DIY Skimmer, group project

[OneDummHikk]

Then it will be time to move on to a kalk reactor, then a Ca reactor, then to a Phosban reactor I think the final one to this one will be the acrylic neck. After that, there isn't much more to do to it other than let it run.

[OneDummHikk]

I just went back through this thread and TRT has fubar'ed it with server upgrades. I fixed a few of the images and then got sick of it. If you click the broken image, the link still works and it will show you the images. I just got tired of fixing them all.

[OneDummHikk]

This things been running for a few days now. The surprising thing is that I still haven't glued it together! It is just stuck together.

The RO/DI unit, lying in my floor where I unpacked it out of the box:

[OneDummHikk]

Ok, finally got all the images fixed, except the ones that other people quoted. I will have to get someone else to edit/correct those as I can't. All of the images are displaying now.

[paintballe48]

how do you control the water height in the skimmer?

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by paintballe48

how do you control the water height in the skimmer?

It has a 1" gate valve on the drain of it. As you close the gate valve, the water level rises in the skimmer. As you open it, it lowers the water level. You can't see it in the sump picture and I don't have a picture of it

Another option, that is a pita to get right, is a repair coupling on the drain. Just after the drain exits, put an elbow up on it. Then put a repair coupling on it. The repair coupling "slides" and lets you change the height of the drain. They are a bear to get in the right place and then to adjust though.

[rfd515]

I'm working on a continuation of this design, trying to mimic a BK supermarine.

I'd copy the post here but don't have 20 posts. The write up so far can be found at:

h t t p://w w w.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1514513

If anyone feels inclined to copy/paste it here that would be much appreciated.

-Bob

[OneDummHikk]

Rather than try to copy/paste the entire write up, the pics, and the replies, the original can be found here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...2#post13789182

Rather than try to answer the questions there, I prefer to have it here so I am going to copy/paste the last set of questions and answer them here. Nothing against RC, I just spend more time on TRT.

My thinking is I will construct the inside chamber first and drill the inlet hole bigger than what the uniseal needs. Then drill the exact hole for the inlet uniseal in the 4" section. This "should" alleviate that issue.

The problem you will run into is that you can't really build the inner then the outer. It has to kinda go together all at the same time in order to get everything where it needs to be. Try dry fitting it a few times and you can begin to see what I am talking about. Especially the inlet on the bottom. Depending on what you intend to do inside the skimmer on the outlet side of the pump, it may work better to simply drill a hole through all three pieces of PVC that fits snugly against the inlet pipe, and PVC glue it together.

The main disadvantage I found to gluing it together was being able to clean it or adjust anything. The first one I built I threw away because I couldn't change anything inside and I glued it together. The only place it leaked on me was at the neck and that was because of the way I fitted it.

Ya it will have the short piece of pipe in it, I just didn't put it in the mock-up.

Not sure that a piece of pipe would be needed though. I would try it without first. Cut the bubble plate to sit on top of the 3" flange on the closet flange, then sit the reducer on top of it. To get the reducer inside the 4" pipe, I had to sand some nibs off the fitting. I think they are part of the molding process. Just little bits that stick out the side of the fittings. Sanded them off and they fit fairly well. Let the bubble plate sit between them. Gluing any of it in there would make it very very difficult to do maintenance on the skimmer though.

My hope is that if the outlet water goes up, down, and up again it should reduce micro-bubbles. Worst case I could make a small pvc bubble trap, and this will be going into a tiered sump system anyways so I'm not THAT worried about some stray bubbles.

I think the main reason I have bubbles in the drain on it is because the pump is WAY too large for the body. The body, in essence, is only 2" in diameter and I have a pump on it that originally went on a 6" diameter. If you increase the inner pipe to 3", you don't have enough room between the 3 and 4" pipe to get even flow and it speeds the water up even more. I had more bubbles with the 3" inside than the 2" pipe.

Ya, I plan on having to cut it down

Give me a few days to draw it up and work out some kinks and details and I will post a new diagram of a 4"/6" skimmer that I came up with this morning that doesn't have the cost issues of the last diagram.

I will probably end up doing this. The issue is the jug will need to sit in the sump as well and that takes up space.

Yes, it takes up space but to me the extra 6" or so of skimmer height is worth the trade off for stand space but I have always had extra stand space because of having an under sized sump on my tank.

Yeap, a rectangle piece of acrylic melted and bent, then just glue on the front and back. Easy to drill a hole in the bottom for the bulkhead.

Also very easy to drill, tap, build a lid for, build the force down ring. I like the square idea.

I'm trying to buy a short (1' or so) piece of 2" clear pvc for the neck (the union up) but haven't found any yet. USPlastics refuses to sell me less than a 10' piece which is about 9' too long and $40 too expensive.

