WOOT lol Odyssea NEEDLE WHEEL skimmer! - Page 5

jbeltmann · 05/31/2007, 05:17 PM

Maybe try raising the skimmer a little or lower the water level in your sump if you don't have much room under your stand.

PLNelson, you may be able to use the 75 stock and see what happens. I'm not sure what your future bioload will be but try it stock then go mesh, then genx pump if your not satisfied. I got the genx pump to hold me over til I was positive on my next skimmer for my 75g reef. Hopefully luke will get some decent results so I can take the 160 off his hands!

pbukow · 05/31/2007, 06:44 PM

On my PS 160, all i did was a mesh-mod on the stock pump and the inlet of the pump is submerged around 3-4 inches most of the time, just under 5 inches at the max. I put an inverted rubbermaid bowl under the skimmer, other wise the pump would be 7-8 inches underwater in my tall sump. I really do want to get a better pump on it in the future though, was thinking bout the octo 2000 or the genx 2400 with some added air intakes. We'll see.

I should mention i spoke a little too soon as the skimmer did react to the feeding but all it did was the water level in the collection tube lowered, but came back less an hour later. No tweaking on my part what so ever to get it back.

Also I've been skimming wet recently but the collection tube in the cup gets coated in a thick dark gunk every day or so. I think mine is still breaking in personally.

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 05:54 AM

Well I messed with my ps160 last night, it seems the genx2400 is to much for it. I just can't get it adjusted right, so i wouldn't suggest a pump more than 550gph on it. I can slow the pump down but the air just isn't maxed like that. I put the stock pump back on and am disapointed once again. The riser neck won't fill with bubbles, its pretty sad. The bubble break line is at the bottom of the black part and there's about a centemeter of bubbles above that. With the genx teh whole neck would fill with bubbles if i wanted to. I can only get the neck to fill with water using the stock pump.

pbukow · 06/01/2007, 11:56 AM

Man how disappointing, give it time, maybe the water level will go down with the stock pump. You could always put the gate valve on the end of the pump to regulate flow until it breaks in some more. It worked for me.

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 12:20 PM

Yea, i don't think full throttle genx will work for that small of a diameter. If you put a ball or gate valve on it, it will make the genx pump the stock pump so it defeats the purpose in buying it. The stock pump's are decent and they have a decent sized volute. WHich was surprising. I wonder what pump there ko's of. There NW impeller's are sad though! lol, but a mesh mod looks to be in its future. Still not sure what the tube in there is for though? And there are really no other mods you can do to this guy besides mesh or pump.

jayvee10 · 06/01/2007, 01:21 PM

Yep, I was a bit dissapointed with the gen-x mesh mod on the 160. The skimmer can't handle the water pressure of the pump. The pump is too much for the 160. The lowest water level I can get with the adjustments is halfway of the collection cup tube. It's skimming great but it is wet. What I did is throttle down the water intake of the pump a bit to get the water level down to the neck level. I will see in a few days the results. Still I can say that this is way better that the stock pump with mesh mod though not maximizing the full capacity of the gen-x pump.

Luke, did you try adding another airline on the venturi to add more air input on the skimmer thus lowering down the water level? I will try to do that this weekend and see if it will work

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 01:52 PM

Jayve, I used quite a few different venturi's. I know for a fact if you drill two venturi holes it will slow down the pump quite a bit, when i get more time i'll try it again. Maybe tonight! lol, nothin like an exciting friday!

pbukow · 06/01/2007, 02:40 PM

Can't wait to hear the results of the PS 160 mod, the point of your methods is to try to up the flow through the skimmer or to add as many bubbles as possible? Just recapping. Would buying the octo 2000 be pointless as it is the same flowrate as the stock pump?

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pbukow
Can't wait to hear the results of the PS 160 mod, the point of your methods is to try to up the flow through the skimmer or to add as many bubbles as possible? Just recapping. Would buying the octo 2000 be pointless as it is the same flowrate as the stock pump?

