Via Aqua Skimmer Club - Page 16

jasonak · 10/25/2007, 01:09 PM

Hey luke hows things?,winters back on here so im back inside messing with my tanks.What happened to the PS 160 thread,wont let me search so just going page bye page trying to find it.want to see if theres any new mods for it.

jck9 · 10/25/2007, 07:47 PM

where can i get one of thes skimmers? i checked ebay and they only have the sk200i would like the sk388 model. i have a diy skimmer that i just cant seem to get working very well

luke33 · 10/25/2007, 08:08 PM

Jay, things are well man.....well pretty good anyhow, works killin me but the tank is better than its ever been. I did a new recirc on my skimmer, so now its basically a deltec type recirc, the normal type. I like it much better as the footprint isn't to huge like before. One thing i've noticed is its soooooo calm now, the bubbles are so tiny and its just so calm. Once i get it dialed in i'll post some pics. Its lookin good. The ps160thread is pretty much about like this one, slow these days. Nothin new has happened to the ps160. I do have a new venturi that i've been using for quite a while that will work great for it or the via aqua. Real easy too.

Jck9 check out www.aquastealth.com should be 119bux or a page back biegan or somethin like that had one for sale for 70 or 80 i think. If you are going to buy it....expect to mod! lol, and the good thing about the 388 is you can fit your hand down in it so its much much easier than the 200.

jasonak · 10/26/2007, 01:36 AM

Luke- Good to hear things are going well,glad to see your still kicking.Ive still got a ich prob in my 120,but im about to remove the fish and do the fallow thing.I just set up my 100 long and finally put that 160 to use.I think you already did the mod on it.It has somthing similar to the picture above.Ive got it in my sump,it didnt want to suck air i put a brick under it so the elbow that goes into the main chamber is about a inch under water,and it started sucking air but was way to LOUD so i hooked up a fish pump to it,to pump air directly in it.its bublling away will see how that works.Ive just got to mess with it more just got it going yesterday.The Auqa via i got from you is just a rocking away man that thing just brings out the nasty.I gag everytime i empty it,LOL.If i get another skimmer it will probally be another one of them it has worked so well and all i ever did was the mesh mod.I was too chicken to cut out the center tube

jasonak · 10/26/2007, 01:39 AM

i was just looking at the post above i dont think mine has the secondary piece of pvc,its just got a threaded piece with the 1/4 barb on it.ill look at it again tom,mkaes some more modes.love modding this stuff

luke33 · 10/26/2007, 06:12 AM

Yep, the via aqua is still rockin on my tank as well. You just can't beat the price vs performance but you have to be patient with the skimmer as it takes a month or so to get right. Your ps160 should have a 1/2" male fitting on it with a 1/4" venturi adapter and hose. You can make a silencer out of a pill jar and put it on the air tubeing to quiet it down. It will work much better than a air pump. If you stop by a low's or what not pick up some 1/2" pvc for a buck and cut a very small piece and slide it in your fitting until it gets close to the air venturi. YOu want your venturi to go to larger to smaller back to larger right before you get to your air injector. Hope that makes sense, and you can do the same with your via aqua for more air.

jasonak · 10/26/2007, 12:26 PM

Yeah thats crystal,sounds easy enough,thanks.It does take awhile to get them dialed in but for the money its so worth it,and i doubt that even the high dollar ones work perfect out of the box.Well im off to go get some costume gear in preperation for some damaging of my liver tonight,have a good weekend,hopefully youve got it off.

silvers · 10/26/2007, 12:35 PM

I have one of the original skimmers from this page I beleave I got it from luke33. skimmer with out pump 25.00+shipping. PM if intrested

jasonak · 10/26/2007, 01:14 PM

If your talking about a via aqua,ill take it.

jck9 · 10/26/2007, 01:17 PM

sent you pm silvers.

jasonak · 10/26/2007, 02:22 PM

hmm pm didnt come through?
anyways my zips 99687 so you can get me a price for shipping,im taking off for the weekend will be back on saunday ill check back with you then.
thanks

jck9 · 10/28/2007, 12:32 PM

still want to sell me that skimmer silvers??? im ready to send you the money but need to know how much for shipping. thanks

jck9 · 10/28/2007, 12:32 PM

still want to sell me that skimmer silvers??? im ready to send you the money but need to know how much for shipping. thanks

silvers · 10/28/2007, 07:18 PM

I have a hard time geting on the comp. on the weekends its more of a work thing haha. I thilk its been sold, sory for the slow replys and I got the skimmer from hoyta not luke33 my bad.

