My Cheap DIY Skimmer (Nano Tank)

[20FlyingFish]

Prologue: I have a 10g nano mainly for my frags, it has a HOB refugium for my macros ( Chaetomorpha  & Gracilaria ) but wanted to see if a skimmer would be helpful. I did my research and found the HOB skimmers, in-tank skimmers and those pico skimmers but everything was $50 and up... What caught my eye was the Reef Glass skimmer ($75) for the simplistic design air stone in a tube that blows off the skimmate. But the only downside was that people stated it would occasionally clog if not cleaned regularly. So I went to the drawing board and came up with a couple designs but they all came out to be close to the same price of the store bought ones. Then I remembered KISS and took a trip to Wally World to see what I could use.

 

Supplies:

• Aqua Culture Regular Gravel Vacuum Cleaner ($10) (the larger diameter tubing wont get clogged as easily from skimmate buildup)
• 2 PCS 25x12mm Fish Tank Air Stone Bubble Diffusers Maker ($2)
• Penn Plax Standard Airline Tubing 25' ($3)
• Air pump (30-60gal) should be fine (~$20)(I already had one, mine has two air outlets)
• Zip ties
• Glass container  (skimmer waste) using glass for the weight so it dose not tip and fall (I already had a large glass milk jug from Whole Foods, but walmart glass containers also)

 

Assembly:

1. Soak the new airstones a container of water for 1 hr
2. Figure out how long your tubing needs to be in order to make a lose knot at the airstone end. (This helps to wedge the stones in the tube, preventing them from falling out. Remember not to avoid making it to tight and making kinks)
3. Attach the air stone to end of the tubing and properly size the length (remember that you cam always remove some but can never add it back on)
4. Repeat for the other airtstone
5. Tie the two air stone ends together & insert into the tube
6. Secure the tube in the tank (Mine produced good results with the tube 4" below the water line, will vary for how strong your air pump is)
7. Cut two short pieces of tubing to wedge between zip tie and tube to get that snug fit
8. Put the Gravel vacuums tube into the Glass container (may need to cut for desired length)
9. Using the excess tubing cut a 7" piece and fold in half & wedge in the mouth of the container to secure the skimmate tube
10. Turn on air pump and adjust height to get the desired amount of skim
11. Check back on it during the first 8-12 hr, you may notice a increase in the amount of skim being produced (mine gave me almost 1/2 gal of way too wet skim, I had to raise the tube up more. You want it set to a height during peak skim, if you have it to low it may create a suction and start siphoning out your tank & that wont be good.)
12. Enjoy a skimmer well made

 

Observations: The night after having my skimmer up I did notice that my Gracilaria  did lose a lot of it's color in the new growth. I have since moved it into a macro only tank and left about 1/2 of the Chaetomorpha in the refugium. Skimmate has a light greenish tinge so it is verrified working, I am running mine on the dry side. It's been running for 3 days so far and I don't have any complaints about it. Remember to get a quiet air pump, the tetra whisper pump are decent I use one on my fresh water tank. Also if you do not have a refugium that you can zip tie onto you can use the aquarium suction cup that have the hole in the stem and attach the tube onto the glass (easier to adjust), I think I saw some at Petco/ Pet Smart.

 

 

Thanks for reading my DIY Skimmer Post

 

[Christopher Marks]

Thanks for sharing @20FlyingFish! How is the skimmate collection going now that it has been running longer?

[Oldsalt01]

Looks like its working well. 30 years ago I built several out of 2” pvc, glued a 2 1/2” pvc reducer to the top which i drilled a hole in the lower end to run a drain line (air line) through, drilled a hole 3/4 way down the tube for an air line input, and used a glass bead airstone. A valve in the airline allowed me to adjust the bubbles, and i believe i rubber banded a suction cup to the tube to allow vertical adjustment if needed. It worked well for me and was pretty unobtrusive visually, especially after it got some growth on it.

[20FlyingFish]

The skimmer going good, I ordered 2 limewood air stones to switch them out (should get here tomorrow), that was I wont need to tie the airlines together (to avoid the lines from kinking, I noticed it as a potential issue).  The skimate has been getting darker along with some nice thick foam. Also I have noticed that the skimmers foam dose fluctuate throughout the day.

[Oldsalt01]

I would figure out another way to hold that netting on. Those clips are spring steel and will seriously corrode around saltwater.

[20FlyingFish]

Update

So got my limewood air stones in today and wow it was a major upgrade, they made a much finer bubble. I did have to raise the tube because it was making much more foam. I would say these are a must for the DIY skimmers. The pictures are right after they were installed, I would venture to say that the amount of foam will increase once it gets running longer.

[20FlyingFish]

Update: since having the skimmer running I did have to remove the lime wood air stones wash them off and dry them out to remove the algae on them. But so far its been working good. I did notice the air hose will eventually for a minor kink that has to get undone every now and then but it dosent affect much (just your regular salt water maintenance). I have added some hammers and took the zoas off their plugs. Both of my magician palys have multiplied (one has one off shoot & the other has two off shoots).

[Martin Riggs]

Might have to try this👍

[20FlyingFish]

Couple notes:

• Keep air stones/ wood as close to the bottom opening as possible without letting the bubbles get out. Not only dose this increase the amount of time the air has to react with the water but it also increases the bubbles speed and creates more foam volume.
• Also if the skimmer tube your using has a one way valve disable it (achieved by drilling a hole through it carefully), it may be to heavy or get stuck closed therefore reducing/ stopping the amount of foam/ skimmate from getting blown into the waste container.

Just some food for thought, enjoy.

[20FlyingFish]

* There will be no more updates on skimmer, tank is being broken down. Nothing went wrong just will not be able to properly maintenance.

[miggbelz]

i wil try 😘