fitting a Boyu WG-308 Protein Skimmer into a tl450

[tk mills]

Hi all
i am a newby marine fish keeper and chose a orca nano tl450 to learn the skills. At first i was happy with the process and the equipment that comes with it. I filled the chamber on the left with liverock and have about 8-9 kg in all. The next chamber has heater and bio balls. Next is the skimmer (if you can call it that) and the right chamber has the inlet pump and uv sterilizer.
I have just bought a Boyu WG-308 Protein Skimmer and wish to fit it in the third chamber. the concern i have is can i still have the inlet pump and uv sterilizer in the right chamber as it looks like the inlet pump plugs into the old skimmer. Is there a mod that i need to do.
if i remove the inlet pump and uv sterilizer i am concerned there will not be proper flow through the back of the chambers. i don't have an outlet pump as i use a korilia nano ph in the tank.
has anyone fitted one and could help me
thankyou

 

[drnsee]

I filled the chamber on the left with liverock and have about 8-9 kg in all. The next chamber has heater and bio balls.

Sorry, not familiar with this set up. However, from what I learned here you should take out the bioballs, if you are using live rock in the back chambers. ...Maybe this will give you your room you need.

 

[tk mills]

thanks for the advise, will remove them i think. have been researching it a bit. I have found that too fit them i have to remove the old skimmer. cut off the threaded piece with a hack saw. and use this to lock in the pump and uv sterilizer.
i am going to remove the spounge and the ceramic tubes as i have heard they do not do much. what could i replace them with to help my tank??

 

[drnsee]

thanks for the advise, will remove them i think. have been researching it a bit. I have found that too fit them i have to remove the old skimmer. cut off the threaded piece with a hack saw. and use this to lock in the pump and uv sterilizer.
i am going to remove the spounge and the ceramic tubes as i have heard they do not do much. what could i replace them with to help my tank??

Sounds like you have your work cut out for you...no pun intended. Well, I only have live rock and chaeto in just one chamber. The more the better but you obviously need to fit in some hardware.

 

[TimSchmidt]

Some people run carbon or phosphate remover (not needed, but if you want to research the pros and cons they might be useful)

 

[tk mills]

fitting the boya 308 protien skimmer that has turned up from hong kong, ( all in £17) a maxi 600 powerhead to replace then one you get with the setup, and a small modification is needed to make the uv sterilizer to fit on top of the ph. i just bought a new sterelizer as the other one has been running about 10 months ( £8 from charter house aquatics) . i am removing the spounge and putting a film of pond filter that i will replace monthly. i will keep the little carbon filter that clips on the top, and i will try some phosphate sponge (thanks for the tip!) the heater will stay. should have it all in by the end of the week. i will put some pictures on when it is complete if anyone would be interested. thanks all for the advise

 

[funkngroovy]

Awesome, hope you can post some pics so that others can learn from this.

 

[tk mills]

i have finally competed the change over. here are the pictures and what i did.

firstly i removed everything. you need small hands to get down to the nut holding the skimmer chamber on!! everything else pulls apart

 

[tk mills]

here next is the equipment that i fitted. a boya 308 skimmer and a maxi jet 600. i used a new uv stereliser that is the same as the one you get with the tank.

 

[tk mills]

i now needed to do some modifications to make it fit.
firstly i hacksawed off the thread and nut on the old skimmer chamber as this fits properly over the outlet of the maxi jet 600.

i also took the cone shaped attachment and cut this down. by revesing the cone once it is cut down you casn use it to attach the uv serilizer as it is too big otherwise. both are modified and shown below.

 

[tk mills]

this is how it looks when they are attached to the pump. note how the cone is reversed. the thread will also reverse when connected in the tank. the nut will do up from the third chamber not the fourth as it was when attached to the skimmer chamber.

make sure the thread is pushed on as far as it can.

 

[tk mills]

here is it with the uv steralizer attached

 

[tk mills]

this is how it fits in the chamber. the picture is not great but you can see the nut in the third chamber

 

[tk mills]

the skimmer now drops in the third chamber and the uv sterilizer fits on the top of the maxijet 600. there is plently of room for the cup on the skimmer to fit even with the lid down.

 

[tk mills]

and thats it. here is the completed fit .
chamber 1 live rock for filtering.
chamber 2 heater
chamber 3 boya 308
chamber 4 uv sterilizer power head
phosphate sponge and carbon bag are to be added but i haven't done them in this picture.
the skimmer is running here and all seems well

 

[tk mills]

i will post pictures of the whole tank once everything has settled down. i did a water change and thorough clean so it looks cloudy at the mo. there are a few bubbles floating about but once the skimmer has bedded in it should eliminate the micro bubbles. the general condition of the tank should improve.

hope this is of some use to people and would love to here from any ideas and improvements i could use.

 

[drnsee]

Very nice job! That must've been fun, lol. I'll be watching your build closely~

:bash1:

 

[tk mills]

i have now changed over the skimmer into the first chamber. i noticed that when the pumps were running that the skimmer chamber was over flowing. by moving the skimmer to the first chamber it now pulls the water around the back and the levels in the chambers are more level.

i have also taken out the spray bar to allow more flow.

 

[TimSchmidt]

It is nice to hear those little things that make all the difference.

 

[Riggers]

tk mills, this is EXACTLY what I intend doing. Can you give an update as to the skimmer success? Ready to place the order with Hong Kong!!!

All the best................Riggers