ASM G3 Recirculation Modification

[byee]

I've got a ASM G3 and want to add the recirculation mod to it.

About 2 years ago, there was a ASM site which provided the instructions on the mod. Is this website still around ?? or can anyone provide me with the instructions on the re-circ mod.

Thanks in advance.

[Delphinus]

My suggestion, don't bother with the recirc mod.

I did the gate valve mod, the recirc mod, and the meshwheel mod with this skimmer. The gate valve mod is worthwhile because it makes it easier to adjust, the meshmod is worthwhile because it makes the skimmer into a TREMENDOUS performer (difference is night and day), but the recirculation mod is both a PITA and doesn't make a difference in terms of skimmate production (quantity or quality). And it's very easy to mess up, the hole locations need to be very precise otherwise you'll have a bear of a time getting the pump to attach, or you'll go through various plumbing bits trying to make it fit ... and last but not least it makes the skimmer not able to stand up on its own if you hang the pump off the side, you need to glue on a base or find some other way to stabilize the skimmer in your sump. For me the recirc mod was a disappointment. My advice is do the other two and call it a day. You won't believe how well the meshmod works, seriously, if you haven't done it already, do that one next and see if you really need to go any further, I expect you'll likely find you won't need to.

[Delphinus]

For what it's worth. :mrgreen: http://canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=32196&

[byee]

thanks for the info.

do you know of anyone local fish store who sells the Enkamat mesh ? or anyone else ?

[Abbyreefer]

I've heard that home depot sells it. I've got a G2 and was thinking about doing it to mine as well. Does anyone know if you can buy the wheel from a mod place already complete ?

[Skimmin]

Interesting. I have a ASM G2 that works great now that its recirculated. I can't say that it doubled my skimmate production but there is a significant increase. Acrylic tubing drills so easily with a hole saw. I've re-circ'd 3 of the ASM skimmers and on all three I've 'eyeballed' the hole location. That being said it is probably better to mark and measure. With the current G2 I'm running I also upgraded from the Sedra 3500 to the 5000.(haven't installed the gate valve mod yet) but the skimmer seems to be working great. The other thing is if you don't find re-circ works for you, it is very easy to put a plug in the hole you made and use it as a drain. I've never heard of buying it as a kit but Delphinus has a great step by step guide made for the meshwheel mod

[byee]

Interesting. I have a ASM G2 that works great now that its recirculated. I can't say that it doubled my skimmate production but there is a significant increase. Acrylic tubing drills so easily with a hole saw. I've re-circ'd 3 of the ASM skimmers and on all three I've 'eyeballed' the hole location. That being said it is probably better to mark and measure. With the current G2 I'm running I also upgraded from the Sedra 3500 to the 5000.(haven't installed the gate valve mod yet) but the skimmer seems to be working great. The other thing is if you don't find re-circ works for you, it is very easy to put a plug in the hole you made and use it as a drain. I've never heard of buying it as a kit but Delphinus has a great step by step guide made for the meshwheel mod

Skimmin,

thanks for the reply. when I purchased my ASM 2 years ago, there was a website which provided instructions to the mods available for the skimmer.

I've done the gate valve and it has simplified the setup of the skimmer.

Now I'm looking at the recirculation mod. I'm hoping it'll improve the skimming. if not, then I'll try the mesh mod.

Are there instructions on the web for the re-circ mod ?? or are you able to provide me with instructions ??

BTW, which pump are you using to pump water into your skimmer ??

Able to provide a digital image of your setup ??

thanks !!

[Denis]

This will help.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1356569&perpage=25&pagenumber=13

[Delphinus]

If you want to try the Enkamat, try this guy, I think he's in the lower mainland like you: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=45509

Otherwise maybe try Ocean Aquatics? Maybe Wendell has some? .. I know you can mail order smallish pieces from premiumaquatics.com and maybe some other US based vendors. I see it sometimes pop up on ebay as well so that might be worth a quick check.

I don't know why my recirc mod didn't work but I definitely didn't get any increase in skimmate production or darkness of skimmate. Maybe my situation was a one-off. I find that a lot of sump based skimmers nowadays don't have recirc, even the top dollar models seem to be single-pass. You can easily make the skimmer a psuedo recirculation by having the effluent of the skimmer upstream of the intake, so the recirculation still happens but it happens in concert (so to speak) with your sump. Although if you're comfortable drilling holes in the skimmer then go for it. I ended up not liking how I had it the first time I patched the holes and tried again, so I ended up with a real fugly Frankenstein of a skimmer with diminished resale value (not that these things hold onto much of their retail value anyhow though, so I guess that doesn't really play into things..)

If it was me, I say do the meshmod first because if you don't like it (I would be VERY surprised if you didn't like it, but you never know :mrgreen:), all you need is a new impeller to undo the mod. Those Sedra impellers don't last forever anyhow, so it's a given that sooner or later you'll need a replacement impeller regardless.

[mark]

I did the re-cir, can't say how much improvement but was basically just drilling a hole and finding a uni-seal.

As for the mesh mod, I'm a little more reluctant to try. Anyone come across a dealer who carries the Sedra impellers already mod'd.

[Delphinus]

What? You are having trouble coming to terms with wrecking a perfectly good impeller based on the say-so of some random folks on the internet? What's wrong with you!! The internet doesn't lie!!! :p

... I don't really know how to help with that. I wrestled with the issue for a long time myself, in the end I took a leap of faith and for once I actually didn't regret it. I'm not normally one to embrace fads and I find that usually when I do, the results don't match the hype and I end up disappointed. For what it's worth, it's just an impeller and you can replace the impeller fairly easily. That's what helped push me over the edge. Cutting holes is worse, in my opinion, than cutting pins off an impeller because you can't undrill a hole (you can patch it, but it's not the same) but you can put a new impeller in and be no worse off than where you were before you did it.

I dunno, guess like anything, YMMV. Good luck with whatever you guys end up deciding. :)

[xtreme]

Anyone come across a dealer who carries the Sedra impellers already mod'd.

I came across a site on the weekend, and apparently Euro-reef has a alloy mesh wheel in the works.

http://www.reefbuilders.com/2009/04/07/alloy-mesh-wheel-euro-reef/