Skimmer Thread
- Thread starter jackson6745
- Start date
the DAS is wet, sorry cali, I can't get to the pump too take a shot of the needle, to fit the skimmer in my sump I had to strip the entire thing and re-asemble it inside the sump. It's the same pump Herman has, maybe he can clean his skimmer and take a pic of the needle wheel for you 
I'll be posting pics soon, and an interesting observation of the elos soon.
I'll be posting pics soon, and an interesting observation of the elos soon.
the DAS is making lot's of fine bubbles and some white foam at the top, it's not collecting too much junk yet.
one thing it is sitting in the return chamber after the elos, and also after 2 pounds of ESV carbon. In a couple of days after the skimmer is slimmed up I'm going to pull the carbon so the skimmer can get some unprocessed water. I had planned to plumb a return line to the skimmer but following Seans advice decided to wait before modifying the plumbing that drastically.
So now I have a rio 2100 feeding the skimmer, I'll change it to a smaller pump, it's throttled back at least half way now.
one thing it is sitting in the return chamber after the elos, and also after 2 pounds of ESV carbon. In a couple of days after the skimmer is slimmed up I'm going to pull the carbon so the skimmer can get some unprocessed water. I had planned to plumb a return line to the skimmer but following Seans advice decided to wait before modifying the plumbing that drastically.
So now I have a rio 2100 feeding the skimmer, I'll change it to a smaller pump, it's throttled back at least half way now.
DAS EX-2 Update
the DAS is doing well, I put a new pump on it to feed it. I'm splitting a small ehiem between the skimmer and reactor now.
this is what the DAS did after one day, also it was off for a few hours while I re-did the plumbing.
I think the pump is just big enough to feed the skimmer and reactor.
the DAS is doing well, I put a new pump on it to feed it. I'm splitting a small ehiem between the skimmer and reactor now.
this is what the DAS did after one day, also it was off for a few hours while I re-did the plumbing.
I think the pump is just big enough to feed the skimmer and reactor.
Elos Ns-1000
I changed the position of the Elos, the drain is now facing the other way.
Jesse was kind enough to send me a metric tee, and some little filter bags to prevent the water from splashing.
When I first placed the bag on it restricted the flow coming out. the bubbles backed up down to the bottom of the tube. as the filter bag broke in the bubbles returned to their normal level, just above the pump. I have no idea if this would make the skimming better, but it looked cool.
the new position,
the collection cup, taken from the same time as the DAS, I emptied and cleaned the cup when the DAS was set up. The air intake for the elos is now running into the compartment where the ballasts are kept. it is extremely dry and warm, there should be no more problems of moisture getting into the venturri valve.
to be fair the foam was set a bit on the dry side so the elos did not produce as much, but the consistency and color of the skimmate was very similar between the two.
Just this morning I recieved the larger collection cup direct from Italy, Thank you Nick! I will be back in the city on Friday and will set up the skimmer with the new cup then, sorry for the delay, I'm working out at my shop for the week. The new cup is much larger, it will be very interesting to see what happens when the air can be run full open.
I changed the position of the Elos, the drain is now facing the other way.
Jesse was kind enough to send me a metric tee, and some little filter bags to prevent the water from splashing.
When I first placed the bag on it restricted the flow coming out. the bubbles backed up down to the bottom of the tube. as the filter bag broke in the bubbles returned to their normal level, just above the pump. I have no idea if this would make the skimming better, but it looked cool.
the new position,
the collection cup, taken from the same time as the DAS, I emptied and cleaned the cup when the DAS was set up. The air intake for the elos is now running into the compartment where the ballasts are kept. it is extremely dry and warm, there should be no more problems of moisture getting into the venturri valve.
to be fair the foam was set a bit on the dry side so the elos did not produce as much, but the consistency and color of the skimmate was very similar between the two.
Just this morning I recieved the larger collection cup direct from Italy, Thank you Nick! I will be back in the city on Friday and will set up the skimmer with the new cup then, sorry for the delay, I'm working out at my shop for the week. The new cup is much larger, it will be very interesting to see what happens when the air can be run full open.
one more thing, to use the larger collection cup I'm going to have to place the skimmer outside the sump. It will be sitting in a bin for any flood emergencies. to plumb it I'm going to have to find metric pvc, are there any sources in NY for this? I can also modify a 1" fitting to fit the skimmer, but I'm kind of afraid of any leaks now that it will be sitting outside the sump.
one other note, I pulled the two pound bag of carbon that was sitting in front of the DAS, now it's up to the skimmers to scrub the tank.
one other note, I pulled the two pound bag of carbon that was sitting in front of the DAS, now it's up to the skimmers to scrub the tank.
the elos cup after giving it a bit more air,
and this is showing the DAS in the return section, that's the bag of carbon which I have removed. I normally run it 24/7, but thought it was not fair to restrict the nutrients getting to the DAS.
one thing I'll say between a new 2 pound bag of ESV carbon and two new skimmers the water is awfully clear.
and this is showing the DAS in the return section, that's the bag of carbon which I have removed. I normally run it 24/7, but thought it was not fair to restrict the nutrients getting to the DAS.
one thing I'll say between a new 2 pound bag of ESV carbon and two new skimmers the water is awfully clear.
