musty baby
New member
Wasn't really dedicated enough to this project to follow it through with taking pictures, etc, so instead of a build thread this is more of a "built" thread.
Have wanted to build my own skimmer for a long time and decided to use a 5 gal water jug as many others have in the past. Went with 4 mesh-modded genX 1500 pumps because: 1) I had already had good luck meshmodding them for modded seaclone skimmers, 2) already had two sitting around, and 3) the four combined are cheaper, use less power, and push more water (potentially pull more air) than 2 of the GenX 2400 NW pumps. I did put in 3/4" plumbing with extra space rather than the required 1/2" in case I do desire to go with bigger pumps (I don't think I will).
The skimmer is gravity fed from my display's overflow and ultimately leaves the skimmer through a 1.5" pvc extension patch. It can be raised and lowered to adjust the water level in the skimmer at any time. A 4" to 3" pvc adapter functions as the skimmer neck and is directly siliconed to the skimmer body. A short length of 3" pvc is siliconed into the collection cup. The riser tube will be taller than what you see in the pictures, I just left it short so I could get a feel for water level adjustment and how tall it should ultimately be. I may go to a new collection cup and a 4" riser neck since it seems to me that I simply have too much air coming through that small area. I'm going to let it run for a couple days before I decide.
When I first got it going, I hadn't thought of the induction noise from the airlines. It sounded like the entire room was full of 5 year olds trying to suck the last drop out their cups with a straw. I had to leave the immediate area to hear what others were trying to tell me. So I built a silencer like the ones everyone recommends (airline into a container, polyester stuffing or the like, tube out of container) but built a much bigger one out of 1.25" pvc. It was still loud, so I built another. On this one I used a 1" version of my first silencer inside another 2" chamber. Cut the noise a lot, but it's still not as quiet as I'd like it to be. I might try again.
What I have yet to do:
Cut grooves in the collection cup tube to fit orings and be sure I'm getting a tight seal with the skimmer neck.
Increase the size of the skimmer neck to 4", I really feel like the 3" is too small for the amount of air running through it.
Increase the size of the intake tube to at least 1". I was in a pinch to get things plumbed when I moved and couldn't find a 1" barb fitting at Lowe's, so the overflow has a 3/4" output and it's simply not enough to keep up with the small return pump.
Overall this was fairly easy to build. I don't think it would be possible to build a free-standing skimmer out of a 5 gal jug, it's just too brittle and likes to crack around the uniseals when inserting pvc (which takes a lot of force, if you've never worked with uniseals.)
Anyway, that's been my project for the last couple days (should have just up and finished it months ago.) Thought I'd share it and see if anyone had any suggestions since it's going to have to be taken out of the sump a few more times.
Have wanted to build my own skimmer for a long time and decided to use a 5 gal water jug as many others have in the past. Went with 4 mesh-modded genX 1500 pumps because: 1) I had already had good luck meshmodding them for modded seaclone skimmers, 2) already had two sitting around, and 3) the four combined are cheaper, use less power, and push more water (potentially pull more air) than 2 of the GenX 2400 NW pumps. I did put in 3/4" plumbing with extra space rather than the required 1/2" in case I do desire to go with bigger pumps (I don't think I will).
The skimmer is gravity fed from my display's overflow and ultimately leaves the skimmer through a 1.5" pvc extension patch. It can be raised and lowered to adjust the water level in the skimmer at any time. A 4" to 3" pvc adapter functions as the skimmer neck and is directly siliconed to the skimmer body. A short length of 3" pvc is siliconed into the collection cup. The riser tube will be taller than what you see in the pictures, I just left it short so I could get a feel for water level adjustment and how tall it should ultimately be. I may go to a new collection cup and a 4" riser neck since it seems to me that I simply have too much air coming through that small area. I'm going to let it run for a couple days before I decide.
When I first got it going, I hadn't thought of the induction noise from the airlines. It sounded like the entire room was full of 5 year olds trying to suck the last drop out their cups with a straw. I had to leave the immediate area to hear what others were trying to tell me. So I built a silencer like the ones everyone recommends (airline into a container, polyester stuffing or the like, tube out of container) but built a much bigger one out of 1.25" pvc. It was still loud, so I built another. On this one I used a 1" version of my first silencer inside another 2" chamber. Cut the noise a lot, but it's still not as quiet as I'd like it to be. I might try again.
What I have yet to do:
Cut grooves in the collection cup tube to fit orings and be sure I'm getting a tight seal with the skimmer neck.
Increase the size of the skimmer neck to 4", I really feel like the 3" is too small for the amount of air running through it.
Increase the size of the intake tube to at least 1". I was in a pinch to get things plumbed when I moved and couldn't find a 1" barb fitting at Lowe's, so the overflow has a 3/4" output and it's simply not enough to keep up with the small return pump.
Overall this was fairly easy to build. I don't think it would be possible to build a free-standing skimmer out of a 5 gal jug, it's just too brittle and likes to crack around the uniseals when inserting pvc (which takes a lot of force, if you've never worked with uniseals.)
Anyway, that's been my project for the last couple days (should have just up and finished it months ago.) Thought I'd share it and see if anyone had any suggestions since it's going to have to be taken out of the sump a few more times.
It mostly just took time, but thank you very much for the kind words.
