My Beast DIY Skimmer!!!

Jnicho · 03-22-2008, 12:45 AM

Well my crappy little skimmer was not gonna cut it on the new 125G...so, after being inspired by Scooby's "mixed nuts" skimmer, I decided to do some research and try my hand at a DIY skimmer...So here is the build!

I based my design on a "Geoff" skimmer...here is a link to the basic design as built by someone else:

http://home.comcast.net/~danleyjr/sk...immerBuild.htm

I have heard so many rave reviews of the Octopus brand skimmers that I decided I would modify the "Geoff" design and mimic the Octo by putting the inlet on the bottom and the outlet above with a riser tube in the center (like the one in this image):

end of part I...

On with the build...

Many of the builds I looked at had issues sealing the closet flange used for the base of the skimmer...I was lucky and found a flange with a "knock out" in it that is tough as nails, so I did not have to figure out how to seal the hole in the bottom:

I needed the inlet pipe to go into the body of the skimmer so I dremmeled out the ridge in this reducing bushing that normally stops the pipe so it could slide all the way through:

Here is the inlet install in the 3"x3"x2" Tee:

And here is the base and inlet tee assembled:

end of part I...

Jnicho · 03-22-2008, 12:45 AM

...Part II

Next I assembled the outlet in a similar fashion to the inlet minus the pipe going into the skimmer body...There is a 3"x2" reducing bushing in the bottom of the tee to hold the inner riser tube...In retrospect I think I would make the riser a bit taller:

Top-down of the riser tube looking down at the inlet:

I had some 3" (almost) clear Acrylic so I thought I would add a section so I could see the pretty bubbles! I had to dremel the 3" PVC so the Acrylic would slip inside it:

Here is the assembled foam collection area (aka the top)...It's just various reducing fittings down to 1"...The cup is fastened with a DIY bulk head which is a 1" thread/slip coupling, one on top, one on bottom with a short nipple between...the nipple I had to make by cutting the threaded section off of a thread/slip male fitting:

end of part II...

Jnicho · 03-22-2008, 12:47 AM

...Part III

And here is the basic skimmer minus pump (and a few other little bits):

Hooking up the pump:

Here is were things get complicated...I'm too cheap to buy a Venturi and thought I could make one...Well after about 27 different versions none of them worked very well. So I went with a simple "injector" in the pump inlet...I thought the pump would suck in it's own air, but after another 27 attempts I decided I would feed the injector with an air pump I have laying around:

BUBBLES!!!! It works:

It's a little hard to see, but this is the airline feeding the injector in the pump inlet:

My air pump has two outlets...no need to let one go to waste! So I added another injector on after the pump just before the water enters the body of the skimmer:

SUCCESS!!! After about five minutes of tuning both air and water we have foam...The air is adjusted via a simple gang vavle...the water level is adjust via a ball valve on the outlet pipe (I wanted a gate valve, but HD & Lowes don't stock them in PVC or any usable sizes):

The foam is probably a little too wet at this point, but you can see after just 30 mins it has some brown/green color to it:

All in all I have to call this a success...It makes foam and the cost was not too bad...The plumbing parts were ~$53...the pump was ~$40 (could probably save a few $$$ online)...I had the Acrylic tube and air pump already so thats probably another ~$20. So is that a good value...I don't know??? But other than a little frustration with the Venturi it was a pretty simple and fun build.

OneDummHikk · 03-22-2008, 02:58 AM

Have you run it on the actual tank to see how well it can handle the tank size? I have been thinking about a DIY skimmer for about 3 months now. I have wondered how well they handle the tank size. I am going to try one of my own soon and will be posting pics of it as well.

Jnicho · 03-22-2008, 03:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Have you run it on the actual tank to see how well it can handle the tank size? I have been thinking about a DIY skimmer for about 3 months now. I have wondered how well they handle the tank size. I am going to try one of my own soon and will be posting pics of it as well.

It's running on the tank now...the foam you see in the pics is out of the tank...so far so good...it's making foam much quicker than my old skimmer...but it's pretty wet and not very dark.

Loverotties · 03-22-2008, 05:36 AM

Looks good!

Sndwave80 · 03-22-2008, 08:25 AM

Nice!

aquawolf · 03-22-2008, 10:43 AM

Great job! That is a very interesting use of various PVC pieces and overall you made it look fairly simple. How tall is that thing? Thanks for sharing.

Jnicho · 03-22-2008, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquawolf

Great job! That is a very interesting use of various PVC pieces and overall you made it look fairly simple. How tall is that thing? Thanks for sharing.

I haven't measured it...but excluding the collection cup I believe it's right around 36". My sump is a 55G on a one of those old metal stands...It's tall enough in the sump that I have to use a step stool to check the cup...LOL!

aquawolf · 03-22-2008, 10:09 PM

Cool, I had a feeling it was going to be between 3 to 4 feet tall. I hope it works out great for you.

Jnicho · 03-22-2008, 10:47 PM

I did some modifying today...LOL!

I had a spare impeller so I took the dremel to it and put some slices in it to make it a sort of needle wheel design (forgot to take a pic before I put it back together). I also modified the intake so it has a 1/2" opening instead of 1" to match the style of the venturis on the ATI & SMX skimmers. I did a water change this evening so with the change in water levels and re-tuning the skimmer I'm kinda starting over...The bubbles are much finer though with the mod'ed impeller, and I'm getting good foam right off the bat.

OneDummHikk · 03-23-2008, 12:43 AM

Any idea how much of the difference is because of the intake change and how much is because of the mod?

Questions:

1) What pump did you use?
2) How much taller would you have made the riser?
3) Have you measured the total height yet?

The one I am thinking about making would use a 3" pipe for the riser with a 4 or 6 inch pipe for the outside housing. And then be about 6' tall total height. Going to try using one of the pumps I already have but may have to buy a pump for it.

Jnicho · 03-23-2008, 12:45 AM

A few more pics:

The skimmer in the Sump and working...how's that for a maze of plumbing? LOL! BTW the skimmer is 36" to the neck, 43" to the top of the cup:

Lots and lots of little bitty bubbles:

Here is the first hour of skimmate after the water change and mods:

OneDummHikk · 03-23-2008, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jnicho

The skimmer in the Sump and working...how's that for a maze of plumbing? LOL! BTW the skimmer is 36" to the neck, 43" to the top of the cup:

What pump did you use on it? Nice skimmate btw.

Jnicho · 03-23-2008, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

What pump did you use on it? Nice skimmate btw.

It's a quiteone 2200, which is actually made by Sicce. It's the same as the PSK-2500 used on ATI bubble masters and the SWX skimmers minus the blue shroud. With a mesh mod it's suppose to capable of 900lph of air! I don't think I'll even bother with the mesh...my DIY needle wheel is doing a good job at super fine bubbles.