DIY Skimmer and an attempt at making my own tube

[not_sponsored]

What I'm saying is, the pump being higher in the body is understandable, yes that will produce more air but why put it higher, why not just make the skimmer shorter. The volume below the pump does not really serve a purpose other than probably collect waste.

 

[olemos]

Felipe- here in the USA (especially the area where I live) electricity is very expensive, this is why I’m trying to use some the volcano bases on the design (these skimmers tend to use low wattage for their size) and possibly not use air pumps at all.
I don’t know how the venture will work, I didn’t get to that point yet, leaving previsions for air stones, just makes it easy to try different things without having to redo the plumbing.
Using the air stones, is an idea of leaving options for the future, just in case I get in to trouble with the bubble size or quantity.

Not sponsored- the water circulation on the skimmer would be, sucked at the very bottom, pass through the pump and return near the bottom, so the volume below the pump will all be used.


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[not_sponsored]

If the pump intake and return is near the bottom the back pressure on the pump would be the same as if the pump was at the bottom, therefore no increase in performance whether the pump is mounted high or low.

 

[olemos]

Yes, but there will be minimal to no back pressure on the air intake, hopefully eliminating or minimizing the need for a air pump
Yes/No?

 

[Felipe_Caetano]

Maybe...
The pump mounted high would minimize the back pressure, also, the pump pulling water trough a very long pipe down the body of the skimmer has great chances of increasing the air suction, it´s far more easy to pull air instead of water trhough a pipe, but on the other hand, if it pulls too much air it can even stop working, thats a thing you should consider....
I´ve been thinking on what you said about electicity costs....
Depending on wattage of the pump you´re intending to use and the pressure/flow it generates, it sounds to me far more reasonably to use a Becket skimmer than a Recirculating one... Am I wrong?
Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[olemos]

If it would pull to much air, that would be a good thing, a valve on the venturi is an easy fix and will necessary to control the air intake.
The Becket is good and works, the thing is (from what I’ve seen) it requires a lot of power, especially when you get to bigger skimmers.

 

[Felipe_Caetano]

olemos, did you see the thread here in the DIY forum, where a bunch of guys are trying to improve and modify a becket?
They´re doing some modifications in the hole size of the air injector, this allows to draw more air, produce smaller bubles and even reduce the need of a high wattage high pressure pump...
A friend of mine here in Brazil is attempting to build a skimmer with this mods, the results seem very good, he´s using a 4000 l/h (about 1000gph) pump that uses about 70w, he´s testing it in a 200g tank, I could get some pics and specs of his skimmer during the assembly, and before and after the function test if you´d like...

 

[stugray]

Great job with the acrylic forming.

Geat minds obviously think alike.

I was doing this the night you started the thread.

Stu

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

very nice stu...

OP yours is a beast for sure...anymore updates?

 

[olemos]

Felipe - I’ve seen that thread, but never follow it because I wasn’t interested in the Beckett. Went back and read the whole thing, now it seems like it can work, I can maybe try 3 Beckett nozzles with this pump.
I didn’t hear anyone complain, I remember people before, use to complain about them getting clogged, I wonder if by making the holes smaller, that is going to become a bigger problem?
Yah post some photos.

Stugry- that really looks good, the oven is the right way to go if you can fit the stuff in there.

Didn’t get a chance to do anything this week, need to pickup more acrylic, hopefully by next weekend I will get a little more done.

 

[Felipe_Caetano]

I will provide the photos as soon as i can.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13706508#post13706508 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stugray
Great job with the acrylic forming.

Geat minds obviously think alike.

I was doing this the night you started the thread.

Stu

Very nice Stu !

 

[BeanAnimal]

I prefer the salad bowl and drywall screws...

I took photos.. leaving one on the screen in photoshop that afternoon. Needles to say, she was not happy about the use of the brand new (a few days old) oven to "melt plastic" as she put it.

 

[olemos]

A little update worked on bending the box that will incase the cylinder.
Removed the paper on both sides of the sheet where the bends will be

Placed the sheet between two work benches, leaving a 2” gap opening for heat to hit the acrylic.

Placed the heater under the table with a piece of wood directing the heat to the gap.

Turned the heater on underneath and with the help of a torch, carefully moving it back and forth over the top, I started to bend the sheet.

And here it is, just have to trim the excess on the bottom right, this way I would only have one seam to glue.

 

[lakee911]

Considered bending that piece on the end up and do a seam on the flat so that all of your corners match? Looks good.

Maybe an octogon shaped skimmer would be good....it's almost round

 

[not_sponsored]

^doing an end to end joint is kinda hard. then again so is bending a 2ft cube

 

[Esquare]

^ HAHAHAHA
My thoughts exactly.

Great work olemos.

 

[reefuge]

Nice straight corners, looks great!

 

[olemos]

Guess I can bend that last piece back up, using it as an overlap, will need to need to trim a little off (the one that’s to the right side of the torch on that last pic) so it will sit a little above the bend.
It will be a stronger joint than just gluing the two corners together, just a little more work.

 

[lakee911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13747735#post13747735 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by not_sponsored
^doing an end to end joint is kinda hard. then again so is bending a 2ft cube

I don't think it would be too tough. Pull that not-so-long side in twards the box an amount equal to the acrylic thickness. Then bend the other right up to it so they lay flat together. After that compensate for the cut, pull the overlap away from eachother by the thickness of your tablesaw blade. Maybe use some doublesided tape to hold everything where it's supposed to be. Then cut the two together against thefence using the table saw with a fine blade. Then just use a straight edge behind the joint and a couple of clamps and glue it up. No?

Just a suggesstion...

Jason