WOOT lol Odyssea NEEDLE WHEEL skimmer!

[luke33]

Mia, it pry is due to weight. I'd cut a few of the nw's off and it should work just fine after that. Or you can use fishing line.

iair, just let it run its course. Keep the foam line at the bottom of the skimmer neck. Should start in the next few days, but don't freak if it takes up to two weeks to become consistent.

[chevegan]

what he said, mine took 2 weeks with no vinegar but ran like a champ thereafter. And as far as using the 75 as HOB I used it for a loooong time on my 20 with 5.5 sump with zero problems and very stinky skimate. Patience is definitely key lol. And keep the foam right where luke said. That was always the perfect spot for me.

For the 160 someone mentioned lengthening the neck. I don't think that was something luke tested but would love to see the results as I think it should help. Anytime you increase the reaction area you increase effectiveness.

My ER has a huge neck while my ASM G2 is all body at about 6.5" so it all varies.

[iairj84]

Thanks guys, I figured it would take at least a week to really get going.

I'll keep you guys updated with pics once it starts skimming

[miatawnt2b]

Yep, two weeks for me without vinegar.

[chevegan]

this is mainly for Luke but anyhow here is my new tank upgrade. JUST finished it. It's an oceanic 90 drilled with solid maple stand and canopy all of which I purchased at a local Petco for guess how much $385!!! The manager was walking by putting clearance stickers on things and placed it on this as my wife and I were passing. I thought to myself "i would be stupid NOT to buy it!" so I did. THEN to put the icing on the cake I came by a custom 30g sump WITH an ASM G2 for 225 out the door!

anyhow here is the pic


Oh and now my ER RS80 is for sale for $125 plus shipping. It's got a crack on the lower portion of the body stemming from the outlet tube which occured during it's shipping to me and does not affect performance at all. here is the pic. Oh and it has a sedra 3500



it'll take a couple days for it to clear up. Oh and in the moving process I broke the shaft on one of my koralias!

Whatever.

[luke33]

Looks nice man! Like the color and i'm sure it'll be clear in a day or so. Good stuff.

[iairj84]

Well things were going great until I took the pump shaft out to take a look at the needlewheel and I broke the ceramic shaft... I don't really know what to do now as aquatraders wont respond to my emails.

[chevegan]

the pumps are cheap like 10 bux. Buy a new one

[luke33]

You can try calling them or you can try taking your shaft and going to a hobby store like hobby lobby and they sometimes carry that ceramic shaft stuff. You just have to make sure its the same diameter and then you have to cut it corrrectly. Or you could by one for 25bux.

[miatawnt2b]

You could also go to a hobby store and get a carbon fiber rod the same diameter for $5-10.
-J

[chevegan]

Originally posted by miatawnt2b
You could also go to a hobby store and get a carbon fiber rod the same diameter for $5-10.
-J

oh ya forgot about that. That's always a good idea.

[iairj84]

Yeah we only have one hobby store here in town and the guys that work their own it and are the biggest A-holes you could ever imagine. I went in there with the shaft and they looked at me like I was crazy and insisted on knowing what it came from. I told them and they looked at me like an idiot again... I just asked "do you have something in ceramic or carbon fiber?" I had remembered seeing the maxi-jet mod thread about the carbon fiber rods and they said they don't carry anything that small and proceeded to tell me I was SOL.

I looked online for a .090 shaft as that's the diameter my caliper showed, no dice anywhere I could find. Tower hobby doesn't have it and I looked other places but couldn't find it their either. Aquatraders finally emailed me back today and offered me one for $6 plus $5 shipping on a part that could very easily be thrown in a bubble mailer with some cardboard to protect it....

I guess I have no other options at this point.

Originally posted by miatawnt2b
You could also go to a hobby store and get a carbon fiber rod the same diameter for $5-10.
-J

[luke33]

Well, atleast they offered you a solution.......11 or 25+ shipping, take your pick.

[hami024]

Do you guys think a maxi-jet 1200 mesh modded will be too much for a ps75?

[luke33]

No

[jefferzbooboo]

Hami I'm using a MJ 1200 with the bio-ball mod and a DIY Venturi, its working better than stock IMO

[iairj84]

Originally posted by luke33
Well, atleast they offered you a solution.......11 or 25+ shipping, take your pick.

Very true,
However for whatever reason I can't get in contact with them to order it... It took 10 days for us to get the initial package shipped priority mail and I'm about >200 miles away from their store.

I will probably have to end up ordering through them but I was hoping their was a better solution.

[Y-DesygnGuy]

Hello,

I have a 34 gallon Red Seamax I am going to be putting a 10 gallon sump in. I absolutely HATE the stock skimmer in the Red Seamax, that is the reason for the sump. But I was wondering with all the knowledge you guys have on this thread which Odyssea skimmer would be best for me. The PS160 or the PS75, really I have no problem buying a named brand one skimmer. But I actually bought a 24" Odyssea 380 Watt MH fixture and its actually pretty darn good!

