My DIY Skimmer

[ckoral]

Start humming the theme to sandford and son, because I really got a junk yard relic for you. Let me know what you think. Is it ugly or really ugly or do you actually like it.
Do you think it will work?

I have to do two things that I know of yet.
-drill vents in the collection cup cover
-drill in-flow and out-flow



I will not be offended.... say what you wish.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p87/ckoral/diy_skimmer/IMG_4129.jpg






http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p87/ckoral/diy_skimmer/IMG_4124.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p87/ckoral/diy_skimmer/IMG_4126.jpg

[Rysam]

looks beautiful.

[tundra1000]

Very inventive. I'll be curious to see if the maxi jet pulls much.

[ckoral]

Yeah, I hope I placed the Venturi properly. I thought a maxi 600 would do the trick because when I started out I had one of those CPR all in one sumps that had a maxi running the integrated skimmer. But that did not extend as high as this one either.

Be honest if you think it won't work say so. I am not experienced in making skimmers. It would be a shame, but for all I know, this thing might blow bubbles the size of jelly bellies.

[One Dumm Hikk]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13274736#post13274736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ckoral
Do you think it will work?

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p87/ckoral/diy_skimmer/IMG_4126.jpg

Do I think it will work? Plug it up and see. Leave the collection cup lid off of it, put it in a bucket of ASW and plug it up. Nothing quite like that to tell you if it will work or not :)

As for the picture, do you "Shake Well" before you plug it up, while you are removing the collection cup or does it have a device built in that shakes it well for you? :D (Sorry, couldn't help myself on that one).

[ckoral]

yeah, I really need to remove that. I will plug it in, but I have both silicon and weldon16. I would like to fire it up tonight and see but I am not sure if that is too soon.

I completed it at 2am this morning and showed up for work at 6am!

[kgross]

I hate to say this, but I don't think it is going to work. A maxijet does not produce enough pressure for a normal venturi to create small air bubbles. Your CPR that used a maxijet had the venturi before the pump so the pump broke the airbubbles down.

Other than that it looks fine to me.

Kim

[REEF-n-Chicago]

I love the shake well sticker > leave it on!
Can't wait to see if it works

[ckoral]

well, it is not too late to switch the pump out (i think). I have a rio 2100 would that work. Does anyone suggest a better yet inexpensive pump for this application?

[kgross]

That pump can work, you just have to move the air intake to the intake of the pump rather than the output. If you move the air intake you could also do a bio-ball mod on the pump it will make it work even better at breaking up the airbubbles.

Kim

[ckoral]

like a down draft? I am not sure exactly how I would do that. Down draft or beckett did cross my mind, but getting it done was higher on my list.

[kgross]

No not like a down draft. Like a needlewheel skimmer, or a bio ball moded sea-clone

http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=964252&
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/maxijet-bioball-mod-39644.html
http://www.3reef.com/forums/protein-skimmers/sea-clone-skimmer-mod-51455.html
http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=10702

Kim

[speckled trout]

Is this in a sump?

Unless the top of the water column is at the same level(sump level) I don't think it'll work because that pump isn't going to push enough water to reach the collection cup at the top of the skimmer's column. You'll need a bigger pump, probably.

[ckoral]

I built it to run out of the sump, but I suppose it could be in the sump. My plans are to put a gate valve on the output side (input and output are not drilled yet). The gate valve should allow me to adjust the level inside.

Man I hope this works.

When can I try it? So far it has been glued and siliconed for about 10 hours.

[91yota]

that skimmer is expired... "best before jan 19 08" :)

[shelburn61]

I'll look at replacing the jar inside the collection cup. The foam needs as smooth a path as possible up the neck. I think you would see much better results with a tube of the same dimensions as the hole in the green lid

[ckoral]

thanks for the tip. I really like that bioball wheel mod also!

[ckoral]

How come every bioball mod page that is promising for pictures is no longer working. Anyone got a direct link to a bioball mod?

[Lemmz]

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/quangtam7/nwimpeller1.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/quangtam7/nwimpeller2.jpg
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/UpLoAdS/nw_impeller_810.jpg

[Young Frankenstein]

Very inventive I like it :D

[ckoral]

Thanks for showing me that picture. Now I won't get any sleep tonight :)

[Aqua Keepers]

There's a maxi mesh mod thread around here. I like it.

[ckoral]

I spent a good hour and a half trying to mod my bioballs from my old reefdevil downdraft. Those balls are no good for this project. I need to blue balls like lemmz has (haha funny).

Either that or some mesh if you think that would be better. I take it mesh versus bioballs are a debate as to which are best? Anyone got link to a nice diy mesh mod for the maxijet?

I have a maxi 600 in this example. Wondering if I should throw something better on there like a 1200.

[Aqua Keepers]

No debate. Mesh is better. I gotta go to work now but, I'll try to find it later

[ckoral]

I guess it would make sense to do mesh, more fiber to cut up the air. Mesh fits ok on a maxijet 600?

[Aqua Keepers]

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28372

You might have to register to see it. Don't use gutter guard like the thread tells you. Use enkmat.