New Life For an Old Skimmer

[BeltwayBandit]

I was one of those unfortunate ones who purchased a Berlin Turbo skimmer before I knew what I was doing. I dutifully tried to make the darn thing work, but to no avail. I removed the skimmer from my tank over a year ago and it has been sitting in my storage room. I recently started seriously thinking about a Kalk reactor and thought to myself, hrmmm why can't I make one out of that old skimmer. Well I looked at some designs for Kalk reactors and compared them to my skimmer and I think that I might have devised a way to make it work.

 

For anyone not familiar with the Berlin turbo it has a series of tubes inside the skimmer that directs the water from the bottom up, then down then back up again, the so called triple pass, before it exits the skimmer. What I plan to do is remove the middle divider and cut the first tube in half. I will then use the former inlet to the skimmer as my suction for my mixing pump. This will pull clear water from the mid colum (through the first tube that I cut in half). I will drill a hole in the bottom of the outer tube for the return from the mixing pump. I will drill another hole at/near the bottom for the feed pump. Finally I will remove the foam collection cup and cap the end. Then the two outlets will be combined into 1 via a tee, which will then be reduced to 1/2 or 1/4 inch tubing for the run to my tank.

 

Any thoughts on this setup? I realize it is probably hard to follow if you have never looked at one of these skimmers. But, if it works it will be a nice second life for a misspent $200.

 

BB

[BeltwayBandit]

Ok. 24 views and no comments? Am I crazy? Do you think it might work? Did I miss something? Does it not make sense? Will the Nats win the wildcard?

 

Anyone?

[dchild]

Sounds good, though hard to follow w/o pictures. The only thing I would change is that there is no need to have the feed pump come in low - if you have two connections higher up on the skimmer, use one in + one out. Use goop and not silicone for all your seals, and if you can, set it in a bucket or on one of those paint tray liners so if it leaks, even just a few drops at a time, you're covered. Watch out for low water levels in your source container (like if you have a bucket sitting next to it) causing a siphon from the reactor to your clean water and introducing air into the reactor.

[Folta]

I have no idea if it will work, but good luck with the project

[BeltwayBandit]

Sounds good, though hard to follow w/o pictures.  The only thing I would change is that there is no need to have the feed pump come in low - if you have two connections higher up on the skimmer, use one in + one out.  Use goop and not silicone for all your seals, and if you can, set it in a bucket or on one of those paint tray liners so if it leaks, even just a few drops at a time, you're covered.  Watch out for low water levels in your source container (like if you have a bucket sitting next to it) causing a siphon from the reactor to your clean water and introducing air into the reactor.

37446[/snapback]

 

 

I would post pictures, but can't seem to figure out the secret handshake for getting a login to the gallery section.

[GaryL]

I would post pictures, but can't seem to figure out the secret handshake for getting a login to the gallery section.

37451[/snapback]

 

just post on photobucket and link them here. its free and you can keep the larger file size. nathan is going to kill me for saying that. but that is were i post now because im out of pic space.

[BeltwayBandit]

just post on photobucket and link them here. its free and you can keep the larger file size. nathan is going to kill me for saying that. but that is were i post now because im out of pic space.

37499[/snapback]

 

 

Ok. Will do that. I will try to clean up the old skimmer and take some pics this weekend.

 

I'm still pondering how to configure the unit so I don't get siphon to/from storage reservoir to the reactor or reactor to the tank. I'm pretty sure that I will plumb it straight into my overflow (AGA 120 w/corner overflows). That way I will get good mixing as it falls to the sump and it will keep the discharge well above the water level in the reactor, while still keeping the reactor full. Would some type of check valve be necessary between the reservoir and the reactor? I am using a large rubbermaid trash can for my fresh water, but can't seem to think of a setup where the water levels in the two would be independent of each other.

 

BB

[flowerseller]

double B,

I am also a tad fuzzy on the adaptation discription having never looked at one but.......

 

For my kalk reactor, I put my out pipe up to my overflow box which I too believed would cause it to backflow like you mentioned. To fix that, I used a 1/2 swing arm check valve right at the top off pump. Problem solved.

Yours sounds interesting.

[dbartco]

Sounds good, though hard to follow w/o pictures.  The only thing I would change is that there is no need to have the feed pump come in low - if you have two connections higher up on the skimmer, use one in + one out. 

37446[/snapback]

 

 

I would go with the feed pump coming in low. It forces the higher concentrated calcium laden water up and out.

[BeltwayBandit]

Well it is built. I have a few "issues" to work out with it. I ended up simplifying the design somewhat.

 

 

Here is what I ended up with. Basically it is a 4" cylinder, 18" tall. I have a riser that brings in makeup water from the bottom to about 8" into the main chamber. I am using a Maxi-Jet 1200 as my mixing pump. This pump is actually inside the chamber, I cut the plug off of it and ran the wire through the former discharge hole at the top. I sealed the wire in with plumbers epoxy and silicone. I capped the top with a 2" PVC cap. I drilled and tapped that cap with a 1/4" nipple. I then feed about 40' of tubing. I am pushing the water with a MAG-7 controlled by a Tsunami float switch. I tested the float switch and pump last night, no problems. I ran the main pump for about 12 hours and had a very small ammount of seepage from the top of the unit. All in all I am fairly pleased with the unit. I think that I will actually end up running the unit inside my makeup water reservoir for space reasons, flood control if it breaks and to protect the reactor since it is in my storage room and would get a lot of bumps and jostles.

 

Here is a standard picture of what the XL looks like. I removed the collection cup from the top. I also removed one of the internal dividers. The small divider is the one that I cut. I will try to post some pictures of the finished product soon.