Skimmer replacement pump size and modifications

I have a reef octopus extreme 160 protein skimmer. Lately it hasn't been producing the foam that it used too. I pulled it apart today and found that the inlet venturi air port was 2/3rds of the way plugged. So I got my drill out and drill it out. I put it all back together and the skimmer is back in producing a good thick foam head and working great now.

Now to my original question. I am thinking of buying a replacement pump to keep on hand for when this one fails. The pump I have is a sicce 2500 rated at 660 GPH. Sicce has 2 other pumps out for skimmers, the 1st is a 600 that is rated at 661 GPH, 2nd is a 1000 rated at 1000 gph. I have had absolutely no problems with the current pump and would replace it with the same pump without a thought but I have a few questions first. I know there are mods that people due to their skimmers to make them more efficient (pin wheel impellers,Mesh mods).

1st: can you put a bigger pump on the skimmer to make it more efficient and skim more, or would it make it skim less?
2nd: is there a more efficient pump that my skimmer would benifit from (brand, style, flow)?
3rd: Can you add another air intake to the venturi to your current pump to help it pull more air and skim better?
4th: What modifications have you done to your skimmers that you have seen increased performance?

 

Powerman could probably comment more on this, but if I'm not mistaken, skimmer manufacturers strive to match the pump's ability with the design/size of their skimmer. Maybe putting a pump with more air intake would benefit any skimmer, but maybe it would cause more collection cup overflows. I'd guess there would be need to somehow mount a pump to a body where the two items don't match in diameter.

I'm reading along.

 

im curious on this as well.

i have an swc extreme 160 (which i belive is the same skimmer in "white" as your octo).

i think that there has to be a perfect balance in pump/skimmer body. Trying to find out what it is may be a pretty diffcult/expensive task. My thought is to leave it to the companys we trust for good products. Thats what we supposedly pay for in higher end products (R&D). i would imagine that reef octopus chose the sicce 2500 cause its the best match for that skimmer body, espically cause its not a "cheap" pump.

I have seen different impellers for that pump though. That might be something worth looking into.

If you had a higher output pump, i think you would have to increase the percentage of air drawn in to use the same skimmer body.

 

IMPO there are not to many products out there that cant be modified to be better and sometimes a lot better. I can buy the same truck with 6 different engines. Each one will perform differently. I can put a cold air intake, a programmer, free flowing exhaust on a truck and make it drive like a totally different vehicle. I can change the pick ups on a guitar and change the sound. I can change the prop on my boat to get a better hole shot or more top end. I know there is a lot of R&D that goes into making a product but there are things that we do to them that can make them better (sometimes worse....LOL). These are just my thoughts and opinions.


BTW....I try to modify everything, I cant never leave anything alone . At least thats what my wife says.

 

So just for conversation.... a pump has to be matched to the body and specifically the neck. The water processed can be managed, but the air draw effects the neck. Too much pump will cause the skimmer to overflow. You deal with that by raising the skimmer out of the water more putting more head pressure on the pump and reducing it's out put..... defeating exactly what you were trying to do. You can only put so much through.

Conversely, if you put too little of a pump on, you have to lower the skimmer reducing head pressure and run the skimmer wet just to push waste out of the neck.

As far as the 160 goes... not much you can do. The PSK is used on the 160 and the 200. It's better matched to the 160... and with mods can be pushed on the 200.

When I tested the 160 I used the red demon wheel from Warner Marine. It does about 20% more. I remember it running well... but I also live at altitude and loose about 20%... so it was basically running the way it should. Not sure if it would be too much for you.

As far as pumps, the new Sicce pumps came out last year but have not heard too much about them. I'm out of the loop and have not been keeping up. You need to get the 600 for all the reasons said above. It should mate up and it does not have the backward start issue the PSK 2500 has. For that reason alone getting one would be a no brainer.

The only thing I don't know is if they use the same impeller and volute. Meaning if you got the improved wheel for the PSK 2500, I don't know if it works on the new Sicce. I suggest you get a hold of ATB or Warner Marine and see if their wheel works on the new pump. But again I can't guarantee it will be "better" for you where you are. I don't have the thread handy, but I reviewed the SWC 160 and you can see how that went.

 

Thanks Powerman.

I did read your review on the skimmer and got some good information out of it. I thought about the pump being oversized and it basically just causing it to overflow but was curoius if it could be done and be benifical. I am pretty happy with my setup now and I really dont have any complaints But since I am going to buy another pump I wanted to see if there was a way to make it more efficient. I have ordered the red devil needle wheel and it shipped today so we will see. I will try to make some calls or send some emails to see if the impellers will interchange before I buy another pump. If I can find something out I will post.


Thanks

 

Sweet.