Mod for Beckett Skimmers

[flyingarmy]

I was cleaning out my Beckett last night and after putting everything back together noticed that my bubble mix never really changed. I would have thought that it getting clogged over time would degrade the airflow. I said to myself, "self...how about hooking up a air pump to the beckett to force more air into the beckett". Well that is exactly what I did...and whammo...my skimmer now had a bubble mix that looked more like milk, whole milk and not that watery skim crap! I am using a Coralife Super Luft Air Pump (High Pressure) so I don't think a normal air pump would work. What an amazing difference. I am picking up a MRC-3 this weekend with dual becketts and will be using the Luft Pump on it also! Just wanted to share this mod if anyone is using a beckett type skimmer and wants to get more out of it!

 

[glxtrix]

I got a good mod for beckett skimmers......Get a nw skimmer! lol! Just messing, great little trick Mark, hope it works better for ya!

 

[flyingarmy]

What you do also is mod a beckett and recirc it with a NW....super duper skim monster!

 

[glxtrix]

dawgdude;188063 wrote: Haha why do you like NW better than becketts?

I like skimmers that aren't moody. Stick your hand in the water and the beckett skimmer kill production....add chemicals, kills production....look at it wrong, kills production. However when working, they are really good. I'll take my mesh NW any day tho.

 

[glxtrix]

flyingarmy;188066 wrote: What you do also is mod a beckett and recirc it with a NW....super duper skim monster!

See you're on the right track... just get rid of the beckett part and you're golden, lol.

 

[flyingarmy]

Nope..post away!

 

[glxtrix]

If that question was directed to me, sorry, I don't think I can be much of help...not too up to date on the becketts. Suggestions tho, the extender is always a good thing, the longer dwell time the better skimming....it also may help if you seriously mod it, like you're thinking of doing with the water levels. See my big issue with Becketts and recircing them, is you need all these pumps to do it. Huge pump to push water thu those monster becketts, and another big pump to recirc....all that pumpage confuses me. Too much added heat and wattage for my taste. The recircing of it tho, sounds interesting and should be easy, I'm guessing it'd just go on the lower body. There are also other ways to mod venturis to pull a lot more air on the recirc pumps. But thats another discussion.

 

[glxtrix]

Sounds like a good start let us know how it works out for you.

 

[mojo]

glxtrix;188073 wrote: I like skimmers that aren't moody. Stick your hand in the water and the beckett skimmer kill production....add chemicals, kills production....look at it wrong, kills production. However when working, they are really good. I'll take my mesh NW any day tho.

Hmm- I'm going to have to disagree with Lee here - I never had any of these types of problems with my beckett skimmer, at least no different than I had with a needlewheel. I'm not sure how foam production would change for a more for a beckett than a mesh / needlewheel - the mechanical method of creating bubbles is not all that different from each other (mechanical disturbance of the water; compare this to an airstone or other).

Advantages of becketts: properly tuned, can pull out a ton of stuff
Advantages of needlewheel: more forgiving setup procedure, less maintenance

Based on my own experience, I'd say that the cost of a needlewheel skimmer is higher than an equivently-sized beckett skimmer. At least for large tanks...

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Yeah, I'll disagree too. You need 1 large pump and 1 medium to small pump. If its a recirc, that will need to be a big one. But, the feed pump will only need to be 500-600 gallons per hour, even for a big tank.

Besides, needlewheel skimmers are for lazy punks who cant properly manage their tanks (or sand).

 

[jmaneyapanda]

now that Im thinking about it, i wonder what the meshwheel, or even modded meshwheels, will do to the power usage of a pump. Most needlewheel pumps (although "factory" with the needle impellar), are not designed for that. Most have been engineered for normal impellar, and the comapny swaps them out. So, with that added resistance, how much power does it actually pull, as compared as to the manufacturers claims? Anyone got a kill-a-watt?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

dawgdude;188120 wrote: So you two think I should dual beckett this thing?

I love becketts, but I also love maintenance. Cleaning my skimmer is the highlight of my week.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

jmaneyapanda;188122 wrote: I love becketts, but I also love maintenance. Cleaning my skimmer is the highlight of my week.

You are a strange one, arn't ya?!?

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Xyzpdq0121;188124 wrote: You are a strange one, arn't ya?!?

no, i'm normal. EVERYONE else is just strange.

 

[mojo]

dawgdude;188120 wrote: So you two think I should dual beckett this thing?

Dual becketts will increase performance substantially for a lot less effort than getting recirc working. The recirc mod is pretty difficult on an existing beckett because of the turbulence already in the chamber.

jmaneyapanda;188121 wrote: now that Im thinking about it, i wonder what the meshwheel, or even modded meshwheels, will do to the power usage of a pump. Most needlewheel pumps (although "factory" with the needle impellar), are not designed for that. Most have been engineered for normal impellar, and the comapny swaps them out. So, with that added resistance, how much power does it actually pull, as compared as to the manufacturers claims? Anyone got a kill-a-watt?

I've got a Kill-a-Watt (actually, Lee has is at the moment). Some pumps are designed for it... others aren't. I know the Sequence Orca pump (on my skimmer) was specifically designed for a needlewheel, but I agree with your general consensus that you may be overdriving a normal pump if you just slap on a needlewheel...

 

[glxtrix]

The pump I modded (opt3000) which comes on the Octopus NW200 skimmers runs at 65 or 70W stock. With my mesh added (3 layers flat back) the pump is running at 50W not too shabby if you ask me. It's all about weight added vs weight taken when you do the mod.

 

[glxtrix]

mojo;188115 wrote: Hmm- I'm going to have to disagree with Lee here - I never had any of these types of problems with my beckett skimmer, at least no different than I had with a needlewheel.

Says the guy who switched to a NW Oh you know I'm playing with you Chris.

 

[mojo]

I needed a bigger skimmer and wanted less maintenance. Unfortuantely, that cost me about $1500....

 

[glxtrix]

mojo;188166 wrote: ....and wanted less maintenance.

ZING!

 

[flyingarmy]

Heck..for $1500 I could hire someone to clean my beckett skimmer!