The clear neck I have came off of another skimmer I had that was broken. The only reason I didn't use it was because while it was real close, it didn't fit tight enough to keep from leaking. Check with a local acrylic shop to see if they have some clear acrylic tubing. Maybe even a piece of scrap. It would require a different glue (weld on instead of PVC glue) but it might be an option.

I had a CSS125 on my 75g setup and had to run the outlet through a sock. I assume a lot of those issues are the pump, but we'll see. I know a few local people use gen-x's and really like em.

I may have to try to find one and try it. I have never used one so I don't know. Based on the info on this page:
http://anythingsaltwater.com/genx-gx...mp-p-1485.html
Model:GX 1500 Max Flow:397 GPA Max Head:6.4' Watts:20w
You won't have near the too-big-a-pump issue that I was having. With a head pressure of only 6.4', I would seriously consider making it a recirculating skimmer. The only thing extra you would need are two more uniseals and some piping.

I'd love to make a 6" version just can't afford it right now. I'll start with the 4" and see how the prototype goes. If it goes well I may slowly construct a bigger version.

The prohibitive cost of 6" pipe and fittings was why I stopped tinkering with it. The only place local I could find it was Lowes. I had to go to a plumbing supply company to get the 4"x6" reducer couplings that I have. The couplers were almost 25 dollars each.

What size tank do you have?

[rfd515]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

The problem you will run into is that you can't really build the inner then the outer. It has to kinda go together all at the same time in order to get everything where it needs to be. Try dry fitting it a few times and you can begin to see what I am talking about. Especially the inlet on the bottom. Depending on what you intend to do inside the skimmer on the outlet side of the pump, it may work better to simply drill a hole through all three pieces of PVC that fits snugly against the inlet pipe, and PVC glue it together.

Ya the construction of the bottom and bubble plate will be the difficult part. I really have no idea how that will go until I just get into it.

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

The main disadvantage I found to gluing it together was being able to clean it or adjust anything. The first one I built I threw away because I couldn't change anything inside and I glued it together. The only place it leaked on me was at the neck and that was because of the way I fitted it.

I'd like to glue it together just because I don't like "hoping" it stays together but there are obvious drawbacks to the permanence of glue.

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Not sure that a piece of pipe would be needed though. I would try it without first. Cut the bubble plate to sit on top of the 3" flange on the closet flange, then sit the reducer on top of it. To get the reducer inside the 4" pipe, I had to sand some nibs off the fitting. I think they are part of the molding process. Just little bits that stick out the side of the fittings. Sanded them off and they fit fairly well. Let the bubble plate sit between them. Gluing any of it in there would make it very very difficult to do maintenance on the skimmer though.

Ya that may work.

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

I think the main reason I have bubbles in the drain on it is because the pump is WAY too large for the body. The body, in essence, is only 2" in diameter and I have a pump on it that originally went on a 6" diameter. If you increase the inner pipe to 3", you don't have enough room between the 3 and 4" pipe to get even flow and it speeds the water up even more. I had more bubbles with the 3" inside than the 2" pipe.

Getting the right pump seems to be an issue a lot of diy skimmers have, that's the main reason I based it off of a retail unit.

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Give me a few days to draw it up and work out some kinks and details and I will post a new diagram of a 4"/6" skimmer that I came up with this morning that doesn't have the cost issues of the last diagram.

Great, I'll keep my eyes peeled

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Yes, it takes up space but to me the extra 6" or so of skimmer height is worth the trade off for stand space but I have always had extra stand space because of having an under sized sump on my tank.

Ya I have quite a bit of stand space, I'll start a build thread on here once I get some more posts and copy everything I have over. I have quite a few diy's done and in the works (stand, eductors, etc).

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Also very easy to drill, tap, build a lid for, build the force down ring. I like the square idea.

Ya, that cup is a great idea for diy. Definitely a gem I came across using google image search.

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

The clear neck I have came off of another skimmer I had that was broken. The only reason I didn't use it was because while it was real close, it didn't fit tight enough to keep from leaking. Check with a local acrylic shop to see if they have some clear acrylic tubing. Maybe even a piece of scrap. It would require a different glue (weld on instead of PVC glue) but it might be an option.

Ya the clear pvc neck is going to be the difficult piece to procure. I'm gonna try to scare up a couple local plastics suppliers and see what I can find. I could just make it with pvc, but it would just be miles better if it was clear.

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

I may have to try to find one and try it. I have never used one so I don't know. Based on the info on this page:
*skimmer link*
Model:GX 1500 Max Flow:397 GPA Max Head:6.4' Watts:20w
You won't have near the too-big-a-pump issue that I was having. With a head pressure of only 6.4', I would seriously consider making it a recirculating skimmer. The only thing extra you would need are two more uniseals and some piping.

Ya, I've thought about making it recirc but it seems like the jury is still out on whether or not they are advantageous. I've seen a couple people add the recirc pump and end up scrapping it because their foam production goes in the crapper.