The "real" point of the genx2400 mod is to slow the h2o GPH and up the LPH air cuz were stuck with them : ) I've done this before with the genx2400, but i was just hoping i didn't have to. As far as buying the octo2000, i wouldn't waste the money as the stock pump is very close to the same as the 2000. The stock pump has room for improvement with its decent sized volute. Once i get my mesh i'll get it rockin and rollin and maybe add a cutom venturi on it. The skimmer with the stock venturi is bubbled out throughout, but its a weak milked look, sure with a camera it looks milked, but i can gaze over at my via aqua mod and it is not even comparable. That thing is white pvc looking. You can barely see any water. I'll try to post my findings once i find a good venturi that works.....and i'll post pics of the meshmod.

jbeltmann · 06/01/2007, 03:13 PM

Luke, I came across an interesting deal on a skimmer locally and was hoping for your input. I think I can get an octo 150 for 90-100 bucks. Would this be a better value than the 160 modded? I think he said the octo is only 1 or 2 months old. BTW, I am sorry to hear your having some problems with the 160. Hopefully you can iron it out.

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 06:47 PM

Jbeltman, i would take the octopus over the ps160. Well i have made about three different venturi's and found one that pulls tons of air but this is the funny part. Its completely milked out after the input from the pump but its pullin so much air, it slowed down the pump so much its not funny, pry 1/3 air 2/3 water. I hooked up a 1/2" ID 5/8" OD venturi fitting and hose, i'll post some pics later, but its looking good with the genx2400. I just hadn't had any time to mess with it. lol, its all good now. I just need some skimmate now.

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 06:47 PM

Jbeltmann, but with a footprint of 10" x 9", were getting close to the via aqua ; )

ziac · 06/01/2007, 06:55 PM

i would like to see your venturis please i have been working on some with not a lot of sussess so far

jbeltmann · 06/01/2007, 06:56 PM

I've got 12" x12". I thought the via aqua was bigger?

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 08:18 PM

Jbeltmann, yep, your just an inch shy....oh well. Anyhow, here's pics of the venturi i made and the skimmer......it is totally milked out from the pump intake to the skimmer up. The bottom 2" are not milked at all, but that takes away the microbubble issue : ) Basically the venturi is a bulkhead with an air injector in it with some hose. I took the air injector and cut open the bottom of it at an angle and put it towards the pump, this is what pulls the air out of the injector. If you don't do this it'll still work, but if you have them backwards, you'll get nada. I would recommend doing this though, the proof is in the pics. If anyone lived around here i'd tell them to stop by. Ok, now for the pics.

Hope this helps!

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 08:19 PM

Its gotta be pullin 3x as much air as before. This is the true milk look, like white pvc.

jbeltmann · 06/01/2007, 09:13 PM

Luke, you are the man of mods! Well done. So are you saying that the modded 160 would be a better choice than the octo 150? That is if you still plan on selling it! lol

jayvee10 · 06/01/2007, 09:27 PM

That's great to hear that a bigger 1/2 tube will do the trick. Lowering the water input of the gen-x pump also worked great for me. here is the skimmer after 1 day. I will also try using a bigger diameter tube for the air input on the venturi like what luke did.

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 09:50 PM

Well, now that its skimming and i have a buzz, i'd say that i would take the octo for a few reasons. The octo is a true in sump skimmer unlike the ps160, also if you are going to purchase it for 90bux, you don't have to worry about shipping etc. The octo is a 6" diameter as the ps160 is 5", the ps160 is a fragile skimmer meaning i'm not to comfy with the build quality, but it will be a performer, and was cheap as crap! If the pump input was more towards the bottom of this skimmer it would be a beast, but since its about 3-5" above the bottom, were missin out on some reaction time for the bubbles. That would be my only serious improvement. I'm sure i'll be messing with that soon. And i'm still not sure what the one tube is for.

