destination of choice!!

Marc, is there any particular reason as to why you pointed the tee facing up?
if there isnt enough flow, will it create a vortex and suck air, or is there plenty of room?

(i figured you would point it sideways or down to pull from the bottom of the sump) (just incase you turn off your reactor, you wont have to deal with it later.)

looks good!!

I pointed it up to see what was going on. It's easily rotated around, but there's no venturi effect because the suction isn't great. Remember my skimmer has two pumps.

Jeff at Reef dynamics is a great guy, he built my ins 450 and was awesome for troubleshooting on some overskim issues... Good idea, i have my reactor in the same area as the skimmer does it work better running through the ehiem pump or does the flow lessen running both? I have 2 pumps for the skimmer and 1 for the reactor.

Off the subject, did your tank get cloudy after the first full day of running?

The flow going to the reactor comes from a manifold pump (Dart) to run all three (NP, Carbon, Calcium) reactors and my little frag tank. I'm simply pointing the effluent precisely into the intake of one Eheim pump on my skimmer. The Eheim isn't sucking the water through the pellets.

I don't recall it being cloudy, but I ran the NP pellets the day before my tank even had water. My sump was fully functional prior to having anything in the display, which sounds just like me, right? hehe

I was just saying to myself while starting to read the post: He did not drill his Euro Reef for an experiment!!!
Totally agree with not doing any changes that could affect the balance inside the skimmer. Also I guess the pressure of water in the skimmer would somehow counteract the flow from the reactor leading to less flow in it???
In the end glad you could pull it out without radical changes on the skimmer. Keep us posted if this changes the skimmate you're getting.

That's precisely what I was worried about. I thought about the exact water pressure within the body of the skimmer versus the head pressure each Eheim pump has to work against, and then suddenly add another 300-500gph coming from the NP reactor into that perfectly balanced setup. Additionally, what would the input of that water do within the skimmer in terms of flow patterns? I didn't know if I wanted it to come up, point down, aim at an angle or enter dead center... it just seemed like a bad plan. This is much better, and allows me to easily remove it later without trace of damage or modification to the Euroreef.

I know I'm new to reefaddicts but I want to share a alternative way to do this. I see your not using the venturi in this modification. If you don't have a venturi, this will reduce the amount of bubbles by a lot. Start a over and put the venturi back on. Then get a coupling and put a bushing on the end of the coupling. Cut two holes in the coupling and then put it together. You can go to http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=49239 to check it out

What makes you think I'm not using the venturi? Look in the final pictures and you can see the vinyl tubing affixed to the nipple.

Nice solution, btw. I'm glad that is working out for you.

It just looked like you drilled a hole and put tubing there. After looking up Euro-Reef venturi, I see I'm wrong on that. I don't see why you cant go out and buy something like this at your lfs. I'm getting a lot more waste out of my tank now that I did this.

The confusion lies with the fact that the nipple came off of the Eheim section, and thus wasn't in the first set of pictures. I put it back in place when I installed the final version.

I tried this mod on my PSK-2500. Couldn't get anything to fit the threads. A 1" T with threads looks like the right thread. I can only assume they are metric so are cut differently. Any suggestions?

I'm going to try to change out a metric part myself. My plan is to file the threads down a bit (not all the way off) then add a small amount of epoxy and push on a slip fitting so the epoxy forms to it's shape. Let it dry, and then fix the slip over it with silicone. I can't think of a place where that would be weak or leak. If it doesn't work the new part is only $30, so it won't be a major failure or anything. :-)

Please take pics at each stage. Will you use an epoxy intended for corals or what else will hold up in salt water. My connection is in the sump so I don't need a seal.

How much of a difference does it make to feed the biopellet return back to the skimmer. I've read that it is a good idea but I haven't seen the residue buildup firsthand. I've heard vodka dosers complain about it from time to time. I dump my biopellet return right back in the sump before the main pump in my system which also feeds the skimmer. Should I expect to start seeing buildup after a few months?

I dose vodka and sometime I get alittle white build up on the glass and just back off for a bit. It is way easier the clean than algae though. I would switch to pellets if I didnt nip at the bottle

My psk 2500 had a rubber attachment for the intake. It slides over the threads and makes a ring with holes in it that can serve as a foot for the pump. I got a 1 1/4" pvc tee and placed the rubber ring inside the tee. It holds it on nicely. This allows me to put the pellet reactor discharge to into one of the openings. I have a homemade reactor (orange juice jug with needlepoint screen over openings I cut in the sides) and the other inlet sits next to the reactor to get some of its exit flow. No glue, no crossed threads.

Got a picture of your gizmo?

Gizmo pictures. How do I paste them??
I took the T and drill/dremeled a slot so it would go past the venturi intake. this helps keep it from falling off when things get bumped. My psk2500 doesn't always come back on so I have to twist the motor or pull it off the skimmer from time to time.

Originally Posted by Safedad

Gizmo pictures. How do I paste them??
I took the T and drill/dremeled a slot so it would go past the venturi intake. this helps keep it from falling off when things get bumped. My psk2500 doesn't always come back on so I have to twist the motor or pull it off the skimmer from time to time.

If you have your pictures uploaded to a free hosting account, you can share them by pasting the URL into the IMG tag. Click the icon that looks like a picture frame in the editor, and paste the URL into it.

If you don't have them online, upload it to your gallery area, and then copy and paste the URL shown under the gallery image in your reply.