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

The prohibitive cost of 6" pipe and fittings was why I stopped tinkering with it. The only place local I could find it was Lowes. I had to go to a plumbing supply company to get the 4"x6" reducer couplings that I have. The couplers were almost 25 dollars each.

What size tank do you have?

A 6" diy skimmer would be awesome. I'm in the process of setting up a 90g Megaflow DT with about 45ish gallons of sump. We're pretty tight on "extra money" right now so anything I can scrounge up is going into the tank build which is "nearing" completion.

My hope is that any xmas money I get will go into the skimmer build. What I will probably do is just build a simple ReefOcto NW110 Clone (cheap and super easy to build) and then work on the Bubble King Clone. It would be amazing to use 6" pipe, 2 NW feed pumps, a bubble plate, and a recirc pump. Basically make the last skimmer I'll ever need (at least for quite awhile I hope).

[rfd515]

Got an unbelievable deal on a ReefOcto3k NW pump that's already mesh-modded, so it looks like the skimmers gonna be 6" diameter afterall.

[OneDummHikk]

What kind of tools do you have available to build with? Routers? Dremel? Miter saw? What kind of tools you have will tell whether you can make some custom pieces or if you need to stay with off-the-shelf components. If you have a router and table, making a flat base piece out of acrylic is a lot simpler and cheaper than trying to use the adapters. You simply take 3/8" or 1/2" acrylic with a 1/4" slot bit and cut a circle for the pipe to stand in. The 1/4" bit I have is perfect for the PVC pipe. Otherwise, you have to go with some kind of closet flange and coupling. The coupling I have (4x6 bell reducer) was almost 25 dollars and I hunted it for almost a week to find anybody that stocked it.
Same with the neck section. If you can make the pieces, its a lot cheaper than all the bell reducers and gives you more flexibility in design.
Do you have, or know anybody that has, an air flow meter to find out what kind of air the pump is pulling? The amount of air being put into the skimmer is what tells you how big to make the neck (diameter). Without knowing it, you are going to be guessing and have about a 1-100 chance of guessing right

[rfd515]

I have a table saw and router and am looking at buying a dremel. I'd love to make the entire thing out of acrylic but the cone/reducer would be the very difficult part to make.

I was thinking about making the reaction chamber out of 4.5" OD acrylic with a 2.5" OD acrylic neck so then I could just use a standard 4"x2" pvc reducer for the cone. But that pump might be a bit much for a skimmer of that size.

[OneDummHikk]

Can you post a link to info on a ReefOcto3k NW pump ? I can't seem to find anything on it through a Google search. Looking for some kind of info on how much water it pumps and how much air it pulls. The amount of air you are putting into a skimmer plays a very big part in the size of the neck and even the body of the skimmer. Without knowing how much air you are dealing with, you are simply guessing blindly on it The other option is to leave open the possibility of adding an air pump later on if the pump doesn't pull enough air.

I wouldn't plan on a 4x2 reducer though. If you are going to build one, 6" is as small as I would build it unless you plan on building it tall (6 feet or so). What dimensional constraints do you have? Footprint in the sump, height restrictions?

Physically building it is the easy part. Deciding how to build it is the hard part

[rfd515]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Can you post a link to info on a ReefOcto3k NW pump ? I can't seem to find anything on it through a Google search. Looking for some kind of info on how much water it pumps and how much air it pulls. The amount of air you are putting into a skimmer plays a very big part in the size of the neck and even the body of the skimmer. Without knowing how much air you are dealing with, you are simply guessing blindly on it The other option is to leave open the possibility of adding an air pump later on if the pump doesn't pull enough air.

750gph, as for the cfm/air it pulls I have no idea whatsoever. It's the same NW pump that ReefOctopus uses on their skimmers. It's just a big one.

I wouldn't plan on a 4x2 reducer though. If you are going to build one, 6" is as small as I would build it unless you plan on building it tall (6 feet or so). What dimensional constraints do you have? Footprint in the sump, height restrictions?

Ya I think I'm going to try 6" pvc and build it as tall as I can, the only problem is trying to economically fashion a clear neck for it. A 2" neck would be ideal economically and construction wise, but probably not as efficient for the skimmer as a 3" neck would be.

Total Height I have underneath is about 28"-30" but I'd have to verify that at home.

Physically building it is the easy part. Deciding how to build it is the hard part

That's for sure.

[rfd515]

Guy using Randy Stayce's design used a ReefOcto2700 for a recirc and his reaction chamber is 6" pvc and 14" tall, so I would guess I'd be fine using my 3000 with a 6" pvc body and make it as tall as I can fit.

Pic here:

h t t p : //s174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/green814/Saltwater%20Fish%20Tank/?action=view&current=Fishtank012.jpg