Venturi Air Intake for Aquarium Pump

thingiverse

Venturi Air Mixing Nozzle for Protein Skimmer Pump in Aquarium. This one was designed to fit snugly around a 32mm diameter x 8mm deep circular pump inlet, similar to the Syncra Sicce PSK1000 Skimmer Pump I have. It accepts a 10mm (3/8") flexible air hose connection. I printed it and installed it in my aquarium sump right away. Thankfully, it works exceptionally well. However, unless you're using the same or a very similar pump, this specific nozzle probably won't work for you. I chose the Syncra Sicce PSK1000 Skimmer Pump because my original pump failed on my 300-gallon saltwater aquarium and I needed to replace it quickly. This one seemed like a good balance between price and performance on Amazon. If you're an aspiring CAD designer who needs a venturi intake, consider using this design as a starting point for your own creation. They're not that difficult to design – just sketch some concentric circles, add some extrusions of various lengths, and blend it all together with some fillets. I designed this one in Fusion 360 in about 30 minutes. When designing your own nozzle, you might need to experiment with the degree of constriction on the water intake in the center. More constriction just before the air inlet creates a greater pressure drop, which will suck in more air but reduce total water flow. The optimal choice depends on how powerful your pump is.