The Life Reef Skimmer Club

[EvMiBo]

Tunicata did you say you're running this externally?

[tunicata]

Oh yes, externally. Does the dc 12000 have the capability of being run ext or int? I know some pimps just need different fittings to do both.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk

[FullBoreReefer]

Originally Posted by tunicata

Oh yes, externally. Does the dc 12000 have the capability of being run ext or int? I know some pimps just need different fittings to do both.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk

Yes it can be internal or external, the DCT series like mine must be internal only

[EvMiBo]

I thought they were internal only but now I'm seeing internal or external use is okay.

I think a Vectra L1 would be a better pump but that's pretty darn expensive, and I'm not sure it's actually worth it. Both the L1 and dc12000 are rated at 3100gph max but the L1 max head is about 5' higher than the dc12000. Just don't know if it's really necessary. (Food for thought)

[fftfk]

Originally Posted by africangrey

Anyone know the clearance needed for VS-24 or VS-30, my interior of stand height is 34 inch, if I get a VS-30 would there be enough room to remove the collection cup.

Have a 100 gal, do you guys think VS-30 is overkill, I am coming from a pinwheel world where over sized skimmer is a no-no, don't know if the same rules applies to Lifereef.

Anyone use Avast wiper for such small neck, would love to hear your experience.

Jeff can make you a shorter wider cup to fit the larger skimmer. He did for me.

I have a 125 gallon and think the VS-30 might be overkill for me. My skim mate typically only makes it into the neck of the cup and not the cup.

[FullBoreReefer]

Originally Posted by fftfk

Jeff can make you a shorter wider cup to fit the larger skimmer. He did for me.

I have a 125 gallon and think the VS-30 might be overkill for me. My skim mate typically only makes it into the neck of the cup and not the cup.

How is your stocking? Etc?

I run a 30" on my 120'ish gal total system and weekly I drain nastiness from the cup, sometimes even chunks of crap...literally lol.

[fftfk]

Originally Posted by FullBoreReefer

How is your stocking? Etc?

I run a 30" on my 120'ish gal total system and weekly I drain nastiness from the cup, sometimes even chunks of crap...literally lol.

I feel like it's pretty heavily stocked:

Bartlett's Anthias
1 bangai cardinal fish
Chalk Bass x 4
Royal Gramma
3 yellow wrasse
Tomini Tang
Yellow Watchman Goby with pistol Shrimp
3 lubbocks wrasse
Small Gold Spot Rabbitfish

I have an autofeeder that does two rotations per day and every other day add a cube of frozen food.

I've been speaking with Jeff about it. I was thinking about going with the 24 inch model and he advised against it.

[africangrey]

I want to make the skimmer prettier like the sch40 red pipes and sch80 grey fittings, anyone has done that, can the fittings be screwed off easily for retrofitting.

[Mr. Comer]

Some of fittings are welded onto the body. You could always use Krylon Fusion spray paint and paint it any color you want.

[Kshack]

Little help here.
I have a 250gal and trying to decide between 36 and 48". I have the room for either.
On the one hand, the 48 has more contact time.
On the other hand, 48 may be sitting idle more than the 36 (oversizzed for 250?) and there is more noise and heat from the larger pump. Also, more money..but that would be OK if the slimmer was actually doing a better job (not really oversized).
Also, possibly more pump selection with the 36? (could use a DCT12000?)
Lets hear your thoughts.

[FullBoreReefer]

Originally Posted by Kshack

Little help here.
I have a 250gal and trying to decide between 36 and 48". I have the room for either.
On the one hand, the 48 has more contact time.
On the other hand, 48 may be sitting idle more than the 36 (oversizzed for 250?) and there is more noise and heat from the larger pump. Also, more money..but that would be OK if the slimmer was actually doing a better job (not really oversized).
Also, possibly more pump selection with the 36? (could use a DCT12000?)
Lets hear your thoughts.

This is always a toss up, a smaller skimmer that works harder with the potential of not keeping up. Or a larger size, that skims everything out and then sits idle until there is something new to skim out.

Depends, smaller that runs 24/7, or a larger one that you might be able to set on a timer and not run 24/7. Maybe like 3 days on, 1 day off.

Will you ever be upgrading your tank size?

[Kshack]

No, tank is pretty much max for the room. I may add some frag tanks for totla water volume, but that wohould not add to the load.

[fftfk]

Originally Posted by FullBoreReefer

This is always a toss up, a smaller skimmer that works harder with the potential of not keeping up. Or a larger size, that skims everything out and then sits idle until there is something new to skim out.

Depends, smaller that runs 24/7, or a larger one that you might be able to set on a timer and not run 24/7. Maybe like 3 days on, 1 day off.

Will you ever be upgrading your tank size?

I've thought about this as well for my skimmer.

Is there any opinions on pros vs cons of running it a few days on/one day off vs running it every day and turning it off for a few hours each day?

I can't believe I just asked if anyone has any opinions in reefing...of course there are! I should change it to what are people's opinions?

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by fftfk

I've thought about this as well for my skimmer.

Is there any opinions on pros vs cons of running it a few days on/one day off vs running it every day and turning it off for a few hours each day?

I can't believe I just asked if anyone has any opinions in reefing...of course there are! I should change it to what are people's opinions?

Potentially lower pH during the days the skimmer is off.

My skimmer pulls out muck but I look at it more as my means of aeration. It does help increase my pH especially with a CO2 scrubber hooked up and helps introduce oxygen my bacteria is consuming as I do quite a bit of carbon dosing.

