Re-designed surface skimmer

[Paul B]

I don't have a sump but I still need to skim the surface of my tank and for many years I used this home made surface skimmer. The strainer on the bottom right side lets in some water but not enough, I let the rest of the water overflow into the top to skim the water. When the water in the device gets lower it creates more suction and more water is forced through the strainer on the side.
There is a powerhead that sucks water out of the tube on the left side and directs it to the large HOB protein skimmer then back to the tank via the algae trough. The problem is that without a sump, the water level in the tank varies a little from day to day even though I have an auto fill.
The surface usually has a film on it because this model was not automatically adjustable so sometimes the top of the unit was to deep and sometimes it was just above the water. To correct this I added a new top that is connected with floats so the top of the surface skimmer is just slightly below the water at all times so it very effectively skims the thinnest top surface film off the water. It will clear a film covering the entire top of the 6' long tank in a couple of minutes. My tank gets a film because I feed oily food every day like live worms and fish oil soaked pellets. I don't like those surface skimmers with the square teeth as they do not skim the very top surface very well.
This is the old model with the rigid top



New model with the two adjustable floats.



And how it sits in the tank skimming just the top fraction of an inch off the surface. I have been toying with this for many years and I think this prototype is perfect. If I get time I will build a better looking model.

 

[slief]

Very cool and effective little device you have there Paul. I must say, that seems like a great idea and I love the use of the film containers. I wonder if they even make those anymore now that we are in the digital age!
I've always been fascinated by your long term success especially given your very simplistic yet very effective approach! It's always very refreshing to read your threads. Thank you very much for sharing this as well as your wisdom here on RC!

 

[peppie]

As always Paul,
Your tinkering produces great functional gadgets

 

[Paul B]

Thank you Slief and Peppie.

I have a case of those film containers that I got on E bay because I patented a seahorse feeder years ago that used the end caps from them. They have plenty of uses. I also use them for a float on my RO/DI make up water and for the auto cut off switch of my skimmer effluent bucket.
http://breedersregistry.org/Articles/v4_i3_paul_b/paul_b.htm

These are no longer available.

 

[slief]

Thank you Slief and Peppie.

I have a case of those film containers that I got on E bay because I patented a seahorse feeder years ago that used the end caps from them. They have plenty of uses. I also use them for a float on my RO/DI make up water and for the auto cut off switch of my skimmer effluent bucket.
http://breedersregistry.org/Articles/v4_i3_paul_b/paul_b.htm

These are no longer available.

Interesting idea on the sea horse feeder. I assume you filled it with baby brine? Having had some experience with Sea Horses, that certainly solves a big issue. How long do the brine survive in there? I know that depends largely on the volume of sea horses and their feeding habits. I know I was constantly having to hatch brine as much of their food would wind up down the filter. Mine were breeding regularly and I even made some special tanks for the baby which I never ended up using.

Do you still produce those feeders? I've actually been thinking about getting more sea horse lately. If not for my large tank at home, possibly for my Jellyfish tank at my office which is/was a great system for Sea Horses given it slow and cylindrical flow. It does a great job of suspending the food so the sea horse can easily get to it.

 

[Paul B]

I do not make those feeders any more but I sold 6,000 of them and had it patented.
I have a baby brine shrimp feeder in my tank now and I still hatch brine every day. I also invented a brine hatchery that seperates the shells. All of that is on my thread someplace.

The brine shrimp would live all day in the feeder. I originally designed it for wholesalers because they had hundreds of seahorses ready to be shipped and they could not feed them because the brine shrimp would go into the filters. This kept the shrimp in the feeder until the fish sucked them out.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1711320

 

[Paul B]

OK so I had to build a new surface skimmer because I built a bio pellet reactor and the plumbing wasn't condusive for the surface skimmer. I used the old top from the last surface skimmer. This one has an adjustment in it so that I can turn a screw and adjust the water level inside the device. Most of the water enters from the screen at the bottom. There is an adjustable screw above it that is accessable with a screwdriver from the top. The rest of the water overflows in a very thin film over the floating part at the top with the floats. I replaced the stainless steel hardware with nylon because the stainless was to heavy and it didn't float correctly.


The offset tube goes up to the bio pellet reactor, then to the protein skimmer, then to the algae trough. At all works with one pump.

 

[insomniac2k2]

Great stuff Paul.

Just an FYI. TAP plastics makes and sells film containers for like 50c a pop.

 

[Paul B]

It works well. I never liked those surface skimmers with the square tooth design, some waxy films don't go through that and I just want to skim the very top surface as that is where the gunk is. The adjustable floating top allows me to skim a paper thin film. The water flow to through the strainer at the bottom allows me to adjust the level in the skimmer which is something my last model did not allow for. As the level of water in the device falls, there is less preasure inside and more water will flow through the strainer so there is always the same level inside and the surface always pulls in just enough of the surface water to keep the thing working. I like this design and hope it will last as long as the last model which is filled with tube worms and brittle stars.

 

[Redman88]

is this surface skimmer still in use? if so can you draw a diagram or post some more pictures of the various parts?

 

[Paul B]

I removed it to make better floats but it worked for many years. I don't have a diagram of it but will try to make one. I know I planned to put it in my book.

 

[Redman88]

I removed it to make better floats but it worked for many years. I don't have a diagram of it but will try to make one. I know I planned to put it in my book.

heck just make the book a picture book, with pictures of the sub-components and the full assemblies. and a few well chosen arrow and descriptions.

 

[Paul B]

More than half the book is a picture and sketch book. I have about so inventions in there and I keep adding as the editor doesn't have that section yet.