My redneck skimmer mod

[spit.fire]

I had a euroreef skimmer sitting in my garage missing well everything but the cup and body so I figured I'd Jerry rig something together to get it going

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/410943AD-610F-4FF1-B121-B87D4C20DB49-621-0000009FA3C63025.jpg

Actually seems to work quite well, filled the cup overnight running on my lr storage tank

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/A278AFDE-3A19-4E18-B093-1E62A64FB383-621-000000A0ACB85723.jpg

Now to refine the mod by making a proper standpipe on the lathe and getting a cheap needlewheel pump so if wont be so fricken noisy

Quiet one my a$$

Ps: yes the standpipe is crooked, that's why it's a redneck mod, I used a drill and a file for shaping the standpipe

It was reasonably quiet running in a Rubbermaid but in a glass tank it's noisy

[The Grizz]

Nice, way to bring something back from the landfill :lol:

[claymax]

put a wave line pump on it and that thing will SKIM

[spit.fire]

Tbh I was thinking about modding a mag drive that I have laying around

I'm trying to make everything put of stuff I have laying around in my garage

Unfortunately I had a needlewheel pump but I gave it away not thinking I'd ever use it

[MMAX]

I made my own needle wheel pump out of a regular Rio 1200. Drilled 2 tiny holes in each impeller then used an exacto knife to cut notches into every blade. Seems to work ok on my skimmer.

[spit.fire]

In tempted to butcher a coralife skimmer for the needlewheel although I'm not 100% sure how well they work as the skimmers are poo

[MMAX]

In tempted to butcher a coralife skimmer for the needlewheel although I'm not 100% sure how well they work as the skimmers are poo

Yeah they are crappy skimmers but the pump should work fine.

[sobe]

Yea I have one of these "quiet one" as my return pump on my sump,(I reused most of my old equipment from my previous tank).. Im Seriously thinking of purchasing another internal pump to replace it can't stand the "humming" noise now

[tentacles]

I recently made a modded impeller for a MJ1200 to go on my seaclone.. It went from the noisiest clatter monster to roughly the same level as the eheim compact 1000 return pump.. It also makes the skimmer perform like never before! Bubbles are smaller and there are no longer large bubbles coming through.

What I did was cut the blades off the impeller and slipped a PVC "sleeve" over the shaft, then glued on bits of notched PVC from some pipe. The sleeve is a fairly tight fit, it actually makes the impeller's flip-flop action a little stiff. I believe this is what helps quiet things down; with an air-water mix doesn't provide as much or as consistent resistance so the impeller just bounces back and forth.

Anyways, the pictures are of version 1; version 2 was made with a slightly thicker wall on the PVC sleeve area, .040" instead of .028". The first one was too tight and split.

I had an idea to make these more easily by making the pvc sleeve have a wider flat area and glueing on 1/8" or 1/16" PVC rod as pins to make an actual needle wheel.

[spit.fire]

I recently made a modded impeller for a MJ1200 to go on my seaclone.. It went from the noisiest clatter monster to roughly the same level as the eheim compact 1000 return pump.. It also makes the skimmer perform like never before! Bubbles are smaller and there are no longer large bubbles coming through.

What I did was cut the blades off the impeller and slipped a PVC "sleeve" over the shaft, then glued on bits of notched PVC from some pipe. The sleeve is a fairly tight fit, it actually makes the impeller's flip-flop action a little stiff. I believe this is what helps quiet things down; with an air-water mix doesn't provide as much or as consistent resistance so the impeller just bounces back and forth.

Anyways, the pictures are of version 1; version 2 was made with a slightly thicker wall on the PVC sleeve area, .040" instead of .028". The first one was too tight and split.

I had an idea to make these more easily by making the pvc sleeve have a wider flat area and glueing on 1/8" or 1/16" PVC rod as pins to make an actual needle wheel.

I've heard a lot of people cut up bio balls for needlewheel mods on maxijets

[tentacles]

Yeah, but the problem is finding the exact bio ball that fits over the impeller blades - I tried doing this with a bio ball that wasn't quite right and it worked for a while but then got ridiculously noisy and finally the pump just decided it wasn't going to turn that extra load anymore. Basically, that's why I even had a wrecked impeller to try modding - I'd had to trim 3 of the blades off to fit that bio ball on there in the first place, and it was useless after with only 3 blades on there.