DIY Skimmer Critique

Wow! Did you price those reducer couplings yet? :)

Honestly ... I wouldn't use a 2" neck on such a large skimmer. If you look at the specs on most if not all skimmer that size, they will likely have a 3-1/2" - 4" neck. I'd likely use 3" myself.

Some very experienced skimmer builders have critiqued the skimmer I built and suggested a larger neck on mine. I have no complaints, but they said that a small neck limits the amount of air and evidently helps to increase the concentration of the organic compounds in the foam or something like that.
 
Ok, just got back from a scouting trip to the local ace hardware store. From my measurements under my stand 8" pipe will fit..... after looking at it I'm starting to have doubts.....

I can go from 6" --> 2" for under $20
I can also go from 6" --> 3" for roughly the same price.

So I'm starting to lean toward the 6" body of the skimmer. I really think that it's all that I'm going to have room for. I might however make it a little taller as my stand is close to 36" tall. Would increasing the height also increase skimming ability? ie, skimmer is rated for 135gal, I have 150gal+/-. I would like to oversize if possible that's why I was wanting to go with 8" pipe. Will increasing the height of the skimmer offset the size of the system?

Just from looking at the 2" pipe, It looks like it will be plenty wide enough for the skimmer neck. But if you guys really think that 3" would be better I guess I might go with that.
 
Unless your budget just won't allow it, I'd go with the 8" body, and make it as tall as you can. The bigger it is, the longer water is inside being cleaned. That is one of the primary goals in skimmer design.

You can never have too big of a skimmer, but you can definitely have too small of one.
 
Ok, after some further research have decided to go with the 3" neck. Plumbing supply house is looking for a single reducer to go from 6" to 3" with one fitting. They said if they didn't have it they could probably order it. So I figure one fitting is going to be cheaper than two. Anybody ever heard of a 6x3 reducing coupling?
 
Well the budget isn't the hold-up, it's the room under the stand that's the holdup. I have to have room for my 30gal sump a return pump, the skimmer and skimmer pump. All this under a 4' stand.

When I was under the stand measuring it looked as though it was going to work but now that I have actually seen the pipe, I'm seriously worried. I'm gonna try to get a sample cut of both the 6" and the 8" pipe so I can see exactly how big it will be under my stand. But right now I'm thinking.....

30"+ tall
6" diameter body
3" neck
1200gph recirc pump mesh modded
1.5" skimmer drain on adjustable stand-pipe
Uniseals to seal all pipes entering/exiting skimmer body.
 
I'm sure it does exist ... well it may. That's why I went with the drain fitting. It's not going to be anywhere near as expensive as a 6" reducer coupling I bet.
 
Probably not, but the only floor drain I saw today was the one that you used. If I go with 3" it just won't kick it.

Oh well, the way I look at it I will be getting a $700 skimmer for under $100. Even if the fitting is $20+/- it will be well worth it in my mind. I've got a couple of buddies locally who I have convinced to join me on this skimmer building escapade. With 3 or 4 people each building a skimmer we should see a significant savings over just doing one. Plus we will be getting all fittings from a plumbing supply house instead of Lowes or HD. This should also drop the cost consideribly. Also we will be pooling tools, and as of right now the only thing we will have to buy is the large diameter hole cutter, but we might try to substitute a hole saw.
 
I know what you mean about the drain fitting, but you can use a miter saw and chop the top of the drain flush with the top of the dome and just glue on the Union.

It will work out great with the reducer coupling too.
 
Well, we will see what the supply house says about the fitting...... I do have a miter saw so that won't be a problem. I was planning on cutting the pipe with it just to make sure it was perfectly straight and nice looking.

Will the miter saw cut smoothly through the 3" acrylic tube or clear PVC? Or will it try to shatter it?
 
It will cut it smooth. That's what I used and it didn't even have a good blade on it. Hold it firmly and cut it nice and slow.
 
nice that's what I was hoping. If it wasn't so nasty out today I would test a piece of scrap 1/8" on it when I get home from work. But it's nasty storming outside so it'll have to wait.

Thanks again for the help guys, I only hope that you will continue to be my support team on this project. I'll be gathering materials over the next week or two, then going for the build!! :D I can't wait!!!

I'll post pics as I get everything rolling on it.
 
Here's what I was going to do when I make a bigger one:

3inchneck.jpg
 
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3 1/2" OD acrylic tube fits perfect inside 3" pvc unions,couplers, etc. :)

You can get 1' lengths at aquatic eco systems.

ss.jpg


This one I had laying around from and old skimmer experiment and I needed a media reactor in a hurry, so I raided my spare parts bin. It's a shame actually, it's a waste of good parts. :)
 
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crap so acrylic OD demensions wont be the same as PVC...cause i decided to go with a 3" neck randy and was looking for a way to connect it and then i saw the diagram of how to cut the drain to fit the 3" neck but i have a 6" acrylic body...is it not going to work?
 
doesn't seem like it will. I have a few pieces of scrap acrylic tube that I was measuring last night and 3" acrylic looks more like 2" PVC to me. And the 6" acrylic tube that I have does not look near as big as the 6" pipes I was looking at yesterday.

So should I go with a 3" acrylic neck or a 3" clear PVC neck? The equal to 3" PVC would actually be 3 1/2" acrylic......... hmmmmmm......

I'm confused!!!
 
I think the acrylic is measured by Outside Diameter, and PVC is measured by Inside Diameter. If this is the case, you should be about to put a small spacer made out of 3" PVC inside the coupling, and then insert the 3" acrylic into the PVC.
 
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