What do I gain from extending the neck of my skimmer

I disagree that "they should've built it to do that". They built a skimmer for xx gallons. Making it more efficient means it's now better than xx gallons.

 

Azjohnny, thanks again. You have now pulled me from the not getting one side back to straddling the fence. Lol.

 

That isn't the point. If that was the case, then we could get one skimmer for a 90g, then when we moved up to the 200g, we could just put a pump on that put out 4 times as much and cram it through and it would do great.

First... efficiency is not "performance". efficiency's a measure of how well it does it's job in relation to the power put in. It's miles per gallon. Performance is just what it can do. You can have a ton of horse power, but crappy efficiency.

Plenty of people mod their skimmers, not all of it is good. If the maker is selling mods to extend the neck.... not the first to do it... then it tells me they wan to sell more parts. You can increase performance to a point, but then other limiting factors come into play... and you can do such a poor job, you actually decrease performance.

A simmer is designed for a range. It works best in the middle. It isn't like it does not work at the end of the range, just not as good. The only good reason to get an extension is is you have to run the skimmer deep... then you can't get dry skimmed... which itself is not a problem. So extending the neck, solves that problem, but it does not increase performance in meaningful way as far as I'm concerned.

But we are all gear junkies and adding the latest greatest mod is always best so spend your reefing money how ever you see fit. It is put out by the manufacturer after all so it must be good. I tend to buy equipment rated for what I want then plug it in and set it and forget it. YMMV.

 

Which goes back to the design point I was talking about.

Can I ask you why you want to run the skimmer in 9" of water?


Lowering the skimmer reduces head pressure, but all that foam above the water increases it. Obviously if you have enough, then it is not as problem... but there is no way to know what you have without an air meter. They only cost $30 buck. If you are going to be modding your skimmer, they are a mast.

 

Just going to highlight some things...

I didn't make this claim... I didn't think we were talking about starting with a skimmer that was less than half the size needed for the upgrade. As you know, there's more to a skimmer than a neck and a pump. You can modify components to a degree, but let's not be silly.

Efficiency is a measure of performance (how well it does its job) in relation to the power put in. Efficiency is part of its performance. If you make it more efficient, with the same amount of power put in (since it's the same pump)... then that increases its performance. More skimmed for the same power = higher efficiency AND performance.

This ignores the point. It isn't about "selling parts". Sure, they're a business... profit is important. The aftermarket car scene works the same way. I know tons of people that buy cold air intakes... if the manufacturer sold those, would you say the same? No, because the majority of people aren't interested in that feature. However, if some people are... it's nice that they offer those options. Additionally, I know quite a few people that are restricted in skimmer height based on the stand they're putting the skimmer in. It makes sense then to offer the "shorter" stock version with the option for a longer neck, instead of longer neck and no shorter option.

Any evidence to support this?

This discredits much of what you say above. It comes off rather sarcastic. Mods have a purpose, as you have indicated. If you meet the conditions that they were designed for, what's wrong with making use of it?

 

extending the neck?

Reminds me of the song about Pencil neck geeks, also brings to mind redneck for some reason.

Honestly, I've never thought about extending my skimmers neck, etc.
I use the SC150, now I think it is the SCA303 or something like that.
An excellent skimmer and the best vs. price, bar none for a sump model skimmer.

I can adjust my skimmer, and with putting a little air intake gadjet that comes with the MJ poserheads on my air line, I can adjust/limit the air intake/water volume as well.
I realize I'm missing something, but if I can adjust the overall flow/head height, and the air/per flow volume, why would I want to increase the neck length?

To get my head height of the water column even higher, I would have to cut down the overall flow thru the skimmer even more, thus actually making it sample a lesser volume of water/per unit time, etc.

??

 

A taller neck increases the contact time.
2) Make the skimmer reaction chamber as tall as possible to maximize the contact time that the water has with the air in the skimmer. Pump as much air into the reaction chamber as possible.
The key to injecting air is twofold: a) maintaining the smallest sized air bubbles, and b) reducing any potential turbulence of the air bubbles in the skimmer reaction chamber.
3) The diameter of the skimmer must be increased in proportion to the amount of water being skimmed. The larger the amount of water to skim, the wider the diameter of the skimmer should be.

You can read more: Skimming Basics 101: Understanding Your Skimmer by Frank Marini, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

 

I like to think of it as dry humor.

I did stuff too. I used an improved needle wheel that did in fact give a good measurable jump in performance. I didn't need it, but the bubble production was a much better quality. If you are using the mod for the intended purpose, then sure, use it. IMHO, the OP does not need it, and any gains would be questionable.

SWC used neck extensions as well and I thought the same of those. Some Beckett skimmers do too but those are a little different and you can cram more through those and tell necks can give gains..... but again, I say by right the first time and forget about it. the OP did. He has a properly rated skimmer for his application and is well within its operating range.

 

Sort of. And the very next sentence after the above "laws" is... "Remember that these are theoretical concerns; and often a theory is just that, a theory. Reality is often times different."

You have a reaction chamber it is built with certain criteria such as fitting in a sump. Bubbles interact with DOCs in water and attract them to their surface. From the reaction chamber to the neck, you need a nice smooth transition so we do not break the bubbles we worked so hard to form and attach organics to. You need a nice smooth stable area for this to happen.

the neck itself does nothing more than deliver said organics to the cup, and drains extra water from the foam. A nice smooth stable neck and foam head ensures those bubbles don't pop.

Here is why extensions are bad... by running a higher water level up to the neck... you just removed your transition. You have made your foam less stable. All good skimmers like the water level right at the start of the transition. That is where I have always had best results on my skimmers, and I have had some good ones.

"IF" you set the skimmer deeper to raise the water hight, you will reduce back pressure and the pump will put out more air and water. But if it was already putting out it's max, then that is all it will do. But you will move more water, and you can process more, but it is questionable that a true performance gain has been made.

"IF" you raise the water hight by valve adjustment alone, you will most certainly put more back pressure on the pumps and you will significantly reduce it's out put. Small level changes have huge impacts on air draw. You just paid $30 to process less and remove a transition area you paid good money for in the first place.

If you truly wanted to increase reaction chamber size, then you should add and extension to the body. then you could add one to the neck, and have a bigger skimmer with proper build.

 

My fish produce a lot of detritus and got tired of removing the stand and other equipment to vacuum out the sump. I have now eliminated the stand the bio pellet reactor