Euro-Reef DIY clone.

[Rendos]

Thanks...glad I could inspire.

The first couple of skimmers I made were pretty poor quality even though they worked like champs. I made a lot of mistakes and wasted money remaking things over and over again, but with time and practice the craftsmanship gets better and better. As for cost, I think you are right...the big guys order in such bulk that they get great discounts.

 

[grreefer]

From what online vendor can you get an ER or equiv. for $230.00 - $240.00?

 

[ejamsrhere]

thats easy...

http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=04-2750-1


Thing is- it's fun making them. It is cheaper as well as long as you don't mess up too bad and have to scrap good material.

 

[grreefer]

thats easy...

http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=04-2750-1


Thing is- it's fun making them. It is cheaper as well as long as you don't mess up too bad and have to scrap good material.

Wow, looks like it really only gets cheaper to make your own when you get up to this model:

ASM G Series Protein Skimmers (G-4)
rated up to 350 gallons / base is 11.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ X 16ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ height is 24ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚, dia. is 8.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ / includes Sedra 5000 pump $ 374.99

With the smaller ones you might as well just buy one instead of making your own. They even use Sedras. I'm all about the enjoyment of making my own stuff but not for nothing.

 

[grreefer]

Heres a few pics of what I call "the poor mans union". Cost was about 9.00 and all it needs is some gasket material cut to about 4" ID x 4 1/4 OD and it should work great the last pic is of it mounted on my 6" skimmer but I have a 10" tube in the mail that I'm going to use it on.

 

[ohioreef]

What size fitting is that? 4"?

 

[grreefer]

The one on the right (in the top pic.) is a 4" clean-out adaptor, comes with a threaded cover/plug to plug the clean-out opening. The one on the left is also 4" but I'm not sure what its called or used for, the only thing I can think of is that its for adding a leg/run where there is already a clean-out adaptor installed. I got both at Lowes.

 

[ohioreef]

Okay thanks.

 

[grreefer]

Heres the start of my next skimmer, next to my 6"er for reference. Its going to be a 10" recirc.. I'm going to use a Sedra 9000 for the feeder and 2 or 3 modified maxi-jet 900's for the recircs..

 

[Rendos]

I made some changes to one of my skimmers last weekend...thought I would share.

I added a gate valve mod, reduced the height of the skimmer, but increased neck length, and added my twist lock flange I got from Spazz. Works great!

 

[CaptainCoral]

Hmmmm, you had a nice diy hartford on there. Do you feel the gate works better?

 

[Rendos]

I do feel that the gate valve works better.

 

[leaffish75]

would it still work if i use a maxi 1200 to supply the skimmer and then add the sedra for a recirculating pump?

 

[Rendos]

I originally had this configured for recirculating, but did not like the performance. I found that it works best as a straight needle wheel skimmer.

This picture shows the first configuration...

 

[Lordhelmet]

bump just to see if anyone has any updates they want to share.

 

[bigtyguyy]

extremely well done!

 

[dhnguyen]

Very nice indeed. But... Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to do something like this?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=711340


I mean @ $39 it hardly seems worth it to DIY your own skimmer body

 

[Lordhelmet]

one last bump.

 

[Silencer]

What are all of your opinions on replacing the expensive acrylic tubing with boxes or other shapes made of acrylic sheet? Say that instead of using an 8"x16" cylinder you used an 8"x8"x16" box?

It'd be a lot cheaper, easier to work with and gives you a larger volume for a given foot print. Fittings are easier to attach because you're working with flat panels and a funnel for the neck is as easy as angling the top of the body. So why don't people do it this way? I'm sure there is a reason but I can't think of anything other than spinning the water column.

In fact why not just buy one or two small hexagon tanks like the ones below and use that in place of the expensive cast acrylic? As a bonus you can keep the glow in the dark stuff for other uses.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...<>ast_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1137223114080

These are all serious questions by the way. I'm thinking of making a DIY skimmer for my 180g and while a square or hexagon skimmer seems to make a lot more sense to me I can't figure out why nobody else does it this way. Thanks.

 

[CaptainCoral]

I would venture to say that the hexagon tanks you've mentioned would be very difficult to cut and stack with any sort of structural integrity. It looks cheap, thin, and probably very brittle. Why not go square? Probably because this skimmer is a diy euroreef clone. I havn't seen any square euro-reef products.

I have, however, seen square skimmers that utilize the benifits (as you've mentioned) in their designs. Remora and Urchins, and I think even some tunze's are square. If the search worked like it should (and used to) I could use this site for research (like I used to) and come up with some more diy threads and members whom have made lots of really cool square skimmers.

Making skimmers is fun! Make yours the way you feel it should be done, and you'll be happier than making someone else's. Drop a thread for us in the diy forum. Sharing is fun too. Good Luck!