DIY Skimmer Q?

kandr

kandr

Member
I'm just doing research on making a DIY skimmer.
I was looking into buying a venturi valve. I noticed that the Rio 1400 that I bought recently for my sump came with some type of adapter (small rubber hose) that is supposed to make a steam of bubbles on the output for use in a skimmer.
I haven’t tried it out yet, but was wondering if I should just go with the venturi valve, or does this attachment work the same?
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
You could try the rio as is first to see if it will work.But in my experience( I have a 1700)the air injection setup on the rio's is not very reliable.Mine has constantly given me problems..If possible you should take the rio back and see if you can trade it for a MAG or some other pump...
 
kandr

kandr

Member
The rio was only $20. When it breaks I'll buy the mag. After I pay the shipping costs it wouldnt pay to return it. I keep hearing bad things about these Rio's. I guess you get what you pay for.
I'll go with the venturi valve.
I have one more question.
This is the pump I use for the return from my sump to my tank. I want to put the skimmer in line with the return. At the moment, I am restricting the water flow back to my dispay tank because I don't want to have to much turnover in my sump/refugium.
Will I need to run the pump at full power in order for the venturi valve to work properly?
And if so, will the skimmer apply enough back pressue to retard the water flow to an acceptable GPH for my refugium?
It is a 10 gallon refugium going to a 72 gal bowfront.
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
If you restrict the flow,you will also be restricting the air proporcinatly(sp?)
The skimmer itself will give no restriction at all...
You really should have the skimmer setup with it's own pump.Just pumpthe water out of the sump,,into the skimmer..then back into the sump near the pumpthat returns water to the tank...This is called a closed loop,or loop...
 
surfnturf

surfnturf

Member
Instead of using a venturi, you can also use a piece of airline to introduce air into the impeller of the pump, put an air control valve on the airline. This slows the flow of the pump without restricting the output side. It gives you great bubbles for a skimmer. If you are going to build your own skimmer, you might want to also look at the beckett #1408 foamer, Precision Marine uses these in their bullet skimmers, as do many other high performance (read high price) skimmers. You will need a good sized pump to drive it though, definitely use a large Mag pump if you go that route.
 
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