So this is my idea for a DIY skimmer.


Red arrows are for air
Blue for water

This is going to be made with two plastic bottles. a 1 litre for the inner tube, and a 2 litre for the outer part. the collection cup will also be made out of a bottle. for hosing I have some 1/2 inch vinyl tubing, and some spare air line tubing.

I've also dug out an old whisper air pump, and a tetra powerhead. I may skip the powerhead and just plumb the input into my overflow. For an air stone I need to make one that will fit into the bottle neck.

Any suggestions for wood type? can i just use pine or what ever i have laying around? and what kind of holes do i need in the bottom of the inner tube, I have four small ones, about the diameter of the airline.

Any suggestions anyone? I'll have pics in a few of my progress, damn photobucket.

So at first i was planning on using 2 1 litre bottles but there wasn't enough space for the tubing so I decided to make the outer one a 2litre instead.

First try...


attempt 2. materials:


Bottom holes: center is for airline. Are four enough for the water?
\

base:


primary assembly:


Water and airline test



now i'm off to add the water hoses.

Any thoughts? suggestions? before I mess something up and its too late?

With what your doing its basiclly a trial and error type thing. Ive tried a couple DIY skimmers and they failed. But you never know. the concept you have works but practicality of it may not.

thanks, i'm going do it since it costs nothing.

what kind of wood would you recommend for the airstone?

I think they use balsa. Go to your LFS and pick one up. there only a few bucks. You need to have the bubbles as small as possible.

Oh and your test wont work right in plain water. The bubbles dont act the same. You need to run your tests in salt to get a more accuate idea of how its going to work. Best to use some old WC water.

I guess i'll do that then, I was trying to go as low budget as possible, but if the airstone is the only thing I buy its good enough.

the water test was just for the hell of it, couldn't even check for leaks since i didn't seal it yet. so i just added the water tubes, but no pics yet. I'm putting it off till friday, I have class tomorrow and I'll pick the airstone up and hopefully be able to do a legitimate test.

oh and i didn't know there would be such a difference between fresh and saltwater, thanks I'll test it with saltwater then.

Limewood.

thats it couldnt remember the wood type

How will you clean skimmate from inside the 1litre bottle when it sticks to the side? Put a riser on the top, otherwise you will only have very little room to collect the skimmate.

Also, have you considered using something like a gatorade bottle for the much wider neck?

Well I have some air line tubing coming from the collection cup to a container that will be easy to empty. otherwise, i'll clean it off when the build up becomes too much by shutting it down and washing the whole thing. I could always take it apart and reseal it but that would be a terrible hassle.

why would a wider neck be better?

The width of the neck can restrict the amount of air, so in effect you are reducing your output. This works the other way too - if the neck is too big for the air flow, it will reduce the efficiency of the output too - technically, they need to match for the best output.

Good to know, my air pump is adjustable but i'm afraid it'll be too weak.

still waiting on the airstone. Hopefully i'll be able to go get it tonight.

"your logic is sound"
-spock

i must warn u though. mirco bubbles will always find a way into your tank.

Nice bong.

but seriously I hope this works out for you, for everyone else. I've seen other DIY skimmers that have worked pretty well, but I think those people were using acrylic.

how'd you guess?

Well we'll find out soon, I should go pick up the airstone in a bit..

I'm not too worried about microbubbles since this is going to be in my sump, which goes up to an ac70 fuge and if bubbles get past all that then, well we'll see.

I went to the LFS and they did not have wooden airstones! I have them ordering one for me. now that put this build off a few more days

well the main body of the skimmer has been assembled and is now gathering dust until i get an airstone for it.

Let us know how it turns out.

So i'm thinking i'll try a venturi type skimmer too while i'm waiting on that damn airstone. LFS forgot to place the order

so I'll be doin some research on its mechanics and putting some plans together, I'll keep everyone posted. thanks for checkin in.

DIY skimmers are tricky. most of the time u need to maintain it all the time. if its designed badly then u'll get a lot of bubbles leaving the skimmer.

iv been having that trouble. i mod a maxi jet 900 and i can make it shoot out foam like bubbles without a problem. but keeping it in the skimmer is another challenge.

im guessing the output has to be big enough so the bubbles wont be dragged by the strong flow and into the display.

My skimmer will empty into the sump below the tank and the sump flows up to a HOB fuge, there should not be many bubbles making it to the DT. I've had my return pumps sucking in air ( due to low water levels) and still there were very few microbubbles in the DT. It'll be another consideration tho.

Have the plans all drawn up, I'll be posting them a bit later. Now to prep the bottles.

Did you get the airstone?

funny you ask, Yes they just called me today. Finally! but I'm out of town till monday night Build begins again tuesday after class. that will be the moment of truth hope it works otherwise i'll fall back on the venutri type.

GOT THE AIRSTONE!
Build resumes tomorrow. there will be more pics and hopefully it'll all be sealed quickly and ready for testing!

Wheres the pics??? I wanna see!!

not yet, its assembled and the silicone is drying still, leak testing tomorrow all pics then. hoping it works.

what a tease!

guess you haven't seen this thread yet

fine, i'll get off the couch and take some pics for ya. but there's no water yet! gimme an hour or so.

Oh i have seen that thread. It makes me ANGRY lol

pics uploading now.

hurry!!!!!!!!

Here they are!





more in a sec

you can notice the out flow from the collection cup, need to get that all sealed up too.

well the first leak test was an utter failure. and the idea of countercurrent too. now the lower hose, instead of being output is going to be input.

There are a few little fixes, besides my bad silicone job that need to be made. the top hose has to be pushed thru a little more so the water level is lowered. and the flow needs to be adjusted down

otherwise there is a decent bubble production in my saltwater test, and when the leaks are fixed I will be able to judge the skimmate production.

But so far so good, and it looks as if everything is going to work