How to make a water bottle skimmer

[MadTownMax]

I was thinking more like the red sea berlin airlift-type (the one's with the open bottoms

 

[vanmo92]

good idea. maby i'll try it someday.

 

[DivaMan]

Heres something thAT may not have been suggested, Try to find one of those tallolive oil bottles, like nthe really tall ones, 1-1.5 feet tall, user that it wilkl double your skimmate color, because it is thin, compressing everything, and its tall.

 

[Mavvy]

I ALMOST purchased a Piccolo skimmer...but the shipping was more than the unit cost. Holy jeez!

 

[YoitsArson]

cool. ty

 

[jadeguppy]

I made one last night and put it in the hob today. The only airstone I had was the plastic white ones or a blue stone, so I put in the stone. The bottle is a narrow, tall water bottle that fits great into the hob resiviour when the carbon filter is removed. Since the tank is a 5g, it also helps keep it out of the actual tank. However, I am getting very little rise in bubbles. It swirls, but the bubble don't rise up the bottle. Any suggestions? I really want this to work. I hope to be able to add a firefish to the tank, but I don't want to add a fish until I am sure of the water quality. Right now there are a few cleaners, live rock, and coral.

 

[Agu]

The amount and quality of skimmate is adjusted by moving the skimmer up or down in the water.

You really want a wooden airstone. The dwell time is pretty short so you want the finest bubbles possible.

Like most skimmers, there is a run in time for it to work efficiently.

 

[NYCREEF69]

GREAT IDEA

 

[jadeguppy]

Where do you guys get wooden airstones? I don't think I have ever seen one.

 

[melev]

Check your LFS. They are usually called "Lee's Airstones"
http://www.fishsupply.com/sasla-w2555.html

 

[saltyshoe_nano]

wow this thing looks interesting.....is there anyone out there that has made a diy skimmer with a powerhead? or do you need the bubble stone...I have a really cool skeleton of a skimmer lol but donno what to run it, its on a 21.5 gal. custom with 10 gal sump....I wanted to try it out bc I have extra airpumps, powerheads pvc, and containers to make one before I go and buy one from work...??

 

[mluna785]

Pretty cool.

 

[nemowithnoeyes]

thank you agu! i made one the other day for my 10g tank. works great cant wait till i get it fully functioning within 1 hour it was kickin and singin the blues.

 

[cutegecko3]

 

[cutegecko3]

Here is a cheap tower protein skimmer i bought off ebay.When i took it out of the box i just laughed and threw it in the storage building.I thought i would test it out though and i was suprised it actually worked.I had to cut 2 inches off of the total length to fit it in the HOB fuge.And also no fish food is ever added to my tank and no other supplemental feedings are done.

 

[tholton33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11727903#post11727903 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltyshoe_nano
wow this thing looks interesting.....is there anyone out there that has made a diy skimmer with a powerhead? or do you need the bubble stone...I have a really cool skeleton of a skimmer lol but donno what to run it, its on a 21.5 gal. custom with 10 gal sump....I wanted to try it out bc I have extra airpumps, powerheads pvc, and containers to make one before I go and buy one from work...??

I just made one from a venturi powerhead, its going through the break in period as we speak. I tried to use a 2l bottle but the plastic was too flimsy. the only thing i had was a Vodka bottle haha. its big and bulk but its pulling some decent skim. i might change the container. its pretty easy to make. just think ahead about where you are going to put the output of the PH before you finalize the plans.

 

[affordableocean]

wish this thread had more pictures...

 

[Cracky]

yea I wish it had more pics also. I would like to make one of these for my 10 gallon just to try it out.

 

[David Jr.]

Do airstones clog easily? I have a BioCube 29 and needed a protein skimmer, and my LFS said that the BioCube skimmer ($40) would need its airstone replaced every month. So she ordered me a CPR skimmer ($160) with a venturi. Would the Biocube skimmer have been just as good?

 

[melev]

Wooden airstones last a month or so, but they are pretty cheap too. The nice thing about these is that they provide fine bubbles for a longer time than their 'stone' counterparts.