ASM Recirculating Mod Question

[dave601m]

How is everone feeding their modded ASM'S? Right now I'm feeding it straight from the overflow (~200gph on a G3) into a 1/2" barbed fitting.

I think I have too much turbulence in the reaction chamber due to the narrow 1/2 inch fitting (I'm getting little skimmate production on a heavily stocked tank). I'm considering removing the 1/2 inch fitting and drilling a larger hole for 1" PVC pipe, but before I do it I'm curious to know what other people are using and how well it works for them.

Thanks!

 

[jrmx635]

G-3

I feed mine with the tank overflow at around 200 gph.
I ran a 1" uniseal through about half way up the skimmer body.
I also run a 45* elbow facing up on that drain pipe inside the skimmer boby.
So the drained water enters the skimmer and flows upward.
Also on your recirc pump,run a 90* elbow on the bottom facing down so that the pump will only suck water and not bubbles from the body.
This will make the air tube stop gurggling,if you find it to be annoying to listen to like I did.

And make sure you do the mesh wheel mod.
Way more improvement that anything else you can do to that skimmer

 

[dave601m]

What's the mesh wheel mod? I haven't heard about that one yet.

I also didn't put a 90 on the intake - I'll do that too, it does suck a whole lot of bubbles.
Do you see good performance with the 1" feed? If you have good luck with it, I might as well try it - I just want to make sure someone else has good luck with it before I drill my skimmer again.

Thanks a lot for the info!

 

[Aquadiva]

Try here....last post talks about it...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1006696&highlight=mesh+and+Mod

Improves the sedra pumps HUGE !!

 

[dave601m]

Thanks - How long does the mesh hold up under use? It looks like it would fall apart. Seems like its worth trying though, thanks!

 

[Aquadiva]

You know, I don't know.... I've had mine running a few months. No problems so far. But really....if I have to replace it every six months, it's only a small piece of scrubber pad and some zip ties. Pretty cheap and easy.

I was concerned that it may "break off" and sieze the pump, but I haven't heard of anyone reporting this.

 

[dave601m]

Also on your recirc pump,run a 90* elbow on the bottom facing down so that the pump will only suck water and not bubbles from the body.
This will make the air tube stop gurggling,if you find it to be annoying to listen to like I did.

And make sure you do the mesh wheel mod.
Way more improvement that anything else you can do to that skimmer

I drilled and replaced my 1/2 barbed fitting w/ a 1" uniseal and PVC, and ran the 45* elbow as you suggested. I tried to run a 90* elbow down from the intake ofthe recirculating pump, but there is no way to couple it to the venturi - the venturi is molded just slightly too big to slip into a coupling. how dod you get yours attached? I no longer have access to a lathe to shrink it down.

I'm toying wiht the idea of doign the meshwheel - Just haven't gotten the guts to cut off the needles from my Bday present yet