DIY beckett skimmer help

mushumatt · 04-20-2007, 05:57 PM

Hey guys, I have a few questions for you guys. I am currently in the process of working on a DIY protein skimmer. I really want to make a beckett style protein skimmer of sorts.

Is there any plans for this style skimmer around I could model off of. I was thinking about making a educator style beckett skimmer. Running into a box and it capped off for another educator. The actual tube I want to run 8" tube 24" high connected to a 6" tall 6" wide riser tube.

Any input or information would be helpful

gwaco · 04-20-2007, 06:17 PM

i don't have any plans to give you but i believe geoff has something .
the best advice i can give you is make sure you get a strong pressure rated pump to drive it . even if you have to put a tee on the pump to devirt some of the pumps flow , it will make it easier to get the skimmer to do what you want it to do .
you will not need to add a second beckett to the size you are planning on building , one with a good high pressure pump will work wonders .
for a comparision , i built mine with 8" tube , its just under 4' tall and has no reduced neck . to run it i'm using a little giant te 5.5 rated at 2150 gph at 5' . i switched it over to 240 volts to try and make it more efficeint , and some of the bleed off runs my chiller .here is a pic of the skimmer body .

mushumatt · 04-20-2007, 07:07 PM

For a up to 1500 gallon system I really do not want to make another skimmer lol. So I think i may revise 10" tube at 4' tall with a riser and such.

Where can you get a acrylic tube 10" wide?

gwaco · 04-20-2007, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mushumatt

For a up to 1500 gallon system I really do not want to make another skimmer lol. So I think i may revise 10" tube at 4' tall with a riser and such.

Where can you get a acrylic tube 10" wide?

well to go to 10" you can plan on doubling your cost . i think i paid around $140 dollars for a 8" by 6' tube . after 8" diameter it started going by foot . i want to say it was something like $40 a foot 10" and even crazier for 12" . but even by the foot i seem to remember that there was a mininum length i would have had to buy . to buy it check locally for plastic / acylic dealers , or sign making shops .

Geoff · 04-20-2007, 10:45 PM

check on ebay. every now and then you can find some pretty big tubes for reasonable prices.

i think just looking at Gary's pic is enough to get you an idea. the skimmer i made is way to small for a tank of your size. i do like the eductor injectors though. i am in the planning stages of a six or eight inch diameter skimmer with dual eductor injectors. i have to make it short because of space limitations. if not i would do something very close to what Gary has done.

G~