My new DIY skimmer

[Cheapreef]

I built my first beckett skimmer about a month ago, came to the conclusion it was just to big to put on my new 40gal cube. So i built this one on monday and tuesday night after work. Pluged it in on Friday and let it go till Saturday afternoon. To say the least i was disapointed, didn't skim anything no foam in the riser. So i cut an inch off the injector to raise it up a bit, works like a chram. Let me know what you guys think. Cost was under $50 CND, took about 4 hours to build and it's driven by a mag7.

Everything for the base cutout.

The base put together.

All asembled, but taken apart.

Fully asembled.

Two hours after staring it for the second time.

Close up

Twelve hours after the startup.

Close up.

So far very pleased with the results.

Clinton

 

[Cheapreef]

By the way this is not a beckett or venturi.

Clinton

 

[fish_who?]

That injector looks very familiar. Great job on the skimmer!!! What pump are you running on it?

 

[wedfr]

hey cheapreef did you make that injector yourself or did you get it from an aquac skimmer. What pvc fitting is it made out of??? looks pretty simple to make

 

[Cheapreef]

That injector looks very familiar. Great job on the skimmer!!! What pump are you running on it?

Driven by a mag7.

Clinton

 

[Cheapreef]

hey cheapreef did you make that injector yourself or did you get it from an aquac skimmer. What pvc fitting is it made out of??? looks pretty simple to make

Made it myself, second try and about 10min. It's made out of a 1/2" piece of thin walled pvc.

Clinton

 

[Clyde]

By the way this is not a beckett or venturi.

Clinton

then what is it ?

 

[melev]

From the picture above, you can see it is very similar to the injector from the Aqua C line.

 

[geo]

looks good dude! do you have a horizontal baffle in there or what?

 

[Cheapreef]

looks good dude! do you have a horizontal baffle in there or what?

Oh, just noticed the pic that would aswer that for didn't come out on the first post.

Clinton

 

[Clyde]

oooh thats CLEAR

but seriously, I dont even know what the AquaC uses, how does it work etc.

From the picture above, you can see it is very similar to the injector from the Aqua C line.

 

[Cheapreef]

Here's another pic after 22 hours.

oooh thats CLEAR

but seriously, I dont even know what the AquaC uses, how does it work etc.

If you look at the injector riser you'll see how it works, on the other side is a air inlet. It just sucks the air as the water goes by, kind of like the effect you get when your in the shower pushing that damn shower curtain back.

Clinton

 

[melev]

oooh thats CLEAR

Sorry Clyde, Picture #2 has a small white thing that looks like a clover. Water shoots through that pinched shape, and as air gets drawn in from the surrounding area, you get bubbles/foam.

 

[Clyde]

is it similar to a beckett ? or a venturi - as venturi pulls in air and mixes with water ?

 

[melev]

Since I'm not familiar with beckett, I can't say. It doesn't draw air in like the Rio/Maxijet pumps do for HOB skmmers.

The water blasts into the black chamber full of water. There are two small air holes on my skimmer that simply allow air to exist, not suck in. The way the water shoots in, it blasts through the air and causes the bubbles. I'm sure due to the pressure, it is sucking in air through the holes, but I wouldn't say it is venturi driven.

 

[jcato]

clinton,

looking very good!!!!! when i get tired with the lifereef skimmer i built , i think this will be my next project.

john

 

[jerseyreefer]

I must say, very nice work. Can you give us some dimensions? iv'e been wanting to build a downdraft skimmer myself. All the other ones iv'e seen had way taller injector tubes, but this one seems to work well with the mag7.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Cheapreef]

Well it's not a dowdraft either. Anyway here are the dimensions, this is just stuff i had access too without spending an arm and a leg on 6 foot lengthes.
Box dimensions 5 3/8" W x 8 3/8 L x 6 3/4 H
First riser 4 1/2" OD x 7" H
Second riser 2 1/2" OD x 3 3/4" H
Collection cup 4 1/2" x 4 3/4" H
The injector riser is 2 1/2" OD x 2 1/2" H, but i think i would make it 4" or so next time. The reason being is as soon as the injector comes in contact with water the foam decreases to about half. This way you'll have more of an adjustment of water hieght, also it seems to work the best when the injector outlet is even with the air inlet. Remember the skimmate that this is pulling out is from a 25gal bin of 15LBS of LR 3 coral frags and one fish. So pretty much no bio load, so i'm happy so far. We'll see in a few more days.

Clinton

 

[Eric Boerner]

Think you can draft out some detailed plans for this skimmer? Perhaps on a slightly larger scale? I need to build one to pull from a 250 gallon water source. I like the concept you're going with, on the spray injector.

 

[Cheapreef]

Think you can draft out some detailed plans for this skimmer? Perhaps on a slightly larger scale? I need to build one to pull from a 250 gallon water source. I like the concept you're going with, on the spray injector.

Have youchecked my occupation? I'm pretty much a computer tard' You guys are luck i can post these pics. But really, have no idea as to how to draft out plans or anything so the pics will have to do. This is just "seat of the pants" building, no drawn out plans ect..

On a tank the size you have i would use a 6" riser around 11-12" tall. For the second riser i'd go with 4" and about same hieght as mine 3 3/4". Just up scale the box to fit these dimensions and your off. Sorry that's about the best i can do for you. It's relly not that hard to build, four sides to the box three tubes and an injector. Can't get any easier than that.

Clinton