My new DIY skimmer

that is a nice ghetto skimmer. please don't take offense...looks can be decieving. you just proved a cheap modle that might not be perfect craftmanship will work just good too ;)

nice job of fitting the plan to your needs and design

get a pic of it running
Lunchbucket
 
Thanks Lunchbucket.

I did it with some pieces of acrilic and PVC taht I already have, I donÃ"šÃ‚´t have all the correct tools to do it, but I think I got a good result.

It is working great !!! I will post the picture of what I am getting out on the cup.

:p
 
Patent it they did...Aqua C gives the patent number on their website (#6,156,209). The patent is more than just the nozzle though. It is a patent on that type of skimmer. The patent gives some additional information and other nozzle types. You can look at the patent at http://patft.uspto.gov. I have yet to build this skimmer, but thanks to cheapreef for a great reverse engineered and documented design. It will save me some cash.:D
 
Patent schmattent!

If someone is willing to take the time and effort to make their own version of a product already in existence, I say, let 'em at it! Plus, if the thing is simple enough to be built at home, it's just a matter of time before someone does it.

If aquarium equipment was slightly more affordable, people might not be so inclined to figure out ways to make their own...

Let's see: spend $300+ on a store bought skimmer, or make your own for $50...hmmm


Now jacking someone's design for profit would be a different story...
 
Can anyone think of any creative ideas for other spray nozzles that might work for this thing? Perhaps some sort of commercial plastic spray nozzle (like the end of a garden hose gun)? Or other types pf home made pvc nozzles... maybe drill some different patterns in the end of a pvc cap and see if there is any improvement in efficiency
Click to expand...

I used two 3/4 inch pvc hose barbs, and went to the grocery store and bought a cake decorating piping nozzel set. the nozzels fit right in the barb and come in 4 different shapes. works pretty good though I dont know if the smushed pvc would work better cus I got tired of trying to make one:mad2:

Later
JimC.
 
Bending small peices of PVC is really easy. Set a pan on the stove and fill it with oil (cooking oil, thank you very much! *grin*) to a level just below how much of the PVC you need to form (aka: if you need to shape the last 1" of the PVC for you noozle, add about 3/4" to 7/8" of oil). Heat the oil up to 350 or so and set the PVC in it. If it is cut square, it will stand right up. Give it 30 seconds or so and pull it out and shape it. Yes, it will be hot, so wear heat resistance gloves! Also, it works best if you cut your blank long (say 4" or so) to give you something to grip while you shape it and then cut it to length after you are done. Works great. The PVC is almost like rubber.

Oh, and I would suggest you NOT use the oil to fry your morning eggs...
 
that's an interesting idea hehe, I'm sure it works though.

I was surprised how easy it was to bend my pvc. All I did was wave a torch over it for about 30 sec, then just like you said, I used heat resistant gloves, and it was like rubber :D
 
I'm jumping into the conversation a little late here, but regardless;
I used my gas range to make my injector, which looks almost, but not quite perfect. The gas flame doesn't leave any soot, just discoloration if you let the plastic start burning. Like roamer said, leave yourself at least a 4" piece to work with. I used rubber dishwashing gloves to hold it, and my fingers to shape. I kept pinching it too tight w/ n.nose pliers.

Forgive me for my lack of camera. I am a po' broke musician and reefaholic. I am building a scaled up version with 3.5" and 6" clear acrylic, and a Mag 12. We'll see how it turns out. The hardest part is the cup, which I'm not finished with yet.

I shouldn't have, but bought a 1.5" gate valve for adjustment. Gate valves are expensive. 35$. The hole saws were 70$ with shipping. This is turning into an expensive project very quickly, but I don't care.

Reef man, how high is the diagonal bubble baffle piece? Looks to be about 1" from the top, but I can't tell from the photo. My box will be 7" wide (inside) by 10" tall; I think that 1" will handle a mag 12 output without causing too much turbulence inside the box, but I'm not sure. I just don't want to create a downward current to suck down bubbles. Any suggestions?
 
Wow, that pattent site, along with Cheapreef's data, are the best set of DIY skimmer plans I've ever seen! How about a lower-capacity model? Other peolpe claim their skimmers drop off in production rapidly; has anyone built one that would run on a mag 7 or mag 5, or equivalent?
 
I plan to bulid some of this Skinner and wonder if you can write the dimensions in centimeter insted.
When you write 1" is one " = 2,56centimeter

Of course i can calculate the dimensions by my self
:cool:

Here in Sweden / Europe i never seen a skinner like this and now its seams to its verry popular in the States!?

How big aquarium is this skinner build for? I have 470Liter i think this about 120 gallon in the states!?

Regards from Christian in Sweden
 
Your close on the conversions, maybe close enough not to post this... but;

1 inch = 2.54 cm (formula is: in. x 2.54 = cm)

I'd toss the formula in a spreadsheet and just fill in the blanks... that's me though.

Close on the tank size too:
1 gallon = 3.785 liters (or 3.79, depends on how precise u r)
 
¿

Ã"šÃ‚¿

I cant see how big this skinner is to the aquarium.
Like i sad i want to build some but is this skinner okey/right to my 120Gallon aquarium:confused:
 
Last edited:
Cheapreef,

Cheapreef,

:) Thanks for this great thread!!! I've been planning on doing this DIY project for quite some time, and your thread kinda motivated my start date.

I'm starting the box end for my DIY Protein Skimmer tomorrow.

Regarding working with acrylics, i'm starting small and working my way up to building my own 120 (possibly 100) gallon acrylic tank. I've had a little experience with acrylics and having my own routing table, should have some really nice results.

Luckily I found a cast acrylic sheet supplier/manufacturer near me that has excellent prices. They claim their cast acrylic is of the highest quality in comparison to what you can get anywhere in the U.S. .

What sucks for me... we sold our bowfront tank to make room for the new 120 gallon i've yet to build. The only tank I have to test the skimmer on is a dinky 10 gallon that I setup to hold my favorite little freshwater friends in. It'd be a hoot to watch the skimmer work on it......... it's housing (1) 5" bloodred Parrotfish, a plecostamus and a 3" tiger catfish. I'm certain this tank would have a LOT of gunk for a skimmer to remove.

I'll be building my sump after the protein skimmer, followed by the 120 gallon tank.

A quick question, which weld-on product are you using in the construction of your Protein Skimmers??? 3 or 4???
 
I doubt if a skimmer would work on freshwater. Seems like I read that it takes a pH higher than most freshwater has to make the small bubbles for it to work very well.
 
harryehooper said:
I doubt if a skimmer would work on freshwater. Seems like I read that it takes a pH higher than most freshwater has to make the small bubbles for it to work very well.
Click to expand...

The water tension of FW isnt proper for skimming--- o something like that:D
 
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