spawn79 · 06/01/2007, 09:53 PM

Hmm, what about a recirc mod to take care of that?

luke33 · 06/01/2007, 10:00 PM

A recirc would work, i personally just am not a fan of them for a few reasons. One, you need two pump's to keep them working properly, and two, many of them have slow leakes. Three, you can get very very good reaction time with a regular skimmer if you know how to do it right.......and most importantly about recirc's is the 3x the amount for one............freakin rediculous! Unless you want to buy the AE recirc and throw the pumps in the trash and add pump's and replum it. But its not worth modding it like that imo. For one, the ps160 looks like extruded acrylic which will more than likely crack if you tried drilling it : ) Which is the big reason. lol, thats why there cheap!

jayvee10 · 06/01/2007, 10:47 PM

What if you put an elbow from the inside so we can lower down the water input going to the skimmer and redirecting the air & water down to the buttom of the skimmer for more contact time for the water and air. Like what you did on the via aqua. I Agree with the large tube inside I don't see a better purpose other than to conrol the micro bubbles coming out. Maybe cutting it like you did on the via aqua tube will also increase the foam production. What do you think?

spawn79 · 06/01/2007, 10:51 PM

Ummm... does the top come off of the 160 though? I guess I didn't try.

jayvee10 · 06/01/2007, 11:24 PM

I don't think you can take out the top of the 160 easily and might ruin the acrylic if you force it off. I bet our friend Luke here can find a way as he did on the via aqua skimmer. Maybe trying the same mods did with the aqua can also turn this thing into a monster.

luke33 · 06/02/2007, 07:31 AM

Really, the only mod to do that would help out alot would be to get the water aimed down from the input of the pump into the skimmer, unfortunately you can't get into the skimmer cuz the top is bonded together, and with an extruded skimmer body, would surely crack. So i think this could be a you get what ya got skimmer. It does look like it may start skimming pretty well here in the next day or so. The riser tube is sick this smornin. I'll post some pics once i start to get some skimmate.

05/31/2007, 06:44 PM	#102
pbukow Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 453	On my PS 160, all i did was a mesh-mod on the stock pump and the inlet of the pump is submerged around 3-4 inches most of the time, just under 5 inches at the max. I put an inverted rubbermaid bowl under the skimmer, other wise the pump would be 7-8 inches underwater in my tall sump. I really do want to get a better pump on it in the future though, was thinking bout the octo 2000 or the genx 2400 with some added air intakes. We'll see. I should mention i spoke a little too soon as the skimmer did react to the feeding but all it did was the water level in the collection tube lowered, but came back less an hour later. No tweaking on my part what so ever to get it back. Also I've been skimming wet recently but the collection tube in the cup gets coated in a thick dark gunk every day or so. I think mine is still breaking in personally. __________________ What do you mean I have to change the water? PBITAWA Every Day

06/01/2007, 11:56 AM	#104
pbukow Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 453	Man how disappointing, give it time, maybe the water level will go down with the stock pump. You could always put the gate valve on the end of the pump to regulate flow until it breaks in some more. It worked for me. __________________ What do you mean I have to change the water? PBITAWA Every Day

06/01/2007, 02:40 PM	#108
pbukow Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 453	Can't wait to hear the results of the PS 160 mod, the point of your methods is to try to up the flow through the skimmer or to add as many bubbles as possible? Just recapping. Would buying the octo 2000 be pointless as it is the same flowrate as the stock pump? __________________ What do you mean I have to change the water? PBITAWA Every Day

05/31/2007, 05:17 PM	#101
jbeltmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: oconomowoc. wi Posts: 287	Maybe try raising the skimmer a little or lower the water level in your sump if you don't have much room under your stand. PLNelson, you may be able to use the 75 stock and see what happens. I'm not sure what your future bioload will be but try it stock then go mesh, then genx pump if your not satisfied. I got the genx pump to hold me over til I was positive on my next skimmer for my 75g reef. Hopefully luke will get some decent results so I can take the 160 off his hands!

