Taam Rio 800 RV Review

BlueAbyss · #1 05-28-2009, 12:06 AM

I purchased Taam Rio 800 RV pump for use in a DIY protein skimmer. Before purchasing, I searched for reviews and was unable to find a commercial review in any publication. I also searched forums, here and NR, and found some mention but no one that had actually used one of these pumps. The price was right though (25 bucks) so I went ahead and ordered one from mops.ca.

I received the pump yesterday. Upon taking it out of the box, I found that the build quality was generally good, and the pump is appropriately small. This pump has been modified at the factory with a different impeller, volute, and intake than the stock pump.

View of the intake with the front housing taken off:

View of the impeller in the housing:

The impeller is fitted with fins that can point in one direction or the other... they are attached with plastic pins that go through the impeller and attach to the other side of the fin. I'm not sure why they wouldn't have just used a solid impeller.

I first tested it in 8" of clean freshwater to see the average size of the bubbles. In this test, the pump puts out a large number of bubbles, but they seemed much too large to produce foam. By changing the amount of air the venturi is able to pull, I was able to change the size of the bubbles, but not to the extent that the bubbles looked small enough. I also attempted changing the hoses around, it didn't seem to make much difference.

Out of the box, I don't think this pump will do very well as a skimming pump due to the large bubbles.

Further modified, I think this pump could be excellent, so I have begun some simple modifications and will explore further methods as time goes on... More to come!

Jack · #2 05-28-2009, 12:29 AM

Test it with saltwater and you'll get small bubbles.

BlueAbyss · #3 05-28-2009, 01:13 AM

I suspected this, thanks Jack.

I might have to undo my modification and test it with some salt water (at a reasonable salinity) just to see how small the bubbles are... I've already got it putting out pretty fine bubbles in freshwater with some time and a couple feet of 4 lb fishing line...

My modified impeller... I suppose this would be called a 'web wheel'...

...works pretty well for making fine (er) bubbles in freshwater. I'll mix some saltwater and see what happens. I have some confidence in this pump's ability as a component of a recirculating skimmer now that I've fiddled with it some.

BlueAbyss · #4 05-28-2009, 04:56 AM

I've tested this in salt water mixed to ~1.021 SG @ 20 degrees C on my refractometer. I actually used Half Salt, which I ran out of (why I didn't run my test at 1.026 like I plan to run my system).

I can confidently say that with it will produce a very fine bubble. At least, it will with the above modification, but I'm sure it will do well out of the box also.

I would say that this would be an excellent option for a DIY recirculating skimmer or retrofitting an older skimmer for cheap. We'll see how well it works in practice later on this summer.