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.

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.

    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

 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

Lookout for the new production line of skimmer's... MeanTony's Snot Suckers...... They look terrific so far!!!

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.

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.

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.

Oh yeah, your foam "reaction" chamber should be completely opaque white with micro sized bubbles.

Here's a beckett (with pictures of foam column) I built a little while back:  http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1413 - http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1413

 (just plumb a beckett on the inlet piping)

Do you have a pick of above suggestion _ That  skimmer of yours looks like its cookin!

jfinch
       I found this plan, it looks like a smaller skimmer than the one I made  but without the bioballs. check it out

Is the spray nozel close to what you are useing

http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/DIYskimmer.php - http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/DIYskimmer.php

After 24 of run time

http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/DIYskimmer.php - http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/DIYskimmer.php

That nozzle is a spray injector similar to what Aqua C skimmers use.  The beckett is a unique venturi device.  You can see/buy it here:  http://www.barraquatic.com/access.php - http://www.barraquatic.com/access.php  or I've also bought them at Home Depot.

I'm no longer using that skimmer in my other thread.  A while back I built one that I could fit into my sump.  Here's a picture I just took:

jfinch
    Nice!

What kinf of pump are useing for this one.

     I think im going to rig up a tube without bioballs  and with a Becket, and try it with the same pump and see if I get better results---  I think I will!

   I love this Hobby----- Thats for all the input

I'm driving my skimmer with an Iwaki 40.

The bioballs help to move the foam from the inlet riser to the foam riser (it increases the velocity through the inlet tube).  With larger pumps they are not needed, but they can help with smaller pumps.