06/01/2007, 05:54 AM	#103
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Well I messed with my ps160 last night, it seems the genx2400 is to much for it. I just can't get it adjusted right, so i wouldn't suggest a pump more than 550gph on it. I can slow the pump down but the air just isn't maxed like that. I put the stock pump back on and am disapointed once again. The riser neck won't fill with bubbles, its pretty sad. The bubble break line is at the bottom of the black part and there's about a centemeter of bubbles above that. With the genx teh whole neck would fill with bubbles if i wanted to. I can only get the neck to fill with water using the stock pump.

06/01/2007, 12:20 PM	#105
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Yea, i don't think full throttle genx will work for that small of a diameter. If you put a ball or gate valve on it, it will make the genx pump the stock pump so it defeats the purpose in buying it. The stock pump's are decent and they have a decent sized volute. WHich was surprising. I wonder what pump there ko's of. There NW impeller's are sad though! lol, but a mesh mod looks to be in its future. Still not sure what the tube in there is for though? And there are really no other mods you can do to this guy besides mesh or pump.

06/01/2007, 01:21 PM	#106
jayvee10 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Culver City, California Posts: 146	Yep, I was a bit dissapointed with the gen-x mesh mod on the 160. The skimmer can't handle the water pressure of the pump. The pump is too much for the 160. The lowest water level I can get with the adjustments is halfway of the collection cup tube. It's skimming great but it is wet. What I did is throttle down the water intake of the pump a bit to get the water level down to the neck level. I will see in a few days the results. Still I can say that this is way better that the stock pump with mesh mod though not maximizing the full capacity of the gen-x pump. Luke, did you try adding another airline on the venturi to add more air input on the skimmer thus lowering down the water level? I will try to do that this weekend and see if it will work

06/01/2007, 01:52 PM	#107
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Jayve, I used quite a few different venturi's. I know for a fact if you drill two venturi holes it will slow down the pump quite a bit, when i get more time i'll try it again. Maybe tonight! lol, nothin like an exciting friday!

06/01/2007, 03:13 PM	#110
jbeltmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: oconomowoc. wi Posts: 287	Luke, I came across an interesting deal on a skimmer locally and was hoping for your input. I think I can get an octo 150 for 90-100 bucks. Would this be a better value than the 160 modded? I think he said the octo is only 1 or 2 months old. BTW, I am sorry to hear your having some problems with the 160. Hopefully you can iron it out.

06/01/2007, 06:47 PM	#111
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Jbeltman, i would take the octopus over the ps160. Well i have made about three different venturi's and found one that pulls tons of air but this is the funny part. Its completely milked out after the input from the pump but its pullin so much air, it slowed down the pump so much its not funny, pry 1/3 air 2/3 water. I hooked up a 1/2" ID 5/8" OD venturi fitting and hose, i'll post some pics later, but its looking good with the genx2400. I just hadn't had any time to mess with it. lol, its all good now. I just need some skimmate now.

06/01/2007, 06:47 PM	#112
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Jbeltmann, but with a footprint of 10" x 9", were getting close to the via aqua ; )

06/01/2007, 06:55 PM	#113
ziac Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: champaign illinois Posts: 339	i would like to see your venturis please i have been working on some with not a lot of sussess so far

06/01/2007, 06:56 PM	#114
jbeltmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: oconomowoc. wi Posts: 287	I've got 12" x12". I thought the via aqua was bigger?

