Mini Geoff skimmer

[Vader]

First I'd like to say thank you for the hours of reading. I've been lurking around for some time absorbing information. I've been spending a lot of time reading the Diy info. on this and other sites and the Geoff skimmer seems to be the easiest and most effective Diy skimmer out there. Since I only have a 10 gal at this time I figured a 4" diameter would be overkill, so I built my mini Geoff skimmer. The main body is 2" PVC 24" long. I reduced this down to 1"into my collection cup. I used .5" CPVC for the supply line to take advantage of the smaller outside diameter(space is at a premium). I used .75 PVC for the return. The plan is to hang this on the back of my tank. I am going to use a maxijet 400 to power the skimmer and I may try to rig it as an aspirating venturi. Any thoughts on the pump. Skimmers on nano-reef with a similar area were using the 400 so I thought it should work. The output only has a ball valve as this whole project is an experiment to decide if I should build the larger version for my larger tank which I am planning for. Fred

[Geoff]

Saaaweeet!! of course i want to see pics of this.

that pump sounds about right. with such a small skimmer, i really suggest using a gate valve on the outlet instead of a ball valve. you will drive yourself bonkers trying to adjust such a small skimmer with a ball valve.

your proportions sound dead on!

G~

[Vader]

I guess I'll just make sure its watertight and the next time I see a .75" gate valve I'll pick it up. Although that one valve will cost more than the skimmer did to build.

[funi42]

trust me that gate valve will be the best thing you buy. i built a 4ft version of geoffs skimmer and still pulled some hair out using the ball valves, after purchasing the gate valve, adjustments are ridiculously easy. save yourself the trouble and headache and get the gate valve from the get go.

[Geoff]

i am so rude sometimes, i forgot to welcome you!

Welcome to TRT!!!



G~

[Casey]

Fred Welcome to TRT would love a pic of the mini G.

[Vader]

Thanks for the welcome. I will purchase a gate valve and switch it out asap. I will post pics once I get it painted. I gave it a test on my QT tank which has just been sitting around since my last new fish. I never cleaned the tank so I was hoping there was lots of crap in there(literrally). I topped off with warm water as the heater was not plugged in and I gave it a rip. Within about 15 min. I was getting brown bubbles. I figured when I got home from work I'd be swimming in skimmate but had a little sludge but the bubbles were no longer climming the neck of the skimmer. Would temp. have anything to do with this as I did not plug the heater back in. The temp. would have dropped to the 60's as this tank is in my basement. Fred

[Vader]

I've heated the water and I'm no longer getting foam climbing the neck. I think I may just need to add a gate valve and also I think I need to shorten the neck a few inches as the skimmer produces more bubbles with the water level lower in the skimmer. I set the pump up with the included venturi on the intake of the pump instead of the output to get the aspirating effect. Any chance this would work better with the valve on the output of the pump?

[Geoff]

are you sure the pump is producing bubbles? a gate valve will help in find tuning the skimmer, but you should still be able to get foaming even with the ball valve. if the valve needs to be almost completely closed off in order to get it to behave properly, than a larger pump may required. an MJ 400 only pumps out 106gph.

G~

[Vader]

I'm getting foam now again. I guess it just has a really small "sweet spot". I get a ton of bubbles even when I get no foam. The valve is about half way open. The skimmer produces good foam when the water is just below the base of the neck. I am going to shorten the neck by 1-1.5" to collect more foam.

[Geoff]

the object is to collect a tea coloured skimmate. it is suppose to be wet. this does make it more difficult to keep it tuned.

G~

[saltwater_wannabe]

pics! pics! pics!

[Vader]

Wow, I may never post pics again!!! It took me about an hour just to get these two small enough to be accepted. I don't have any pictures of the skimmer in operation yet because I am waiting for the paint to fully cure. The first picture is of the entire skimmer which is about 30 in tall. The second is of the mj 400 which I used tubing to connect the venturi to the input. When I run the skimmer again I am going to connect the venturi to the output to see if there is a difference. I will also be adding a gate valve shortly. Once everything is going I'll take more pics. There has to be an easier way to resize them. I also made a boo boo. I glued the collection cup wrong so I am going to glue it all together and add a drain line.

[Vader]

I forgot. I used the new krylon fusion paint for plastics. It makes a really nice bond it almost seems as if I used black PVC.

[Vader]

Well foam production is non existant now. When I adjust the water higher in the skimmer the venturi stops sucking in air. I assume that the mj 400 is'nt strong enough for this skimmer. Fortunately I have some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket so a new pump will be ordered. What do you guys think? mj600 or mj900? Thanks for your thoughts. Fred