DIY skimmer suggestions

[mitchelWB]

I'd like to try and upgrade my skimmer from the seaclone that a friend gave me. I've looked at several designs, including Geoffs and some others.

My biggest problem is that I'm VERY limited on space. The inside dimensions of my stand are only 36"L x 15"D x 25" H and inside the stand is the only place I have to work with as my tank is in the living room, so it all needs to be hidden to look nice.

Currently, in the stand is already a 20gal tank turned into a DIY sump. I've currently got the seaclone installed in the sump, but it was a very tight fit because of the way my sump was built. So I'd like to build a skimmer that sits beside my sump. As far as room beside my pump is concerned, the free space in my cabinet after the 20gal sump is about 9.5" x 15" x 25"

And just to further complicate it... the door on my cabinet is only 10" wide and right smack in the center of the front of the cabinet. My stand looks much like this one: http://www.elmersaquarium.com/h105oc_caps_pine.htm except that mine only had 3 panels on the cabinet and the two on the right and left are permanantly attached. All this just makes it difficult to get back in to work on this stuff. And since the tank is reef ready, I have no plumbing or anything on the backside of the tank (something we wanted) and the tank is flush against the wall.

Any tips or suggestions on what I should try to do? Anything I should look out for? Any kind of modifications that I could get away with on some of the popular DIY skimmers?

MitchelWB

[Geoff]

25" is going to be real tough. mainly because you have to make the collection cup removeable. this requires 3 inches alone.

about the only option i can think of is if you make the skimmer out of 6" PVC instead of 4" PVC. the reason this is a problem is because 6" fittings and pipe is sometime 3 times more expensive than the 3"!!

if you could go to HD or Lowe's and check out the prices for 6" fitting in your area and let me know if this makes the skimmer overly expensive.

G~

[mitchelWB]

Do I just take your standard parts list from http://themantledmonster.thereeftank.com/sdiy.html and make all the 4" pieces 6" instead and shorten the lengths?

Do I need to up the size of anything else?

if 6" stuff is 3x more expensive than 4" stuff, what about making a dual chamber? One feeds the next and both of them could drain the skimmate into a single collection cup? That way it wouldn't need to be removeable. Or at least, not easily removable.

MitchelWB

[Geoff]

yea, follow the parts list. you might need to measure the length of the 6" pieces just in case. normally i would do this for you, but i am in the Ireland right now and the plumbing here is way different.

i do not like dual chambers. this requires dual collection cups also. you could combine them into one skimmate jar. seeing the amount of room you have this would make things really tight, if it would fit at all. connecting 2 chambers together requires a lot more length than you think. you would need to make the connecting pipe as big as possible for it to be any good.

what sized tank is this going on?

another option is to use an MJ powered version. not as good as a venturi powered version, but will still be effective. i would not like to put an MJ powered version on anything larger than a 55.

G~

[mitchelWB]

I've got a 58gal tank.

I'll try to swing by Lowe's and price it out today. If all I need to do is change the 4" stuff to 6" and don't need to worry about changing the size of the rest of the materials, I can't imagine it'd be too horible.

MitchelWB

[mitchelWB]

Went to Lowes today.. yeowch. for the cost of 6" materials... it just ain't worth it. Shortest piece of 6" pvc they even had was 10' long and about $32. To get from a 6" reduced to 4" (just to be able to use a 4" x 2" reducer) required a piece of 4" (shortest it came was 5'), a 6" coupler, and a 6" x 4" bushing. Grand total just for those parts would have been just under $30. I would have $75 tied up just in the fiew pieces needed to make this thing with 6" + all the rest of the parts to do the inside of it and then a pump. I'd be looking at $150+ just for parts, then build it, then tweak it. At that point, I'm getting too close to the cost of just buying one.

doing the 4" and just standing it next to the tank is going to be out of the question.. That's why we went ahead and bought the reef ready tank. So that we wouldn't have to have plumbing hanging out in the living room. All our plumbing was supposed to be under the stand. So I gotta figure out how to get it down there.

MitchelWB

[Geoff]

it does get expensive when you get above 4".

are you looking at building the quick an easy version 3 of the skimmer, or the version that is on the website? you should be able to shrink these to fit, but the one on the website has the greatest chance.

with either version the most important thing to do is build the collection cup first to get your reference length.

G~

[T469]

check with the local hardware stores, they will usually sell pipe in lengths less than 10', i bought a 2" piece 1 ft long for nearly nothing and lowes wanted to sell a 10' piece when all i needed was 1ft. that would then save u $25+

[mitchelWB]

I was looking at the one on the website.. but even if I go to a local hardware store and buy the 6" in foot lenghths, the cost of the fittings are still the most prohibitive part. I still think that buying one is going to be the better route for me, as much as it pains me to say it... I figure by the time I bought the parts, went through all the work to build, fit, test, tweak... I won't have saved much money over just buying one and I'll have sunk a LOT of time into it.

What I don't get though, is how a nice $300 skimmer can be as small as 18" what principle is behind it that's not part of the current DIY skimmers?

I'm going to fight shelling out the cash till the bitter end!

MitchelWB

[Geoff]

it is all about the size of the reaction chamber.

6" acrylic is pretty expensive also. you can make clones of the more expensive skimmers, there are plenty out there.

G~

[edwardblaize]

if your handy with wood, build a cabinet next to your tank and stand, have it connected so that it looks like part of your original stand. Put a shelf near the top for holding food chemicals, etc. It is also a great place for keeping ballasts and other things that create heat. This, to me, is the simplest and nicest looking way to create more space in your stand.

[Geoff]

Welcome to TRT!!!



G~