06/01/2007, 08:18 PM	#115
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Jbeltmann, yep, your just an inch shy....oh well. Anyhow, here's pics of the venturi i made and the skimmer......it is totally milked out from the pump intake to the skimmer up. The bottom 2" are not milked at all, but that takes away the microbubble issue : ) Basically the venturi is a bulkhead with an air injector in it with some hose. I took the air injector and cut open the bottom of it at an angle and put it towards the pump, this is what pulls the air out of the injector. If you don't do this it'll still work, but if you have them backwards, you'll get nada. I would recommend doing this though, the proof is in the pics. If anyone lived around here i'd tell them to stop by. Ok, now for the pics. Hope this helps!

06/01/2007, 08:19 PM	#116
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Its gotta be pullin 3x as much air as before. This is the true milk look, like white pvc.

06/01/2007, 09:13 PM	#117
jbeltmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: oconomowoc. wi Posts: 287	Luke, you are the man of mods! Well done. So are you saying that the modded 160 would be a better choice than the octo 150? That is if you still plan on selling it! lol

06/01/2007, 09:27 PM	#118
jayvee10 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Culver City, California Posts: 146	That's great to hear that a bigger 1/2 tube will do the trick. Lowering the water input of the gen-x pump also worked great for me. here is the skimmer after 1 day. I will also try using a bigger diameter tube for the air input on the venturi like what luke did.

06/01/2007, 09:50 PM	#119
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Well, now that its skimming and i have a buzz, i'd say that i would take the octo for a few reasons. The octo is a true in sump skimmer unlike the ps160, also if you are going to purchase it for 90bux, you don't have to worry about shipping etc. The octo is a 6" diameter as the ps160 is 5", the ps160 is a fragile skimmer meaning i'm not to comfy with the build quality, but it will be a performer, and was cheap as crap! If the pump input was more towards the bottom of this skimmer it would be a beast, but since its about 3-5" above the bottom, were missin out on some reaction time for the bubbles. That would be my only serious improvement. I'm sure i'll be messing with that soon. And i'm still not sure what the one tube is for.

06/01/2007, 09:53 PM	#120
spawn79 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: kansas city Posts: 69	Hmm, what about a recirc mod to take care of that?

06/01/2007, 10:00 PM	#121
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	A recirc would work, i personally just am not a fan of them for a few reasons. One, you need two pump's to keep them working properly, and two, many of them have slow leakes. Three, you can get very very good reaction time with a regular skimmer if you know how to do it right.......and most importantly about recirc's is the 3x the amount for one............freakin rediculous! Unless you want to buy the AE recirc and throw the pumps in the trash and add pump's and replum it. But its not worth modding it like that imo. For one, the ps160 looks like extruded acrylic which will more than likely crack if you tried drilling it : ) Which is the big reason. lol, thats why there cheap!

06/01/2007, 10:47 PM	#122
jayvee10 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Culver City, California Posts: 146	What if you put an elbow from the inside so we can lower down the water input going to the skimmer and redirecting the air & water down to the buttom of the skimmer for more contact time for the water and air. Like what you did on the via aqua. I Agree with the large tube inside I don't see a better purpose other than to conrol the micro bubbles coming out. Maybe cutting it like you did on the via aqua tube will also increase the foam production. What do you think?

06/01/2007, 10:51 PM	#123
spawn79 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: kansas city Posts: 69	Ummm... does the top come off of the 160 though? I guess I didn't try.

06/01/2007, 11:24 PM	#124
jayvee10 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Culver City, California Posts: 146	I don't think you can take out the top of the 160 easily and might ruin the acrylic if you force it off. I bet our friend Luke here can find a way as he did on the via aqua skimmer. Maybe trying the same mods did with the aqua can also turn this thing into a monster.

06/02/2007, 07:31 AM	#125
luke33 Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 8,375	Really, the only mod to do that would help out alot would be to get the water aimed down from the input of the pump into the skimmer, unfortunately you can't get into the skimmer cuz the top is bonded together, and with an extruded skimmer body, would surely crack. So i think this could be a you get what ya got skimmer. It does look like it may start skimming pretty well here in the next day or so. The riser tube is sick this smornin. I'll post some pics once i start to get some skimmate.