Seaclone Pump Alternative?

[Fish]

Ok, I know I'm not the first person in the history of this hobby who has expressed a desire to "tweak" the "performance" of this skimmer :razz: .

I have recently completed the bioball/needlewheel modification and now I am wondering if I just need a pump with a little more muscle than the maxijet1200. Would this skimmer give me better results if I switched to a larger powerhead (like the Aquaclear 70/ Hagen 802)? TIA.

- Chad

[danny zubot]

The first question you should ask is are you looking for more flow or more bubbles through the skimmer? If you increas the floe through a skimmer you may have ill effects. I have a modified Sea clone too, and I find that less flow than a maxijet 1200 works better for me. Unfortunately the ventury doesn't provide enough foam so I just took it off. I am using 2 wooden air stones instead.
What are the bubbles like after the bio ball needle wheel mod? I've heard of it but haven't actually tried it, nor do I know how. I'm interested, can you point me to a forum on it?

[Fish]

I'm a simple man, all I'm looking for is better skimming from this seaclone. Is that too much to ask?...... :razz:
A good frind of mine (jojoseb) recently purchased a turboflotor and I was really impressed with the quality of bubbles it produces. From further research I found that that it is because his pump has a needle wheel impeller which chops the bubles up. I found this link on RC that shows how you can use a bioball to add a needlewheel to a maxijet1200. The mod only took me 5mins and it did give me better skimmate than I was getting before. The bubbles are much more fine and I think there is more surface area for the water to contact. Here are the directions I used (partway down the page)
:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=332391&perpage=25&pagenumber=40

People also recommend cutting down the inner cylinder to only 2.5" tall, adding a better quality air flow valve to the venturi line, and using washer or gasket material to make the collection cup fit on airtight.

- Chad