Somtimes Cheap Works

M

modifieddesign

Just wanted to share this picture of my super cheap Odyssea protein skimmer working it's butt off. I had heard horrible things about them but picked one up locally because this is my first reef tank (in wall 55g) and I'm just getting my feet wet right now so I didn't want to drop a bunch of money just yet. Well now I'm not even going to replace it.

I mesh modded it first, and to stop it's leaking problem that most people seem to suffer from (and trust me it did leak badly at first) I simply replaced it's o-ring on the connector where the intake tube connects to the chamber and then added an extra o-ring against the back wall of the connector. Bam, no leak.

So for a total investment of like $43 bucks I have what I consider a nice protein skimmer. My water has never looked clearer, and the gunk this thing pulls out blows my mind. Notice no light is showing through the gunk. It's thick and stinky. This picture is just a little over 48 hours of skimming. It took me two days to get it tuned in where I was happy with it, and it's only been on the tank for 4 days total.
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Ive actually heard they were decent once you fixed the few issues they come with. Not a bad way to go on a budget if you need it now and are open to some modding.
 
I love modding! I'm really sold on them. I'm considering using two of their larger models on my next build (135g) because I can buy and modify two for way less than the cost of one high end one. Less money on equipment means more money on coral.
 
@modifieddesign wrote:
I love modding! I'm really sold on them. I'm considering using two of their larger models on my next build (135g) because I can buy and modify two for way less than the cost of one high end one. Less money on equipment means more money on coral. said:
Good luck with that....! [smilie=smile.gif]
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they work ok but be warned make sure you are diligent on cleaning them. the pumps will seize on you if you don't clean them often, but that goes for most skimmers.
 
I could see that being a problem because I cleaned the collection cup for the first time yesterday and it had a thick layer of gunk on it. Rinsing didn't do the trick.
 
So something odd has happened. I have all filters/pumps plugged into the same power strip so I can turn them all off at once if need be. Well I did just that to glue down a bunch of frags I got from Shaggy the other day. Well when I turned it back on my protein skimmer was taking in too much water and just wants to over flow the cup. I cleaned the pump, cleaned the airlines, nothing. I then replaced the air lines and added a second one, nothing. This is bumming me out because it was pulling out the thickest sludge possible, just worked amazingly well. Nothing was changed, in fact I didn't even touch it while gluing frags, and it just won't work. Any ideas?
 
Sometimes the glue used for fragging corals can cause the skimmer to go nuts, I know the puttys deffinately will.
 
No. It takes some time. You can wait a few days and then do 10 or 15% w/c. When my skimmer goes on the fritz, I just leave it off for a few days, do a w/c, and then turn it back on.
 
Ok cool, that's what I'm doing now just by no choice I suppose. It's been off for two days. Thursday I'm doing a water change, probably 20%, and then hopefully it will work after that. Thanks for the info.
 
It's possible, but I've never had super glue gel cause my skimmer to go nuts.

Is the skimmer output submerged in water? If so, one other possibility is that your skimmer just runs high when you first start it, i.e., the internal water level will run higher than normal at first startup, then settle down to its normal water level after a few minutes. This can cause it to overflow the collection cup.

The main cause of this is back pressure on the water outlet of the skimmer, which happens when the skimmer output is submerged.
 
The output is submerged. I thought that maybe it would calm down but I don't have a way to let it run for awhile with out overflowing. Any tips?
 
I would try to bring the output pipe a little above the waterline to reduce the initial back pressure. If not then you may have to bring the internal water level down until it calms down then adjust it back up again.
 
Ok, thanks for the tip. I'm going to do a water change Thursday (I just don't have time until then) and I will try that while I fill it back up.
 
The water change didn't help, neither did lower levels. I have no idea why but the pump just stopped sucking in the right amount of air. I put on new air lines, clean the pump, tried the wc and lower levels, nothing. So I picked up a coral life 65 off craigslist for cheap and then found out it was a leaking monster that I just couldn't seem to work with. But then I got busy and modified the cheap odyssea protein skimmer to work with the pump from the corallife skimmer. Bam, works great. Now I have more flow and more bubbles than before. I can't even see through the chamber, it's just white. It's not tuned in yet so I'm not producing simmate yet but it's only been running a couple of hours now.
 
I'm not trying to be a SA here but how much has this cost you so far in money, time and lack of properly skimming your tank? I want you to be honest...knowing what you know now....would you go the same route or just get something like this. http://www.saltysupply.com/Reef-Octopus-Hang-on-Back-Protein-S-p/oc6116.htm Did you take the original pump apart and check the impeller?

Cheers,
 
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Thanks,
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