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So, I set up a new tank and started going thru my old equipment. A little back story... I moved some years ago and had to sell off, all of my live stock, though I kept ALL of my hardware, rock, tanks & have had very small freshwater setups for some time to keep me "in" the hobby. A few weeks ago I had a wild thought, bought a 26 gallon bowfront and bought all new equipment to start a nano reef. Needless to say when I returned home, I looked around and the tons of aquarium equipment I already have and made the justification to start going thru it. I have been diligently vinegar cleaning things and making sure items still work, so I may put some of it up for sale in the for sale thread... & then... I came upon my old RedSea Prizm Deluxe.
I bought this skimmer in my early days of reef keeping, without doing my homework. And I can honestly say it was one of the most expensive mistakes I have ever made in the hobby. Out of the box it was a neat design, looked like a winner, but in the tank it was absolutely atrocious. It performed like a drunk uncle at Thanksgiving dinner, every five minutes it was either making entirely too much noise, or vomiting up foam. This behavior in turn, overflowed the collection cup non-stop.
Thru the years MANY individuals in the hobby have stated that the best place for this skimmer is in the trash, and not to waste ones time with it. But I knew that there just had to be something more for this little skimmer, the design, its low profile, its all there, it just needed tweaking.
Hence I searched how to mod the Red Sea Prizm Deluxe, to achieve a dense foam and consistent performance. I removed the impeller, and added the most common mod in the hobby, a master crafted & strategically circular cut... abrasive cleaning pad. I shaved down the impeller blades to accommodate the 1/8"w. pad, cut the pad away from its sponge counterpart, then cut a circular template out to fit the freshly cut impeller. I stretched the middle on the cut piece to fit around the 1/16" of impeller in the center, which I left to add a little rigidity to the mod itself. I then used high-test fishing line to secure the pad to the outer edges of the impeller, and then finished up with super glue to make sure it would never come apart.
As for the short air intake, I doubled the length of the air hose and added a maxi-jet air intake nozzle, to throttle the overall air supply.
I then re-assembled the skimmer, installed, primed, and was absolutely amazed by the difference. This P.O.S. skimmer went from "drunk uncle" to "worlds greatest dad" in about thirty minutes! Let me clarify by saying that I NEVER was able to achieve a decent foam, it was always super wet, and overflowing. I could never dial it in, & I did not feel safe leaving it on unattended, because it would suck all of the water out of my tank. But that was then, and this is now a simple modded beast of a skimmer.
I am able to dial the skimmer in with little effort now, and it skims a nice dry foam. Over the past 24 hours it has done quite nicely on a newly setup tank. It actually reminded me of the first start-up with my huge Reef-Octopus skimmer. And it is MUCH quieter now, which is a very welcome aspect!
I bought this skimmer in my early days of reef keeping, without doing my homework. And I can honestly say it was one of the most expensive mistakes I have ever made in the hobby. Out of the box it was a neat design, looked like a winner, but in the tank it was absolutely atrocious. It performed like a drunk uncle at Thanksgiving dinner, every five minutes it was either making entirely too much noise, or vomiting up foam. This behavior in turn, overflowed the collection cup non-stop.
Thru the years MANY individuals in the hobby have stated that the best place for this skimmer is in the trash, and not to waste ones time with it. But I knew that there just had to be something more for this little skimmer, the design, its low profile, its all there, it just needed tweaking.
Hence I searched how to mod the Red Sea Prizm Deluxe, to achieve a dense foam and consistent performance. I removed the impeller, and added the most common mod in the hobby, a master crafted & strategically circular cut... abrasive cleaning pad. I shaved down the impeller blades to accommodate the 1/8"w. pad, cut the pad away from its sponge counterpart, then cut a circular template out to fit the freshly cut impeller. I stretched the middle on the cut piece to fit around the 1/16" of impeller in the center, which I left to add a little rigidity to the mod itself. I then used high-test fishing line to secure the pad to the outer edges of the impeller, and then finished up with super glue to make sure it would never come apart.
As for the short air intake, I doubled the length of the air hose and added a maxi-jet air intake nozzle, to throttle the overall air supply.
I then re-assembled the skimmer, installed, primed, and was absolutely amazed by the difference. This P.O.S. skimmer went from "drunk uncle" to "worlds greatest dad" in about thirty minutes! Let me clarify by saying that I NEVER was able to achieve a decent foam, it was always super wet, and overflowing. I could never dial it in, & I did not feel safe leaving it on unattended, because it would suck all of the water out of my tank. But that was then, and this is now a simple modded beast of a skimmer.
I am able to dial the skimmer in with little effort now, and it skims a nice dry foam. Over the past 24 hours it has done quite nicely on a newly setup tank. It actually reminded me of the first start-up with my huge Reef-Octopus skimmer. And it is MUCH quieter now, which is a very welcome aspect!
!
