My new skimmer Turbo 5000 Twin

[Baggerhog]

Its awesome I love it.

[rmstevensiii]

Where did you find the miniaturized salt buckets? 

[aquavista99]

Very nice....looks like you may need a ladder to change the collection cup. Nice skimmer!!!

[bigfalcon36]

Nice.  What type of pumps run it?

[Baggerhog]

It has two ocean runner 3700s as recirc and a genx 1300 gph toned down to 700 gph with a gate valve. Thanks everybody. The mini salt buckets came from dr fosters I did my own personal power buy and bought 4 buckets and ended up paying $34 a bucket delivered to my door. I love that company.

[bigfalcon36]

Time to mod those pumps!  MESHWHEEL MOD!  MESHWHEEL MOD!!!

[JoeAyers]

Did one last night and I think he's about to put the 2nd one in soon.

Joe

[Reefinmike]

what size of tank is it?

also where did you get the mini 2x4's

[Baggerhog]

I have a two tanks on one system. I have a 150 gallon reef tank and a 92 gallon corner reef tank. They are plumbed into the basement. I have a 55 gallon refugium and a 180 gallon sump. I am not sure what mini 2 x 4s you are referring to.

[The Propagator]

I think that was along the lines of the "mini salt buckets".

NICE hardware !
I'm drooling over here !

[Baggerhog]

Thanks, I have had it running for a while and I still love it.

[The Propagator]

Have you had any problems with PH swings in the low end using such an aggressive skimmer of that size?

[Baggerhog]

I did have some ph swings but I attribute that mainly to topping off with a small Kalkenstien. I now have a DIY kalkenstein that is 5 foot tall and 4 inches in diameter. I am using a quite one 4000 as the recirc pump. since making the switch I have not had any problems. I had never heard of a skimmer causing a ph swing how does that work as I am still somewhat new to the hobby and still learning. Thanks again to Joe Ayers he helped me build the new DIY kalkenstien.

[Reefinmike]

if anything, i think the skimmer would raise the ph some because it would oxygenate the water getting excess CO2 out that can drag down the ph.

[aquavista99]

I did have some ph swings but I attribute that mainly to topping off with a small Kalkenstien. I now have a DIY kalkenstein that is 5 foot tall and 4 inches in diameter. I am using a quite one 4000 as the recirc pump. since making the switch I have not had any problems. I had never heard of a skimmer causing a ph swing how does that work as I am still somewhat new to the hobby and still learning. Thanks again to Joe Ayers he helped me build the new DIY kalkenstien.

Maybe Joe would be willing to show us how he built the DIY Kalkenstien (Joe's version, not CORA's) at an upcoming meeting? Sounds nice. Do you have any pictures of your 5 ft Kalkwasser reactor to share?

[JoeAyers]

Be glad to. Here is a 2 minute drawing. Figure for every 19" of pipe you will have 1 gallon of kalk filled topoff water.

[scott wilson]

why do you need the reactor to be 4' tall?

[aquavista99]

Be glad to. Here is a 2 minute drawing. Figure for every 19" of pipe you will have 1 gallon of kalk filled topoff water.

Would you be interested in giving a demo at an upcoming meeting? Not sure how much your supplies would cost. I attached a picture of my kalk reactor....its about a foot tall (with numerous 1 gallon chambers) and I have to manually feed it to my reef twice daily

[slandis3]

I would like to build one of these. I have most of the supplies. PM me if you would be willing to do a demo and give me a list of exactly what parts you used.

[JoeAyers]

why do you need the reactor to be 4' tall?

It's not 'needed', but the problem Andy was having is that his sump has a surface area of 72x24. so if he has a 1/4" drop and then his topoff kicks on he has to refill the tank with 2 gallons of water. Using the kalkenstein he would get <1 gallon of high PH kalk filled water, then it would just top off with straight RODI that is passing through the reactor, but not getting much mixing. By building the reactor taller he gets about 4 gallons of Kalk filled water to topoff with. He was having problems keeping his PH above 8 so he needed the higher PH topoff water.

[JoeAyers]

I have most of what I would need to do a Demo. I will put together a complete list of parts that I use if anyone wants to build one at the same time.

Joe

[JoeAyers]

Here is what I used. My advice is look through your box of random PVC/fittings and adjust accordingly to save money. If you already have a pump that you can use, that will help, just need to adjust a little.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b343/jpayers/KRList.jpg

Also, if you do not already have an autotop off, (float switch/solinoid or float switch/pump) then you will need one for this to work properly.

If you are interested I can put one together at a meeting. Or if you guys want to build one then we can do that.

Joe

[slandis3]

Anyone wanting to do one of these  Menards has 4" pvc on sale for $10 for 10'

[slandis3]

anyone who wants to build one  let me know im going to order unseals this weekend. Just let me know what size you need and how many you want

[JoeAyers]

Hey. If no one wants to split the PVC with you I will. I want to build a CO2 reactor for my freshwater tank. I won't be able to get it from you until the meeting though.

Joe