jck9 · 10/30/2007, 06:15 PM

so i just bought an sk200 from a guy on here and was thinking of the mods that i want to do. should i recirc it? if i do and put a bubble diffuser in it does it have to be a cylinder? or could i just make it a box? the reason i might recirc it is that i would like to run it externally. i have a diy skimmer that i just cant get to work very well for me and it is external so i dont have any room in my sump. do these work better as recirc or single pass? one other thing anyone know where i can get an o-ring for it? ive already read through this thread (several times) so i know what mods everyone has done. thanks for any info anybody has.

luke33 · 10/30/2007, 06:32 PM

I love it recirc'd. Much better than i ever thought it would be. As for a oring, look at www.commodityaxis.com You can pry get one but there going to charge you premium for it.

jck9 · 10/30/2007, 07:09 PM

they didnt have one listed under their parts but i emailed them. what about the diffuser to reduce turbulence? will it work the same if it is square rather than cylinder?

luke33 · 10/30/2007, 07:40 PM

Circular will be better as the air will spiral and diffuse alot. If you have a square it will crash around much more. It may work but i've never seen a square bubble trap.

jck9 · 10/30/2007, 09:28 PM

you think 6" diameter x 3" tall would that be good? im planning on doing it the way you did yours. how difficult was it to cou the holes? thanks alot luke

luke33 · 10/30/2007, 09:39 PM

That sounds very good to me. It will be easy to cut the holes. My only concern would be height of the skimmer. It was hard recirc'in my 388 and its alot larger than the 200. As far as a pump, what are you planning on using? When i say hard i mean it was easy but it was tough deciding on pump placement. I did a new recirc i haven't put up pics yet, its basically a normal deltec style recirc with uniseal's.

jck9 · 10/30/2007, 09:56 PM

i have an otp2000 slightly larger volute mesh modded with a custom venturi i was planning on using. i wanted to lay the pump flat like you had your first time because i want to keep the bubble diffuser as short as possible to leave more room for the reaction chamber. i will only have the output of the recirc pump in the diffuser chamber the intake of the recirc pump will be basically where you had yours

luke33 · 10/31/2007, 06:03 AM

That would work. Post some pics when you do it as well. I think the octo 2000 should be able to pull 20scfh which is more than enough for that skimmer.

jck9 · 10/31/2007, 09:11 AM

yeah i need to get an air meter when i do it so i know what it is pulling. do you think the diffuser chamber is a good idea? i just want to limit the turbulence in there as much as possible. ill post pics when im doing it to show you what im doing.

luke33 · 10/31/2007, 10:53 AM

yes, i think its a great idea with such a short and stubby skimmer. Just take a look at the ati bubblemaster. Its dang near the same body just plumbed different. IMO a aquabee would work perfectly with a bubble plate for this guy. But would defeat the purpose of a cheap skimmer. A QOmeshmod of the 3000 would work great with a bubble plate as well.....should be able to get 30scfh out of it fairly easy.

jck9 · 11/01/2007, 05:29 PM

got my sk200 in today and started playin around with some mods. i want to recirc it and put in a diffuser plate but i only had a piece of 6" and a piece of 3 1/4" acrylic tube. the 6" is too big and i think the 3 1/4" will be too small. what do you guys think? i cut the whole bottom off it so i can get inside it and ill just use some weld-on 16 to attach a piece of acrylic when im done. i really want to use a diffuser because of how short it is.
here are some pics of diffusers i made. i like the smaller one myself but it may be too small

modified 6" and a 3 1/4"
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...43__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...44__Small_.JPG

this is what they would look like in the skimmer

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...45__Small_.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...47__Small_.JPG

which one do you think would be better. i know they are kind of hard to see but any help would be appreciated

this is how i cut the bottom off

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...titled-med.JPG

10/25/2007, 01:09 PM	#376
jasonak Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 327	Hey luke hows things?,winters back on here so im back inside messing with my tanks.What happened to the PS 160 thread,wont let me search so just going page bye page trying to find it.want to see if theres any new mods for it. __________________ I know violence isnt the answer.I got it worng on purpose! Current Tank Info: 300 mixed reef /30 and 120 community fresh

