AndyL
06/01/2006, 11:11 PM
Acros in the frag tank were getting ugly and brown... Needed skimmer, 20$ in pocket - what to do...
I'm not going to claim this skimmer is going to win any awards for design, efficiency, beauty, and it's only been running for about a month - so I can only claim it'll survive that long :D But, it pulls a good cup of skimmate out every day (tank's only got a dozen frags, and a lawnmower blenny) For 20$ who can ask for more?
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/P1010002.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/P1010001.jpg
*Yes water level is high - been playing around with water level seeing if I can make wetter skimmate, unless I take the level up into the neck, skimmate stays the same * the bubble column colapses when I remove the acrylic top for pictures *
Yep, that once was a $4.67(canadian) Rubbermaid 2L Juice pitcher. Was only a few hours of work to turn it into a skimmer.
As you can see, the cap of the pitcher was dremeled out to accept the top of a 2L coke bottle (I cut right where the flange above the coke label), The 2L is about 3/16" narrower than the Pitcher's cap, which actually is a good thing. Once the 2L top was sitting as nicely as possible in the Pitcher's cap, I used a syringe (with mixer) of 5min epoxy, filled the whole area between the cap and the 2L. An hour or so later, I dremeled the epoxy/2L down to create a smooth(ish) transition. A quick smudge of Marine goop on the outside "just in case" followed. Then I set it aside to work on the body (ok I admit it - didn't figure the two plastics would seal/join worth a damn).
All the holes through the skimmer body are identical, 1 1/4" pieces of 1/2" pvc put through a 15/32" hole, with a dab of Marine goop on the inside, PVC fittings to either side as a mechanical backup to ensure a good seal. The 2 powerheads both feed through a 1/2" block off cap, that were dremeled to accomodate the outlets.
Recirc'ing powerhead is an AC302, chosen largely because it's intake fits perfect inside Home despots 1/2" PVC (rona is thicker walled, doesn't fit - for canadian readers) and it's vertically very compact. Feed powerhead is a Penguin 550, as it creates better bubbles than the 302 it replaced. Both powerheads use the factory Venturi for air injection.
The feed and return both are drilled centered on the 1L mark, with 45's directing the flow in a counterclockwise slightly downward direction. Inlet to the recirc is a straight slip/slip connector. Skimmer outlet is fed by a 90 located roughly 1/2" off the bottom of the pitcher.
The riser tube and collection cup actually were stolen off my old DIY Countercurrent skimmer. Basically a 3" section of 1" pvc, glued to the coke bottle's threaded cap (marine goop) into a 3/4" - 1 1/2" adapter, into a 4" - 1 1/2" adapter, into a 4" connector. Glued a piece of 1 1/2" pvc on the inside of the 1 1/2" to 4" adapter to finish the riser off, an old hunk of acrylic acts as as cover / diverter.
Happy DIY'ing! Feel free to take this idear and run with it where you will... I'm sure Needlewheels, better venturi's, better pumps could make it work better... But my version works well enough for me.
I'm not going to claim this skimmer is going to win any awards for design, efficiency, beauty, and it's only been running for about a month - so I can only claim it'll survive that long :D But, it pulls a good cup of skimmate out every day (tank's only got a dozen frags, and a lawnmower blenny) For 20$ who can ask for more?
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/P1010002.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/P1010001.jpg
*Yes water level is high - been playing around with water level seeing if I can make wetter skimmate, unless I take the level up into the neck, skimmate stays the same * the bubble column colapses when I remove the acrylic top for pictures *
Yep, that once was a $4.67(canadian) Rubbermaid 2L Juice pitcher. Was only a few hours of work to turn it into a skimmer.
As you can see, the cap of the pitcher was dremeled out to accept the top of a 2L coke bottle (I cut right where the flange above the coke label), The 2L is about 3/16" narrower than the Pitcher's cap, which actually is a good thing. Once the 2L top was sitting as nicely as possible in the Pitcher's cap, I used a syringe (with mixer) of 5min epoxy, filled the whole area between the cap and the 2L. An hour or so later, I dremeled the epoxy/2L down to create a smooth(ish) transition. A quick smudge of Marine goop on the outside "just in case" followed. Then I set it aside to work on the body (ok I admit it - didn't figure the two plastics would seal/join worth a damn).
All the holes through the skimmer body are identical, 1 1/4" pieces of 1/2" pvc put through a 15/32" hole, with a dab of Marine goop on the inside, PVC fittings to either side as a mechanical backup to ensure a good seal. The 2 powerheads both feed through a 1/2" block off cap, that were dremeled to accomodate the outlets.
Recirc'ing powerhead is an AC302, chosen largely because it's intake fits perfect inside Home despots 1/2" PVC (rona is thicker walled, doesn't fit - for canadian readers) and it's vertically very compact. Feed powerhead is a Penguin 550, as it creates better bubbles than the 302 it replaced. Both powerheads use the factory Venturi for air injection.
The feed and return both are drilled centered on the 1L mark, with 45's directing the flow in a counterclockwise slightly downward direction. Inlet to the recirc is a straight slip/slip connector. Skimmer outlet is fed by a 90 located roughly 1/2" off the bottom of the pitcher.
The riser tube and collection cup actually were stolen off my old DIY Countercurrent skimmer. Basically a 3" section of 1" pvc, glued to the coke bottle's threaded cap (marine goop) into a 3/4" - 1 1/2" adapter, into a 4" - 1 1/2" adapter, into a 4" connector. Glued a piece of 1 1/2" pvc on the inside of the 1 1/2" to 4" adapter to finish the riser off, an old hunk of acrylic acts as as cover / diverter.
Happy DIY'ing! Feel free to take this idear and run with it where you will... I'm sure Needlewheels, better venturi's, better pumps could make it work better... But my version works well enough for me.