How to make a water bottle skimmer

[phenom5]

That open top of the collection cup could get messy.


i made a top for te collection cup, just not shown in the picture...might make a larger collection cup...

 

[doody]

i made a top for te collection cup, just not shown in the picture...might make a larger collection cup...

Well take some pics my friend.
What exactly are the mods in v.2?
I can't tell but is the bottom of the 1st bottle cut off?

 

[phenom5]

What exactly are the mods in v.2?


its taller, and i added a 2nd airstone.

I can't tell but is the bottom of the 1st bottle cut off?

yes

 

[filishy]

Agu,

You're a genius.

Maria.

 

[burrito]

updates?

 

[phenom5]

well, i shut mine down...for now. it was becoming too much $$$ and effort. the skimmer itself wasn't expensive, but the rearranging of my setup would have been a PITA...so i'm back to where i started...skimmerless w/ a fuge, lots of flow and LR.

 

[Agu]

Here's 6 days of skimmate (took two days to get it working right),

This is from a four gallon tank and three gallon sump ..

Agu

 

[Jovreefer]

That is the same color skimmate I get from my water bottle skimmer thats not quite as tall. One sugestion add a second airstone and lay them at an angle on the sides of the bottle.

I'm going to make a slightly taller skimmer myself. Also I'm going to try to glue some plastic at an agle over the airstones, I'm hoping it will add some twisting to the bubbles, therefore more air/water contact and hopefully darker skimmate!!!

 

[Jovreefer]

phenom5- yes it does make a difference if you use wood or stone air stones. Dont give up, you have the parts and you got one working...its just tweeking them now.

 

[scarletknight06]

cool project guys. I made a CC skimmer out of a gravel vacuum this past summer and it worked well on my 10g. I saw a thread at nano-reef on how to do it. Basically just find a way to mount the gravel vac in the tank/sump put a couple of holes in it, an airstone at the bottom, and turn it on.

And for those of you wondering-the Lee's skimmers are just as good as the piccolo skimmers and they are easier to find (i know www.thatfishplace.com has them)

 

[dingofarmer]

Just got mine up and running. I was going to just run it once every two weeks. I'm getting some good foam, but tweeking it to get the right amount of bubbles is hard. I just kept the valve on the same spot, but would raise or lower the bottle to get it right. I'll upload some pics tommmorow. The wooden airstone is pretty nice. I need a better valve though.

 

[banditfl]

Any updates in all those water bottle skimmers out there..

 

[KING OF THE REEF]

hey cool i love in pinellas county. imareefer maybe you could frag some stuff and send it to me

FAT CHANCE I DONT SEND FOR FREE LOL NO I tried it and it failed horribly. The skimmate was awsome for me but in my back compartment of my nano it just wouldnt work for some reason hmm will have to redisgn it someday when school isnt a factor

 

[Agu]

Mine worked great but it was UGLY !! As long as I had a sump to hold it I was fine. The skimmate was on the wet side which I didn't mind, but it caused fluctuation in the sump water height which affected the skimming efficiency. Ideally it needs a dedicated chamber where water height doesn't fluctuate too much to work right. I took down that tank due to other issues and currently don't have a tank that needs a diy skimmer.

A friend of mine who raises clownfish fry is going to try modified version in his grow out tanks. He figures it'll create circulation, remove uneaten food, and be cheap enough for multiple tanks.

 

[melev]

Agu, doesn't your bottle need an opening near the top (water surface area) to create flow within the bottle to constantly create fresh water to skim?

 

[Agu]

The bottom bottle didn't appear to need any type of vent or additional circulation. I suspect with the entire bottom being open it created it's own circulation.

The top however needs to be vented or the foam can't overcome the back pressure and rise up the neck.

 

[melev]

Correct. However, I was thinking how using riser tubes creates circulation in a tank, so there might be a benefit to creating something along those lines to bring in fresh water needing skimming. Maybe I'm over-thinking this.

 

[Agu]

Mark,

I suspect you're thinking of airlifts

using riser tubes creates circulation in a tank

I don't think you could maintain long enough dwell time with an outlet near the top of the body. Build one and tell me, your DIY puts me to shame .

 

[MadTownMax]

Melev - are you thinking of an internal tube where the bubbles could rise, "processed" water would then go to the top, and then down outside the internal tube, while still inside the bottle? - this would function as a bubble-trap too..

wow - that was confusing to describe

 

[melev]

Yeah, it would need to be something like a CPR bakpak or Remora, with internal baffling.