Old Skimmer

[justinf67]

I recently got an Oceanic plus series Model 4 skimmer for cheap... I had no skimmer, so this is better than nothing.... I havent found much info at all on it so far... Onto my question, the outflow of this skimmer is a 1/2'' npt thread, so its just straight out there... The length of this skimmer makes the outflow come pretty close to the edge of the fuge. So, I picked up a 90 degree elbow to go on it... Am I better off leaving the outflow straight, or with the 90 going down? Basically, will having the 90 on there restrict the flow too much?

[neoalchemist74]

It is possible that the 90 may cause enough backflow to inhibit the skimmer. But I doubt it. unless you have it pointed down then will likely cause problems.

[justinf67]

the thing about the skimmer is the output is a threaded fitting. So, I assume it had another piece on it before, dont know which direction it was pointing tho as I cant find much info on the skimmer...

I will be putting the skimmer into action tonight when I swap my 10g fuge over to the 20L that I leak tested last night... More volume for the tank...Now if I could just sort out the skimmer, Id be happy...Anyone know anything about it? What water depth is ideal or any pics would be a great help

[justinf67]

well, I didnt like the amount of flow that was provided from the outflow with the 90 degree elbow on...So I took it off. I put the new fuge in, and messed around with depths for the skimmer. I dont know anything about skimmers, so I let the bubbles get to the top of the tube before the collection cup...The first hour, I wasnt sure I had it set right as nothing had happened yet... A couple hours later, I looked and saw some bubbles making it to the collection cup! So, my old cheap skimmer is working! This is my first skimmer, so I cant wait to see what the skimmer pulls...

[jonbry123]

Justin you will have to play with it. Adjusting height in the water, waterflow through the skimmer, etc. I prefer that my skimmers pull a medium to dark tea colored skimmate as opposed to a heavier thicker skimmate. Over the years I've found this flow pulls more DOCs-(dissolved organic compounds) out of the water then running where the skimmate is thicker.

[justinf67]

cool, thanks for the insight... I just looked and I see a thin layer so far... its been running for prob 5 hours. I will keep an eye on the collection cup over the next few days and see how quickly it fills up. If it fills too quickly, I would need to move the height up a bit, right? the higher out of the water, the thicker it will be, right?

[jonbry123]

Hmm I'm not familiar with this brand so I can't say for certain how it will react by moving up or down. At this point give it a few days or so. Since it is used it shouldn't take that long to adjust to how it is going to pull skimmate-shouldn't. I prefer to pull a medium to somewhat dark tea colored skimmate as I'v found over the years this in the long run pulls more DOCs than running it so it pulls a thicker really dark skimmate. Patience is needed with these machines really. If you find it fills to quickly then dial down the flow into it. If it is filling to fast then you should lower the skimmer or there should also be some type of mechanism to raise and lower the water level in the skimmer so use that to adjust the skimmate going into the collection cup if not the color I mentioned.

[justinf67]

The skimmer from what I understand is prob 15 years old, lmao...its as basic as it gets... skimmer itself is basic, connected to an eheim pump with a venturi air line connected to it...The output is just a threaded adapter that I left open as the 90 degree fitting i put on it seemed to slow down the flow a lot.....

If the cup fills up too quickly and the skimmate is really light, I need to slow down the water entering the skimmer, right? I can pick up a ball valve at home depot or lowes that will screw onto the output fitting, Im just worried that I will restrict the flow too much if I do that...