Oliver Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Hi all Oli's dad here. We are building a skimmer with a 100mm diameter column 1600mm high We want to use an air stone to aerate the water to about 20% air to water-air mix. With many small bubbles under 1mm dia. As I dont know the speed at which a bubble rizes in the water column and I dont know how to allow for air stone restrictions or water head pressure in the air flow calcs I dont know how to size the air pump. Does any body have any good ideas. In case you are wondering why I want to try airstones I want to be able to control a low water flow through the skimmer separately to the air flow. To keep turbulance down and aeration at the correct level. Thanks for all your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnB Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 use multiple wood airstones, because the wood is so porus the restriction is very low, the bubbles are much smaller then 1 mm this way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 In a skimmer that size you will need a lot of air stones (wooden ones) and a monster air pump. I looked into at one stage but was put off by the cost to set it up and the on going costs (the air stones have to be replaced every month or two). With the low cost of needle wheel pumps now it makes far more sence to use one (or two) of them. If you look up recirulating skimmers you will see that you can control the air flow and water flow through the skimmer with this type of setup, it's also one of the more common commercial types now days. There is plenty of info on the web about DIY skimmers, www.reefcentral.com is a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.