Jhale, you can get the 40mm pipe from mcmasters.com but they will charge you a mint. I have some coming but it won't be in time for your "skim off". A threaded 1 1/4 shaved down a bit worked for me. You have tools, do you have lathe?
Now to the performance of the two. So the DAS is obviously not made as well. Those are great pictures you took of the two and the DAS does look like a DIY unit. I think you could actually do a better job than that because they are using the "grain" side of the ABS in the skimmer body, pretty cheezy. Even using ABS is not a good idea if you plan on using ozone.The other thing is the pumps. You are running 4000 liters per hour on the DAS to the NS that is running 2400 and you say the performance seems pretty similar. What does that say for the design of the one with 2 pumps? What happens in a year or two when the DAS pumps and the NS pumps loose performance, as all pumps do? With the NS they are designed with this in mind and you simple add more air, with the DAS I am not sure what you would do. If those are re-branded aquabees then I would be concerned about the long term, anyways. We tried using these pumps and went with eheim for all of our pumps because we had problems with reliability among other things. If the perfomance is similar what other things make these two units different? Performance, customer service, QUALITY, pump QUALITY, size, different installation options and did I mention QUALITY. Ease of use is one that I was surprised at. I would imagine that with the air intake problem fixed you will have a stable skimmer. Now let me get a NS4000 and run it against a single pump needlewheel and see what happens. Ok I think I've stirred the pot enough. All you DAS owners flame away. Just don't type to hard it might send vibrations through the floor and crack your skimmer.:thrash:
Now to the performance of the two. So the DAS is obviously not made as well. Those are great pictures you took of the two and the DAS does look like a DIY unit. I think you could actually do a better job than that because they are using the "grain" side of the ABS in the skimmer body, pretty cheezy. Even using ABS is not a good idea if you plan on using ozone.The other thing is the pumps. You are running 4000 liters per hour on the DAS to the NS that is running 2400 and you say the performance seems pretty similar. What does that say for the design of the one with 2 pumps? What happens in a year or two when the DAS pumps and the NS pumps loose performance, as all pumps do? With the NS they are designed with this in mind and you simple add more air, with the DAS I am not sure what you would do. If those are re-branded aquabees then I would be concerned about the long term, anyways. We tried using these pumps and went with eheim for all of our pumps because we had problems with reliability among other things. If the perfomance is similar what other things make these two units different? Performance, customer service, QUALITY, pump QUALITY, size, different installation options and did I mention QUALITY. Ease of use is one that I was surprised at. I would imagine that with the air intake problem fixed you will have a stable skimmer. Now let me get a NS4000 and run it against a single pump needlewheel and see what happens. Ok I think I've stirred the pot enough. All you DAS owners flame away. Just don't type to hard it might send vibrations through the floor and crack your skimmer.:thrash:
I love a good :fight2:, but I agree I'm a :bunnies: not a :fight2:er
anyway there is only one other DAS user on MR, herman, and he's not commenting lol. Rich on the other hand is a bad a$$ and he's getting the BX-3 any day.
Rich you'll have to wait for the big pot to check out the Elos, are you working this weekend? (dumb question I know)
other comparisons,
• cost, the ns-1000 is about $799.00
the DAS about $520.00
• watts used
ehiem on elos 65 watts
2xDAS/aquabee's 76 watts
• service:
Elos you get to hang out with Jesse and the owner Nick calls or writes to you from Italy.
DAS service: you order online then get a number for their online division in TX, then if your lucky after five calls or so you get someone on the phone who is extremely nice and pleasant but can't help with the technical stuff.
(sorry DAS i.e.. petorama.net, you just need a little help in this dept)
• skimmate test, they both smell like crap.
by the way I do have a lathe, but I'm not going to try to shave a pvc fitting on it I'll try the sandpaper trick first.
anyway there is only one other DAS user on MR, herman, and he's not commenting lol. Rich on the other hand is a bad a$$ and he's getting the BX-3 any day.
Rich you'll have to wait for the big pot to check out the Elos, are you working this weekend? (dumb question I know)
other comparisons,
• cost, the ns-1000 is about $799.00
the DAS about $520.00
• watts used
ehiem on elos 65 watts
2xDAS/aquabee's 76 watts
• service:
Elos you get to hang out with Jesse and the owner Nick calls or writes to you from Italy.
DAS service: you order online then get a number for their online division in TX, then if your lucky after five calls or so you get someone on the phone who is extremely nice and pleasant but can't help with the technical stuff.
(sorry DAS i.e.. petorama.net, you just need a little help in this dept
)• skimmate test, they both smell like crap.
by the way I do have a lathe, but I'm not going to try to shave a pvc fitting on it
I'll try the sandpaper trick first.oh, I forgot about Shauns EX-1, I was just speaking to him about it, my bad. okay so that's three of us with a DAS, soon to be four that I know of.
so when do we get to see the ns-4000 working? :sgrin:
MR DAS owners, herman bx-3, shaun ex-1, rich bx-3, me ex-2.
MR Elos owners, me ns-1000, it's lonley being in the elos club :bagfish:
so when do we get to see the ns-4000 working? :sgrin:
MR DAS owners, herman bx-3, shaun ex-1, rich bx-3, me ex-2.
MR Elos owners, me ns-1000, it's lonley being in the elos club :bagfish:
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