Thanks for any advice, I am still learning about the skimmers.

[pbradley0]

Has anyone tried reversing the input and the output on the PS160? I just got one yesterday and was thinking about doing that to take advantage of the full length of the reaction chamber. I would have to remove the larger diameter tube as others have mentioned and then build a stand pipe to control the water level on was is currently the input port. Adding the elbow to the input port to make the output draw less bubbles might be good too.

Then I would have to rig up some connection to the output port. The water entering in the output port would be sent down the smaller diameter pipe inside the reaction chamber to the bottom and out the hole where the removed pipe once was.

Anyone have any thoughts on doing this? It seems like it would work I just don't know if it would be it. If it does improve the skimmer this will be the ultimate Frankenstein skimmer.

[luke33]

Originally posted by Y-DesygnGuy
Hello,

I have a 34 gallon Red Seamax I am going to be putting a 10 gallon sump in. I absolutely HATE the stock skimmer in the Red Seamax, that is the reason for the sump. But I was wondering with all the knowledge you guys have on this thread which Odyssea skimmer would be best for me. The PS160 or the PS75, really I have no problem buying a named brand one skimmer. But I actually bought a 24" Odyssea 380 Watt MH fixture and its actually pretty darn good!

Thanks for any advice, I am still learning about the skimmers.

I'g get the ps160, it will run pretty well for that size tank.

[luke33]

Originally posted by pbradley0
Has anyone tried reversing the input and the output on the PS160? I just got one yesterday and was thinking about doing that to take advantage of the full length of the reaction chamber. I would have to remove the larger diameter tube as others have mentioned and then build a stand pipe to control the water level on was is currently the input port. Adding the elbow to the input port to make the output draw less bubbles might be good too.

Then I would have to rig up some connection to the output port. The water entering in the output port would be sent down the smaller diameter pipe inside the reaction chamber to the bottom and out the hole where the removed pipe once was.

Anyone have any thoughts on doing this? It seems like it would work I just don't know if it would be it. If it does improve the skimmer this will be the ultimate Frankenstein skimmer.

Thats a bad idea as you will get hardly no air going up then down. Just mod the pump a bit and take out the extra tube in the skimmer and you'll have a very nice little skimmer. Take 2 layers of mesh and add it onto the pump's impeller and then take a 1/2" male pvc fitting and drill a hole right where the threads meet the pvc part, drop in a 1/4" hose adapter with a slit in it facing the pump's impeller, then add a small piece of 1/2" pvc right before the hose adapter inside the pvc part. Make sure its right before. It'll give you around 12-15scfh which is 5x's the normal stock pump. It will completely milk the skimmer this way, from top to bottom.

Luke

[sjm1978]

ok i hated the PS75 skimmer as hang-on so i been skimmer less for 1 month just been running a refuge. well i decided to try and give this skimmer a try as in-sump. so i made a eggcrate stand it seems that the skimmer is gonna be way better as in-sump even tho its not skimming yet. doing it as in-sump did take up some refuge area but i dont care as long as it starts skimming. heres some pics ill update them also.

[iairj84]

I was able to get the impellor shaft taken care of... A little calling around got me a .098 carbon fiber shaft which was .008 bigger than the oddyssea shaft. So I just cut it down and sanded it down and called it a day. Much easier than the porcelin shaft and if it ever breaks again (shouldn't) then I've got enough to make 10 more... Let me know if any of you guys break one and I can send you a bit of the rod so you don't have to buy the whole pack, its like $8 for two 24'' pieces... You cover the dollar or two for the stamps and I'll ship it.

It's also nice that it's the same thickness as what I'll need for a maxi-jet mod.

[pbradley0]

Originally posted by iairj84
I was able to get the impellor shaft taken care of... A little calling around got me a .098 carbon fiber shaft which was .008 bigger than the oddyssea shaft. So I just cut it down and sanded it down and called it a day. Much easier than the porcelin shaft and if it ever breaks again (shouldn't) then I've got enough to make 10 more... Let me know if any of you guys break one and I can send you a bit of the rod so you don't have to buy the whole pack, its like $8 for two 24'' pieces... You cover the dollar or two for the stamps and I'll ship it.

It's also nice that it's the same thickness as what I'll need for a maxi-jet mod.

Where did you find it? The pump that came with my PS160 has a ceramic shaft but I have an Odyssea 550 powerhead that has a metal shaft and I've been looking to replace it.

[iairj84]

Locally. I can send you some of it if you want.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJDP4&P=7
Has them but you're gonna pay $12 or so for it and it will be Way too much.