Im thinking of getting one of those DIY kits from the pirate. looks about the same. sans the windshield wiper, of course.
Or, i could go back to old school and just build a large triple pass unit that runs on an air pump and gravity feed from the overflow. the point is to just make small bubbles. all those pumps were added because people think changing air stones now and then when they plug up is old fashioned.
But all these skimmers mentioned here work fine, im sure.
Jon, if I lived at my parents house then I wouldn’t care about noise, but since I own my own house now I suddenly realize all those little things I do care about now! Guess its because I have a mortgage to pay for, really puts things in perspective. Before I didn’t care about spilling water, especially in a rented house/apartment, now I’m so careful with everything, funny how that works out ;D
Now if you care about getting the most air,I recommend one of the 3 pumps listed,not the sicce. I also care about energy efficiency. You’ll have to run multiple sicce pumps to equate to an askol or BB.
Billrob71, very nice skimmer! How do you know your askol pulls more air then the red dragon? Are those typed numbers or actually have proven results? Its my understanding that the askol is a copy of the red dragon. I believe the red dragon also requires less energy. Also the air depends on your exact setup,which skimmer, wheel etc. IMO I agree,the red dragon isn’t worth it, the askol or bubble blaster are the two best choices out there for the money. What do you have your skimmer on (volume/bioload) and how do you like it? I’m leaning towards a SRO5000 since I’m not sold on the cone skimmers yet, not worth the extra money like the red dragon.
The red dragon was a pulled number on line.
The askoll pump on mine was tested by that I got mine from. Nice guy and a PITA all in the same but he does know his skimmers and worked SWC and they designed a new skimmer together.Hey BZ, How much room will you have in the stand for a skimmer? footprint in sump and head room under the tank? dont forget to leave enough height to remove the skimmate cup. if its a standard 90 stand, you probably cant go taller than 22 inches for the skimmer. so make some measurements before you decide.
the inside of the stand goes up to 26’’ where the center brase for the stand is, and about 28 inches on the sides of the brase. I wasnt really looking at anything 22 inches. At one point i had my 24-25 inch denitrator in there but desided that was too tight of a squeeze, and it came out pretty easily.
I’m getting the skimmer for Christmas, so I’ll porbably order next week at the latest.
Why the denitrator?
Oh, I just found a video of the pirates DIY cone skimmer in action. Looks pretty good.
just incase anyone was wondering.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:26, topic:3556”]
Why the denitrator? [/quote]
Why not? is there a problem running one? I figue I need as much filtration as i can get.
I could refer you to another thread where I stated in my opinion that they make such a small difference they often aren’t worth it and there are plenty of other more important things to spend your time and money on. My opinion.
it cost me 20$. If it would have cost me 300$ then i wouldnt have bought one. If i really needed extra filtration i would throw another 20 lbs of rock in my sump. I have the denitrator so why no use it?
[quote=“bz350, post:30, topic:3556”]
it cost me 20$. If it would have cost me 300$ then i wouldnt have bought one. If i really needed extra filtration i would throw another 20 lbs of rock in my sump. I have the denitrator so why no use it?[/quote]
I would surmise that you would be decreasing bacteria levels due to the disturbance of the nitrogen cycle.The denitrator will also negatively effect any macro algae in a refugium. In any rate, I agree with Jon in the redundancy of obsolete technology.
There was once a guy who surfed these forums who had a denitrator. It crashed his tank. He sold everything off. He is no longer on the forum.
The more pieces you have the more things could go wrong. There is no difference as far as the animals in your tank are concerned between .20ppm and .30 or .35ppm Nitrates. Since that is likely the only difference the device will make and since it could potentially spring a leak draining your tank or go stagnant because the feed pump sticks and then come back to life when you tap the pump and it crashes your tank. Risk out weighs the benefits.
Post it in the market place for $5-10 perhaps someone who only uses the forum to buy and sell things will take it off your hands.
You’re right, i think my tempature went up when i unpluged it which is a good thing (it was fed with airline tube, must have been really low flow). ill probably throw some more rock in the sump now, haha
There you go, it put heat in your system and used electricity.
Overall, in my opinion, you want to use as few components as possible. The more things you add the more things can break, leak, have stray current, require maintenance, require oversight. Keep things simple where possible. I mean my system is getting very complicated and intricate, but every piece I add I believe makes a significant difference and I have plenty of fail safes built in.