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meantony57 
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 Topic: DIY DOWNDRAFT
Posted: June 03 2005 at 9:00pm |
 ">Working on making this any feed back wecome! 
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jfinch
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Posted: June 03 2005 at 10:50pm |
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Looks pretty good to me. Why did you decide on downdraft rather then say a beckett?
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reptoreef
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Posted: June 03 2005 at 11:52pm |
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I would imagine a better foam without the bio-balls... Dave T has a similar skimmer that seems to be far more efficient with the balls removed.
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www.captivereefing.com
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meantony57
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 6:57am |
jfinch
I picked the dowdraft because I read it was one of the best skimmer out there.- of course I wont know if thats true or not until I try it- right now Im using a seaclone 150 for my 150 gallon tank and its just not doing it.
reptoreef
I read the balls are to help produce foam and they are suposed to do a good job. agin its all speculation at this point.
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meantony57
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 7:00am |
Im not that good with this posting pic thing but im learning 
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reptoreef
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 8:55am |
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The downdraft are great... extremely efficient, but need alot of power(some need a lot of regular adjustments) versus the needle wheel skimmers like the ASM, EuroReef, Deltec, etc.
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www.captivereefing.com
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meantony57
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 9:37am |
reptoreef Thanks for the info!--- Im hopeing to power this with a mag 7 - because I have one. I will go bigger if I must, This plan looks simple ti build and Im almost to the pointe of start to put it together. I should know next week how it works. Ive got 80$ in it now, and Im thinking thats all I need to buy we will see. 
Edited by meantony57
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jfinch
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 11:19am |
Downdraft skimmers work great but I don't think you'll be happy with yours running it on a Mag 7. The smallest Mag pump I'd suggest is the Mag 18.
For a Mag 7, if I were you, I'd look at the venturi skimmers.
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reptoreef
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 11:34am |
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agreed... they're power mongers. You seem to have some sweet materials for a nice venturi/needlwheel. I'm sure that there's someone in the club with a large enough pump. Dave T may have one for sale(mag 18)... drop him aPM.
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meantony57
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 12:48pm |
I will start shopping for a bigger pump, Im using a mag24 to pump from the basement to the tank upstairs, maybe I could upgrade that pump and use the mag 24. I could always cut it back to 50%- I called mag thats what they said.
hes a pick of where im at now with two skimmers dry fit together. One for me one for my friend
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jfinch
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 12:56pm |
I like your toys! I wanna mill too 
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meantony57
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 2:53pm |
Ya Im a cnc machinist and the friend who the other skimmer is for is a bench hand and we both work in a die shop. All that stuff is comming in real handy in this hobby so far. heres a better shot of the machine I did most of the milling on
Edited by meantony57
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reptoreef
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 5:22pm |
Lookout for the new production line of skimmer's... MeanTony's Snot Suckers... ... They look terrific so far!!!
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www.captivereefing.com
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meantony57
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Posted: June 04 2005 at 5:39pm |
Thank you for the kind words, I am surprised at how much the plastic costs and how much time goes into one of these,but I can tell you the next one whatever kind I make will go faster.
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meantony57
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Posted: June 10 2005 at 9:18pm |
Well I got a chance to try out the new downdraft and I have to tell you, that you guys were right about the mag7 not even to close to driving it properly. A friend of mine let me plug his mag 12 into it for a while and that pump seems to be working ok. Here are a couple of pics after a few hours of running- The sump and the skimmer are in the basement so look past the mess.
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Always stand and fight, if you run, you'll just die tired.
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meantony57
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Posted: June 10 2005 at 9:20pm |
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----------------------------------------------------
Always stand and fight, if you run, you'll just die tired.
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meantony57
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Posted: June 10 2005 at 9:24pm |
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----------------------------------------------------
Always stand and fight, if you run, you'll just die tired.
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Will Spencer
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Posted: June 11 2005 at 11:21am |
Here's a thought. I don't know if it would work, but I'll throw it out there.
Since your sump is in the basement would the drop from the tank to the sump be powerful enough to drive that skimmer? Also is that skimmer capable of handling all of the water from you overflow? I've always thought it would be best to run all of the overflow water through the skimmer then to the sump. That way you know all the water makes it through the skimmer on a regular basis.
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meantony57
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Posted: June 11 2005 at 2:25pm |
wsinbad1
I like the way think. That never crossed my mind.
But after seeing how much power this type of skimmer needs to run I have my doughts If I would have enough power from my return. Im using a mag 24 to power the water from the green tube in the pick to the floor above. With the rise and the 90s I have in there I think its about 1000 gallons a hour. I have two 1" overflows in my main tank 150 upstairs. It then fall to the 70 in the top tank of the pick in my basement, through overflows and into the green tub.
The skimmer is running on a mag 12 now with about a 3' rise witch makes it about 1150 gallons an hour and it running wide open. I think it might run better with a mag 18.
That is an intresting idea though I might give it a try somtime thanks.
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----------------------------------------------------
Always stand and fight, if you run, you'll just die tired.
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jfinch
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Posted: June 11 2005 at 2:42pm |
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Pressure rated pumps such as the Iwaki 55 and 70 are the pump of choice for downdraft skimmers. The mag's just don't generate the head at the right flow. I think you could easily convert that skimmer to a beckett (just plumb a beckett on the inlet piping). I think you'll like the results better using your Mag 12 too.
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