Skimmer Decision

forcrz6

Member
Can Someone Put these in order from best to worst for Me? These are the Skimmers Im looking at for my 120
Seaclone 150
Octopus NW-150
JEBO 520
Also Advice on different skimmers are welcome.
 

mojo46825

Member
only one on there worth mentioning in my opinion is the octopus. Good for the $$$. Anything I could suggest is way more money and there have been many threads on those.
 

forcrz6

Member
I agree with you 100% on the Octopus. But I missed my chance. Lost out on that Octo. Could have got it for 120.00
But Oh well.
Well I need something for this tank in the mean time. I'm gonna get the JEBO. I know they get a bad rap. I had to mod the 1 I have right now on my 55 just to get it to what I wanted and to make it work better than norm. But hay it works. and a bad skimmer is better than no skimmer. IMO.
Now comes the questions. I know when I was moding out my old skimmer I came across some threads for this model and How to make it work better and get more skim. What I dont understand is mesh moding. Can someone explain this to me?
 

mojo46825

Member
Total waste of time imo. Buy the octo. if you bought the jebo. Sell it and buy the octo. Really there is a huge difference.
 

forcrz6

Member
Originally Posted by mojo46825
http:///forum/post/2641045
Total waste of time imo. Buy the octo. if you bought the jebo. Sell it and buy the octo. Really there is a huge difference.
I agree with you 100% on the Octopus. But I missed my chance
 

forcrz6

Member
So I found out what a mesh mod was. There are also a couple of other things I would like to try out to. So what I am going to do is test my ideas on my sick tank skimmer as that is another jebo.
My plans
Add a Mesh mod to the skimmer and see what the flow rates are before and after the mod. After that I figure I may need to adjust the air intake (Drill or widen) But I will post the results.
Next I am gonna try a Gate Valve Mod for that skimmer.
Ill see how that goes. Get the flow rates again and see what kind of skim Ill get.
I will then try a Recirculating Mod to the skimmer body.This along with the Mesh mod should really increase the efficiency of this skimmer.
I know a lot of people don't like this skimmer. And since this is what I have to deal with. I am gonna consider this a fun challenge. And a learning experience. And if I can make this skimmer better. Well then my 50$ will be well worth it. If it doesn't work, well we are back to this is a junk skimmer anyway.
I look at it this way. If I can even make a 20% improvement to this skimmer. That is a lot better and may actually become something other people may then use.
 

forcrz6

Member
Update #1
Ok So I got home earlier and went right to work Modding the JEBO that I have had for the sick tank.
So far all I have done it the Mesh Mod.
This Mod WORKS. I cant believe the difference.What I did first as a test run was just Mount the Mesh to the Impellers for the Mag Drive using some Super glue and Fishing line. I then put this back in to the MAG drive and started it up. Now b4 I started it up I made sure the valve for the air was wide open. I watched the skimmer for a little bit and noticed the water was rushing harder out the Ejection port. I also noticed alot more bubbles in the body.
I then took the cap off the collection cup. Now usually when I first start up the skimmer, it took at least an hour for any foam to start. Now after just 5 mins there is a nice foam tower (Very stiff actually) coming out of the skimer and flowing down the sides of the collection cup.
I have not seen this thing work this well EVER.
I will let this run over night to see what kind of skim amount I get. But B4 I was emptying the cup once every two and a half week may be 3.
 

forcrz6

Member
So here are some Pics
Here is the Impeller out

Here is the next 1 where I cut the impellers for a place to glue the Mesh on to it

Here is the 1 where I glued the Mesh on

Here is another Pic of where I used fishing wire to attach the Mesh to the partial impellers.

Finished Product
 

forcrz6

Member
So the skimmer ran over night with out an issue. To my surprise there was 1/4 cup of skim. That is a lot more than I would ever get in a day. I did not touch the needle valve for the air at all, I have left that wide open. So now I know that the skimmer is preforming better than it ever has.
I'm gonna give it 24 to 48 more hours before I do any other work to it to see how this initial break in goes.
 
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