[FullBoreReefer]

Originally Posted by jason2459

Potentially lower pH during the days the skimmer is off.

My skimmer pulls out muck but I look at it more as my means of aeration. It does help increase my pH.

This is a good point as well. Kinda forgot about both of these points, ph and aeration.

[saf1]

You can always email Jeff and ask. I have one of his skimmers I purchased back in 2000 that I'll be using on my 240 here within the month. Last tank I used it on was my 100 gallon. His skimmers tend to be under rated and conservative on tank size. One thing I've learned is that you can run those things on most any size tank. I had this one on my 40 breeder for a bit.

[Buzz1329]

Originally Posted by Mr. Comer

Some of fittings are welded onto the body. You could always use Krylon Fusion spray paint and paint it any color you want.

Can Krylon Fusion spray paint be used to paint parts of skimmer that are underwater?

Thanks,

Mike

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by Buzz1329

Can Krylon Fusion spray paint be used to paint parts of skimmer that are underwater?

Thanks,

Mike

I tried painting my internal overflow but after about 4-5 years mine started to flake off.

[Buzz1329]

On 10/15/16, I installed a VS2-24 LR skimmer in sump of my 75 mixed reef tank. After carefully questioning me about my system and sump, Jeff expanded height of skimmer from 22.5” to 25” at no extra charge. He also configured skimmer/pump to exactly match the space I had available.

I opted for Mazzei venturi so I traded up to Mag Drive 1800 pump. Took a week to break in. Since then I’ve been getting fairly constant skimmate in cup, which I drain every two or three days with drain valve attached to collection cup without having to remove and clean the cup. I also remove and clean cup once a week. So far I have been getting wet skimmate, but with adjustments color has been gradually darkening. I’m using foam filter block over intake of MagDrive because I’m concerned about fouling pump with soda ash (alkalinity) solution I dose downstream from pump. Also I don’t use filter sock and am concerned about gunk fouling the Mazzei. I remove and clean the rinse filter block once a week, and so far have been surprised at how clean the filter block is.

Flow through sump has been drastically reduced over past two years due to fouling of drain and return pipes. I’ll be replacing them within next few weeks, which will (at least) double flow through sump – I assume this will also enhance performance of skimmer.

One question I have is when I put my hand in front of outflow of skimmer, the flow seems very light. Given that Mag Drive 1800 moves 1,800 gph, this seems surprising. Is it the Mazzei that is causing reduction in flow through skimmer?

Any advice about what I may be doing wrong or tips to improve performance of skimmer are (obviously!) welcome.

Thanks,

Mike

[jason2459]

The mag1800 is actually shown to be rated at 1500gph at 0 head. But the more pressure the slower the flow. The mazzei is only part of it but also the plumbing which includes the height to push up, any angles, and fittings.


https://premiumaquatics.com/products...ump-02718.html

3/4" in/out

Nominal: 1800 GPH
Watts: 150
GPH at 0': 1500
GPH at 1': 1325
GPH at 3': 1200
GPH at 5': 1100
GPH at 7': 1050
GPH at 10': 875
GPH at 15': 575
Shutoff: 16.85'

[FullBoreReefer]

I've noticed a good portion of gunk gets caught under the lip of the cup in the neck, and then continues to build up in that location. I have my skimmer tuned to where it takes about 1week to fill the cup with a fairly dark tea color.

I also get a lot of detritus settling at the bottom of my skimmer. Any suggestions?

[Dross]

I recently aquired a used 36" Lifereef for a planned 180 gallon build. Lots of great information on this thread that has helped me, but I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about the flow through these skimmers based on the pump selection. Mazzei actually publishes performance data on their injectors, and the flow restriction is signficant. For the 978:

http://http://mazzei.net/wp-content/...17_SECURED.pdf

http://http://mazzei.net/injector-performance/

Even at of i23 feet (10 psig of inlet pressure), the 978 only flows 5.7 gpm (342 gph) and will draw about 20.9 SCFH of air. At 11.5 feet (5 spig) which is closer to the pumps most people are running, the water flow is only 4.1 gpm (246 gph) and the air draw is about 18.5 SCFH. A couple of posts have indicated that these skimmers work well at about 20-22 SCFH ( I think you can safely assume 0 backrpressure with the injector mounted up on top of the skimmer). The 1078 has more capacity, but it is still restricted to about 300-450 gph at the same conditions. This is why the high head low flow pumps tend to perform better than the circulation pumps as several posts have noted. You can certainly use a high circulation pump, but all that really matters is how much head it produces in the 250-450 gph range, since that is where it is going to operate with most commonly used pumps. I would expect that a Mag 1800 would probably flow about 250-300 gph when other losses are considered.

[Buzz1329]

Thanks for the explanation, jason249.

Interesting that nominal gph does not equal 0' gph.

[BillFW]

Originally Posted by Buzz1329

Thanks for the explanation, jason249.

Interesting that nominal gph does not equal 0' gph.

The oraface of the venturi is maybe an eighth inch (could be a quarter, I haven't had my eyeballs calibrated lately ). Definitely high resistance.

[Breadman03]

Originally Posted by Buzz1329

One question I have is when I put my hand in front of outflow of skimmer, the flow seems very light. Given that Mag Drive 1800 moves 1,800 gph, this seems surprising. Is it the Mazzei that is causing reduction in flow through skimmer?

My Mag 18 on a VS3-36 pulls something like 50 watts due to the resistance of the venturi.