Zo0k365 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Alright so in the process of waiting for the parts to make my DIY nano i decided i might as well make a small skimmer for it, That's what i did and i thought i might just post it as a reference to others looking to do the same thing. It was very easy, non complicated, and cost right next to free. What i skimmed in less than 24 hours And i was even too lazy to go and buy a wooden air stone Almost everything is on back order for the rest of t he tank so im just really anxious to get the tank set up. If you have comments or suggestions feel free Link to comment
coralcor Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 the links for the pics dont work. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Let me fix that for you Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 what airstone is that? raise the skimmer higher, the skimmate is pretty wet Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yeah about the airstone. . . i was so lazy that i just made one. I was very happy how well it worked out though. It was from a maple sapling that i had cut down at one point and had lying around. I cut a one inch section, made a hole on one side a little smaller than the size of a hard airtube, and used a dremel to drill out the inside. I didnt have any of the right glues or atleast ones i felt would be marine grade so i just ended up jamming it in and it works great for my purpose. I produces really small bubbles. And thank you, i will do that. Link to comment
littlemeggido Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 That's a nice little skimmer you made. It looks like it would be perfect for smaller tanks with not that much space. Do you have step by step info and parts lists that you could post? Interested in trying this out myself. Thanks. Link to comment
jm82792 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 It's pretty simplistic. But having somebody do the tooling for you would be better. what are the dimensions ? My 7 gallon is overstocked and I'm sick of lots of waterchanges. Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 It's pretty simplistic. But having somebody do the tooling for you would be better.what are the dimensions ? My 7 gallon is overstocked and I'm sick of lots of waterchanges. Height: 7" and a half including the collection cup Width 1" and 3 quarters Depth: 1" and a quarter I just used the things that i had available around my house to put together and the right size bottle to fit in the space i need it for. So you can use a very wide variety of bottles. The one im using is oval. Link to comment
chazde3 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Nice diy. My feeling on skimmers is that diy ones like this are great on nano tanks that don't need a killer amount of skimming. I made a really nice skimmer for my 29g that pulls a fairly good amount of dark skimmate. Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 I just tried posting pictures that i just made for directions and it said its not in a valid format. What am i supposed to do? I used image shack. Link to comment
steve0xr Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 open the pics on your computer. click save as. and use jpg as the format Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 open the pics on your computer. click save as. and use jpg as the format Yeah sure i think i can make some directions First i measured the area of space i had where i wanted to put the skimmer. I then went around my house and looked for bottles of that would be the right dimensions for the space. I know it sounds dangerous but i actually ended up using a shampoo bottle for the base. It was the perfect size, had a cap the perfect cap, and not to mention there are a LOT of different bottles of shampoo out there to choose from. I cleaned it with hot water until there were no visible suds then washed it some more for added safety. Its a little hard to explain exactly what i did so i made these and used the exact same products i used to make it Cut where the red lines are Cut the top part so there it is flat and just has the small hole then drill that hole out to the size of the pipe you will put in Put the piece of pipe in and glue it. Make it water tight Cut the bottom off another bottle. Make a hole on the bottom of the bottle to put the modded cap into. Put the cap and bottom of bottle together and fit nice and tight then glue to seal it then you will have your collection cup Put it all together after drying The other steps are pretty self explanatory from looking at the pictures of the skimmer. You will also need an airhose, an aitstone, some zip ties, and some suction cups for attaching it to the side of the tank. The reason i already have all of these feminine products is because i have two older sisters both of which are at college, so i just take them for the bottles open the pics on your computer. click save as. and use jpg as the format Thank you! It worked. Link to comment
polyppetey Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Thats great! One thing to consider too would be using soda bottles as the tops are already cone shaped. Link to comment
nebthet Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 That or you can use those old tubes some people have kicking around from their old undergravel filters. That is what I used for mine. It lets me tinker with the height and I can just easily pop off the top to dump the yuckiee black water and put it back on. no fuss, no muss. Link to comment
chazde3 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I used the clear piece from a gravel filter for the main body of my diy. I was planning to make another one since I have the parts laying around, but haven't gotten around to it. Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted February 13, 2009 Author Share Posted February 13, 2009 Yeah, i was actually thinking of doing that. I have the under gravel filter tube but decided i had room for a slightly bigger one. It seems like it would work though Link to comment
khinsanmu1 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 What kind of air pump do you use? Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 What kind of air pump do you use? I have a Tetra 20 whisper air pump. It works well. Link to comment
redfishsc Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Yeah about the airstone. . . i was so lazy that i just made one. I was very happy how well it worked out though. It was from a maple sapling that i had cut down at one point and had lying around. I cut a one inch section, made a hole on one side a little smaller than the size of a hard airtube, and used a dremel to drill out the inside. I didnt have any of the right glues or atleast ones i felt would be marine grade so i just ended up jamming it in and it works great for my purpose. I produces really small bubbles. And thank you, i will do that. Maple is plenty safe enough, but you really want Basswood. It is also called "cottonwood" and looks JUST like maple hardwood, but is extraordinarily light and porous. I just offered someone a few pieces for the cost of flat rate shipping ($5) so I'll offer the same to you if you want a few pieces to play with. PM me if interested. BTW Basswood isn't very expensive if you can find a lumber retailer around you (cabinet shop suppliers) or a Woodcraft. One $10 board will make a lot of custom-sized airstones! Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Nah, i think I'm fine. It was just a temporary one that i threw together. I feel that harder denser wood makes much smaller bubbles. But thanks anyway! Link to comment
The Propagator Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 The real deal is just as easy Link to comment
ddr_phish Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 The real deal is just as easy Well it helps when you link to the DIY instructions of the project Link to comment
Artie1a Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Nah, i think I'm fine. It was just a temporary one that i threw together. I feel that harder denser wood makes much smaller bubbles. But thanks anyway! Density of wood is irrelevant to air bubble size. The xylem and phloem within the wood is what determines how fine the air bubbles are. Xylems and phloems can be thought of as tiny little straws. This is how trees move food and water from the canopy to the roots. When the wood is dead and dry these straws like tubes become hollow. This is how air moves through them. Smaller these straws are the smaller the bubbles. Oak for example is a hardwood, buy their xylems are huge compare to most trees, thus probably not the best choice for an air stone. Link to comment
The Propagator Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Well it helps when you link to the DIY instructions of the project Instructions insmuctions ! They mean jack and nothing when your building your own because its all about improvising with what you have available. I have a thread in this section already on this skimmer actually ! I am building it right now. Link to comment
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