Large Airpump Driver Skimmer

[biggt 2k1]

Well all the plastic is here so we will start the build today. We got 4 of the 9" ultrafine pore stones and they should be here in a few days. I am going to borrow a diaphram air compresser to find the optimal air rate for the skimmer and will order the pump from there. I did find some really cheap pumps available that look like similar to others that I have seen but only like 60 bux. I will try to find out more about them and let you guys know.

 

[biggt 2k1]

Well the skimmer is well under way. We made a practice run on the neck funnel w/ some old acrylic. It worked pretty good but the final version will be made from black. Here are is a shot of it so far.

 

[DisturbedReefer]

We have made some more progress on the skimmer...

 

[CaptainCoral]

This will end up one heck of a copied DIY air driven skimmer.

I can't wait to see how this one turns out. I'm especially interested in your airstone replacement configuration.

 

[DisturbedReefer]

More progress last night...

 

[BeanAnimal]

How have you determined what the neck height should be? I know the gate valve will give you a fair amount of adjustment... but have you considered a hartford loop type of discharge?

 

[Bishop]

Looks nice... any idea what the db level of a sweetwater pump is?

 

[gbtower]

Looks nice... any idea what the db level of a sweetwater pump is?

I don't know for sure, but the linear piston types look incredibly like Medo's which top out at around 45dB for the larger one (I have the Medo LA60A). I don't have a clue about the Linear II, or diaphragm, types.

 

[biggt 2k1]

Bean, according to my source the skimmer should be 80 % water and 20% air. We are going to put on about a 4' hartford loop. That source is a thread called 'skimming 101' over on RF.

 

[MarkS]

Bean, according to my source the skimmer should be 80 % water and 20% air. We are going to put on about a 4' hartford loop. That source is a thread called 'skimming 101' over on RF.

Escobal (sp?) mentioned in his book that the most air you could incorperate by volume was 13%. Or so I thought...

 

[ChemE]

RF finally come to the conclusion that indeed 13% was the max.

 

[biggt 2k1]

Well ok we will go w/ 13% Also I just winged it on the neck height.

Ok so the Neck an cup are almost ready to go, just a little final machining. Also We ended up having to custom fit some standard plumbing to get the stones to fit in the skimmer. We shortened them up a little, and used some Weldon 40 to glue in the feed pipe to the manifold. We made a bracket to support the stones since they are quite heavy, an a piece of 1/2" pvc just wasnt enough. We are also going to make a wetneck soon that will be removable. It is all in my head right now and I havn't quite figured out how to make it happen. One of the stones came in crooked like that. I suppose it won't hiner the performance much.

 

[nyvp]

what is the eta of getting it running?

 

[biggt 2k1]

Well the estimated time of bubbles is about 3 days or so.

 

[goby1]

Sweetwater pumps are very quiet. G1

 

[arjay96]

bigt, what pump are you using for the skimmer....looks great

arjay

 

[biggt 2k1]

Well the big skimmer is all finished and we fired it up tonight. It held water nicely which was nice. We are borrowing a air pump that my friend uses for a small hvlp gun to spray furnature. It only gives us about 3% air volume, so we will have to get a larger pump. Well anyway here are the pix of it completed, and hopefully we will have some pix of it pulling some funk out here soon.

 

[CaptainCoral]

Those are some mighty small and consistent bubbles you have there.

Impressive.

In sump setup as well. kudos.

edit... Just noticed the part about the underdriven stones. Well thats what I get for looking before reading.

 

[biggt 2k1]

Thanks Cap, I have seen several of the stones running a lot more pressure and they are equally as impressive as these stones. Hopefully the new pump will be in here in less then a week or so, also hopefully the skimmer will be fully broken in by then too. The pump we are currently using is rated around .9cu ft per min, and the pump on order will do 4 cu ft per min max. It will be hooked up so that if necessary excess pressure can be bled off outside the house. The skimmer is doing well so far even though it is underdriven quite a bit. It really kicked off some funk when Todd fed his Lion's tonight!

 

[nebraskareef]

this thing is F'in Sweet.

Air driven skimmers, especially this large, have a special place in my heart.

GREAT JOB!