my little hob diy skimmer

[ihavtats29]

i was needing a skimmer something that would not cost me a arm and a leg i plan on buying a home in the next 2 years and will be installing a 300 to 500 gal in wall setup, i didnt want to have to keep spending on one skimmer then 2 years later have to buy an even more expensive model. so here it is with help from richard and danny with basics on operation and design i put this little skimmer together all comments apreciated and reconized and for any helpfull thoughts tanks in advance.


layout of the skimmer body

return line fitted in place

with collection cup and riser

octopus 3000 needle wheel pump with surface supply tube

risser tube and collection cup base

assembled cup/ will be adding a top and a drain down the road

fully assembled skimmer

the overall height is 6'4" 1 1/2" return line andsurface supply tube to the pump the body is 4" pvc and 3/4" supply to the body from the pump i was going to have the pump external but i figured i can use the pump the help heat the water and also less places for a leak.

 

[joeycadre]

insanity. but in a good way.

 

[ihavtats29]

i was going to start it up tonight but when i got the boby filled i found a small seeping leak on one of the 4" tee's lol i wish i had put a drain on it it was pretty heavy when full of water

 

[ihavtats29]

"body" sorry not the best speller

 

[jeff209]

that thing is 10 inches taller than me

 

[ihavtats29]

lol 13 inchs taller than my wife

 

[Goibot]

Kind of hard to get it in the cabinate. But awesome - really interrested in hearing if it works. Keep us posted

 

[Blindside]

love to see people doing stuff like this...so cool, looks like a Beast!

 

[Del123]

Will this work on a nano!

 

[ihavtats29]

i just had it in the front of the tank so i could easly get all of my measurements correct and check the fit to the tank ill post pics of final resting place after i leakcheck the tubing

 

[Pbrown3701]

I suggest that you swap that ball valve on the output out for a gate valve. You'll have a hard time adjusting the skimmer with the ball valve. The gate would allow for much more precise adjustment.

Looks cool. Let us know how she works.

 

[ihavtats29]

ok leak check is done having 2 problems it seems like the stock venturi is not moving enough air also im getting allot of micro bubbles back into the tank even with the return flow cut back

 

[ihavtats29]

should i reduce the return line tubing size down from 1 1/2 to 3/4 ? mesh mod for more air? if so im going to hate cutting of that 12 dollar ball valve

 

[ihavtats29]

ok i figured out the air flow issueit seema the length of the tubing and having to push air filled water up 2 feet and back down 2 feet may be a little tough for the pump or just the stock venturi could be a bit larger 1/4 inch maybe if i blow into the airline tubing for about 30 sec the water level in the skimmer rose and so did the volume of air, it also started forming a head. so a mesh mod my be in need along with a venturi mod for now im going to pick up a cheap air pump and a adjustment valve to boost the air into the venturi, ive placed a wisper filter bag onto the end of the return line its keeping the micro bubbled down a bit here are some pics of the return with the bag and without

with bag

with out

 

[neuroslicer]

the pump is going to stay in your tank??? or in a sump?

 

[ihavtats29]

i have no sump my tank is not drilled and cannot be drilled i live in a apartment on the second floor so a external overflow is out of the question, so the pump will be in the tank and hiden by some live rock, otherwise if i had a sump i would have made a smaller skimmer to fit under the cabinet

 

[ihavtats29]

i thought of having the pump external, that was my original design but what if i had a leak , normaly i and my wife work long hrs 12 + and if something had failed i woiuld have some serious problems

 

[Pbrown3701]

you are probably having air issues because a home made venturi has a hard time overcoming 5ft of water pressure. You basically have to overcome that 5ft of water pressure before the venturi will suck any air.

The way a venturi works is by using the water flow to create a vacuum (or in other words, it reduces the pressure in the line). That vacuum begins from the pressure inside the pipe.

For example, if you have a 5ft water column above your venturi, the pressure inside the pipe is about 17psi. In order for the venturi to suck ANY air, it would have to reduce that pressure to below atmospheric pressure (14.7psi). And for it to suck enough air to make the skimmer effective, it needs to drop the pressure even further.

When you have a shorter skimmer, the venturi doesn't have to overcome such a high pressure and thus, it works better.

In conclusion (sorry to ramble on), i suggest trying to use a purchased venturi which will provide better performance. If that still doesn't work, look into putting a Coralife luft air pump on it.

 

[ihavtats29]

the venturi that is on the pump is not home made, it actualy was the one that came with the pump from the factory, i picked up a air pump dual type pushing both lines into 1 thru a control valve it fixed the lack of air problem and the micro bubbles are almost completely gone it is starting to pull some skimate from the tank. i think when i do the mesh mod and venturi mod it will improve the air / water mix. ill post more pics soon

 

[ihavtats29]

ok here are some more pics

micro bubbles allmost completely gone

starting to pull out some nasty gunk

and my shrooms havent been this full in a week