10/26/2007, 01:36 AM	#379
jasonak Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 327	Luke- Good to hear things are going well,glad to see your still kicking.Ive still got a ich prob in my 120,but im about to remove the fish and do the fallow thing.I just set up my 100 long and finally put that 160 to use.I think you already did the mod on it.It has somthing similar to the picture above.Ive got it in my sump,it didnt want to suck air i put a brick under it so the elbow that goes into the main chamber is about a inch under water,and it started sucking air but was way to LOUD so i hooked up a fish pump to it,to pump air directly in it.its bublling away will see how that works.Ive just got to mess with it more just got it going yesterday.The Auqa via i got from you is just a rocking away man that thing just brings out the nasty.I gag everytime i empty it,LOL.If i get another skimmer it will probally be another one of them it has worked so well and all i ever did was the mesh mod.I was too chicken to cut out the center tube __________________ I know violence isnt the answer.I got it worng on purpose! Current Tank Info: 300 mixed reef /30 and 120 community fresh

10/26/2007, 01:39 AM	#380
jasonak Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 327	i was just looking at the post above i dont think mine has the secondary piece of pvc,its just got a threaded piece with the 1/4 barb on it.ill look at it again tom,mkaes some more modes.love modding this stuff __________________ I know violence isnt the answer.I got it worng on purpose! Current Tank Info: 300 mixed reef /30 and 120 community fresh

10/26/2007, 12:26 PM	#382
jasonak Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 327	Yeah thats crystal,sounds easy enough,thanks.It does take awhile to get them dialed in but for the money its so worth it,and i doubt that even the high dollar ones work perfect out of the box.Well im off to go get some costume gear in preperation for some damaging of my liver tonight,have a good weekend,hopefully youve got it off. __________________ I know violence isnt the answer.I got it worng on purpose! Current Tank Info: 300 mixed reef /30 and 120 community fresh

10/26/2007, 12:35 PM	#383
silvers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ga Posts: 356	I have one of the original skimmers from this page I beleave I got it from luke33. skimmer with out pump 25.00+shipping. PM if intrested __________________ Lord knows Im weak wont somebody get me off this reef-Sublime Current Tank Info: 120g

10/25/2007, 07:47 PM	#377
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	where can i get one of thes skimmers? i checked ebay and they only have the sk200i would like the sk388 model. i have a diy skimmer that i just cant seem to get working very well

10/25/2007, 08:08 PM	#378
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Jay, things are well man.....well pretty good anyhow, works killin me but the tank is better than its ever been. I did a new recirc on my skimmer, so now its basically a deltec type recirc, the normal type. I like it much better as the footprint isn't to huge like before. One thing i've noticed is its soooooo calm now, the bubbles are so tiny and its just so calm. Once i get it dialed in i'll post some pics. Its lookin good. The ps160thread is pretty much about like this one, slow these days. Nothin new has happened to the ps160. I do have a new venturi that i've been using for quite a while that will work great for it or the via aqua. Real easy too. Jck9 check out www.aquastealth.com should be 119bux or a page back biegan or somethin like that had one for sale for 70 or 80 i think. If you are going to buy it....expect to mod! lol, and the good thing about the 388 is you can fit your hand down in it so its much much easier than the 200.

10/26/2007, 06:12 AM	#381
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Yep, the via aqua is still rockin on my tank as well. You just can't beat the price vs performance but you have to be patient with the skimmer as it takes a month or so to get right. Your ps160 should have a 1/2" male fitting on it with a 1/4" venturi adapter and hose. You can make a silencer out of a pill jar and put it on the air tubeing to quiet it down. It will work much better than a air pump. If you stop by a low's or what not pick up some 1/2" pvc for a buck and cut a very small piece and slide it in your fitting until it gets close to the air venturi. YOu want your venturi to go to larger to smaller back to larger right before you get to your air injector. Hope that makes sense, and you can do the same with your via aqua for more air.

10/26/2007, 01:14 PM	#384
jasonak Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 327	If your talking about a via aqua,ill take it. __________________ I know violence isnt the answer.I got it worng on purpose! Current Tank Info: 300 mixed reef /30 and 120 community fresh

10/26/2007, 01:17 PM	#385
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	sent you pm silvers.

