[Todd L]

I'm curious if anyone has changed the impeller blades on their skimmer and noticed more skimmate?

I read the post in the DIY area for modifying the Seaclone units for improved performance, and went ahead and made all of the suggested changes. I've seen some improvement but not an inordinate amount.

I had an idea yesterday to replace the impeller blade that came with the unit, which has I think either 5 or 6 blades on it with the blade that was on my Prizm skimmer. That one has 18 blades.

I went ahead and made the change when I was doing my water change and when I started it back up again the amount of froth seemed to be out of control! I didn't really give it a lot of time to settle down though so I am wondering if anyone has made any similar changes to their stock skimmer and had a beneficial result?

Does anyone know if these skimmers are designed with exact specs in that changing the blades will affect it's performance adversely? I'm thinking of trying the 18 blade wheel again and giving it more time to settle down and see if it works.

Has anyone ever tried this?

[pogodzib]

I've modded my Seaclones multiple times and some of them have improved the skimmer. Adding a larger pump w/ a mesh mod as a decent improvement so I would guess that having a better impeller would help as well.

[RyanG]

I have modded mine back in the day and the biggest improvement I got was adding a larger pump with a needlewheel. When I did that I got a large uptick on the amount of skimate coming up every day.

Other than what Brian or you already did thats about it, next you should look at getting a better skimmer

[Todd L]

Thanks for the input Ryaan and Pogo! Yes, the next step is definitely a better skimmer. This Seaclone was supposed to be (I thought) a step up from the Prizm I had, but I think the Prizm actually did a much better job till the motor fizzled out. It ran, but at a much reduced rate.

Do you guys have any recommendations? I've been reading a lot on the different models and there is just so much difference of opinions out there.
The tank I have now I don't think has a large bio-load in it. For a 40g tank I've only got 3 small fish, 2 shrimp and probably a dozen each of the hermies and snails. (plus a lot of tube worms). My levels have really been constant since I first started the tank up, except for the nitrates have always hung at about 30. I just recently put a small algae filter off of the back of the tank also...it holds maybe 4gal of water, with a DSB, about 10# of LR, some Chaeto and 2 other types I forget...but the nitrates have come down to just under 20.

Eventually I do want to work myself into a reef, but for now until I learn how to really keep the parameters pristine I don't want to go there. Not to mention the financial situation isn't there quite yet for it either!

Anyway....thanks again for the input!

Todd

[RyanG]

I would guess-ti-mate to say that your high nitrates are from your Marineland C-220 (canister filters are a big mess with saltwater aquariums). The best setup for a saltwater aquarium, reef or not in my opinion is a sump setup.

Your nitrates are high. We need to get those down to 0 levels.
For the skimmer what if any is your budget?

[Todd L]

Ryan,
yeah....I've heard that cannisters can keep the nitrate levels high....sadly after I bought one though! Prior to the marineland I had one of those bio-wheel units.
Part of my problem is not really having the space for a sump. Eventually that's where I'll wind up going though prior to starting in with corals and such for sure.
Do you think the small algae tank I have on the back of my tank will help with the nitrate level though? I'm cleaning out the foam filters in the cannister every two weeks or so.

Anyway......right now there really is no budget for a skimmer as I'm currently unemployed......but when I do start working I'm thinking in the $200-$250 range. I'd like to get something that'd work for a larger tank if possible in that range so I won't have to worry about gettting another one down the road when I am able to get a larger tank.

Right now I'm kind of resigned to the fact that I am where I am with this one....it doesn't seem like my nitrate level is going to drop all that much below 20 it's sounding like with the cannister on there. If it is possible to tweak someting in order to help the levels I'd do it.....just that finances are tight right now.

Any advice you can give me though is greatly appreciated!

Todd

[RyanG]

The small algae area that you are referring to is a refugium? If your going to keep your canister filter then I would suggest that you take out the media and replace it with pieces of live rock and just keep a very simple form of mechanical filtration to filter out debris in the water.

A refugium will help

[Todd L]

Ryan,
Yes, the algae area I am referring to is a refugium. I hesitated to call it that only because in a lot of my reading it is not really *technically* a *refugium*?....but yes. I made it myself, and modelled it after a few HOB types I've seen.
I have the output on my Seaclone going into the fuge, through a series of baffles, and then draining right into the main tank. It's set a few inches above the level of my main tank. I've got some LR in it, chaeto, some other types of algae and a DSB. The total volume this fuge holds is about 4gal......it's 12"x4"x20" in size.
I dont think that's an ideal size for a 40g tank though is it? That's why I kept the cannister....

So taking out all of the media in my cannister and replacing it with LR would work just as well??? (except for the simple form of mechanical you suggested) I'm assuming you mean the charcoal as well? OMG if so it's done tomorrow! It seems to make total sense though when ya think about it!

Thanks tons Ryan!

[RyanG]

You can take the charcoal out as well if you want, but that is up to you. Some aquarists keep charcoal running on their tanks.

Make sure you get rubble or smaller pieces of live rock that have good coraline growth on them.

[Todd L]

Cool beans!

Thanks Ryan