10/26/2007, 02:22 PM	#386
jasonak Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Posts: 327	hmm pm didnt come through? anyways my zips 99687 so you can get me a price for shipping,im taking off for the weekend will be back on saunday ill check back with you then. thanks __________________ I know violence isnt the answer.I got it worng on purpose! Current Tank Info: 300 mixed reef /30 and 120 community fresh

10/28/2007, 12:32 PM	#387
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	still want to sell me that skimmer silvers??? im ready to send you the money but need to know how much for shipping. thanks

10/28/2007, 12:32 PM	#388
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	still want to sell me that skimmer silvers??? im ready to send you the money but need to know how much for shipping. thanks

10/28/2007, 07:18 PM	#389
silvers Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Ga Posts: 356	I have a hard time geting on the comp. on the weekends its more of a work thing haha. I thilk its been sold, sory for the slow replys and I got the skimmer from hoyta not luke33 my bad. __________________ Lord knows Im weak wont somebody get me off this reef-Sublime Current Tank Info: 120g

10/30/2007, 06:15 PM	#390
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	so i just bought an sk200 from a guy on here and was thinking of the mods that i want to do. should i recirc it? if i do and put a bubble diffuser in it does it have to be a cylinder? or could i just make it a box? the reason i might recirc it is that i would like to run it externally. i have a diy skimmer that i just cant get to work very well for me and it is external so i dont have any room in my sump. do these work better as recirc or single pass? one other thing anyone know where i can get an o-ring for it? ive already read through this thread (several times) so i know what mods everyone has done. thanks for any info anybody has.

10/30/2007, 06:32 PM	#391
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	I love it recirc'd. Much better than i ever thought it would be. As for a oring, look at www.commodityaxis.com You can pry get one but there going to charge you premium for it.

10/30/2007, 07:09 PM	#392
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	they didnt have one listed under their parts but i emailed them. what about the diffuser to reduce turbulence? will it work the same if it is square rather than cylinder?

10/30/2007, 07:40 PM	#393
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Circular will be better as the air will spiral and diffuse alot. If you have a square it will crash around much more. It may work but i've never seen a square bubble trap.

10/30/2007, 09:28 PM	#394
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	you think 6" diameter x 3" tall would that be good? im planning on doing it the way you did yours. how difficult was it to cou the holes? thanks alot luke

10/30/2007, 09:39 PM	#395
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	That sounds very good to me. It will be easy to cut the holes. My only concern would be height of the skimmer. It was hard recirc'in my 388 and its alot larger than the 200. As far as a pump, what are you planning on using? When i say hard i mean it was easy but it was tough deciding on pump placement. I did a new recirc i haven't put up pics yet, its basically a normal deltec style recirc with uniseal's.

10/30/2007, 09:56 PM	#396
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	i have an otp2000 slightly larger volute mesh modded with a custom venturi i was planning on using. i wanted to lay the pump flat like you had your first time because i want to keep the bubble diffuser as short as possible to leave more room for the reaction chamber. i will only have the output of the recirc pump in the diffuser chamber the intake of the recirc pump will be basically where you had yours

10/31/2007, 06:03 AM	#397
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	That would work. Post some pics when you do it as well. I think the octo 2000 should be able to pull 20scfh which is more than enough for that skimmer.

10/31/2007, 09:11 AM	#398
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	yeah i need to get an air meter when i do it so i know what it is pulling. do you think the diffuser chamber is a good idea? i just want to limit the turbulence in there as much as possible. ill post pics when im doing it to show you what im doing.

10/31/2007, 10:53 AM	#399
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	yes, i think its a great idea with such a short and stubby skimmer. Just take a look at the ati bubblemaster. Its dang near the same body just plumbed different. IMO a aquabee would work perfectly with a bubble plate for this guy. But would defeat the purpose of a cheap skimmer. A QOmeshmod of the 3000 would work great with a bubble plate as well.....should be able to get 30scfh out of it fairly easy.

11/01/2007, 05:29 PM	#400
jck9 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: pataskala, oh Posts: 589	got my sk200 in today and started playin around with some mods. i want to recirc it and put in a diffuser plate but i only had a piece of 6" and a piece of 3 1/4" acrylic tube. the 6" is too big and i think the 3 1/4" will be too small. what do you guys think? i cut the whole bottom off it so i can get inside it and ill just use some weld-on 16 to attach a piece of acrylic when im done. i really want to use a diffuser because of how short it is. here are some pics of diffusers i made. i like the smaller one myself but it may be too small modified 6" and a 3 1/4" http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...43__Small_.JPG http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...44__Small_.JPG this is what they would look like in the skimmer http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...45__Small_.JPG http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...47__Small_.JPG which one do you think would be better. i know they are kind of hard to see but any help would be appreciated this is how i cut the bottom off http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...titled-med.JPG