Smokin-Reefer Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 One day I was checking out Reef Central, and I stumbled upon TopJimmy’s Easy as Pie Euro skimmer. I thought it was a great idea using the Rubbermaid containers as they were cheap and readily available. The skimmer he made was for use up to about 100gs. I bought all the supplies needed to make a skimmer just like his. When I got all the parts home, I realized it wasn’t going to fit in my sump. I believe it was something like 23” tall, and that was just too big! So I got to thinking…. In the original EAP, they use a 2QT container as the collection cup. In my skimmer, the 2QT is the reaction chamber! The principal is still the same. ½ “ Water in, and ¾” water out. I put the input Higher up in the body than the output, as to avoid microbubbles making it to the main tank. I plan to use a GATE valve on the water out pipe for more fine tuning. For now though, a length of ¾’ PVC is what I’ve been using. Getting the pipe the right length is a little tricky, but can be done with some trial and error. In TopJimmy’s design, he used a MAG5 pump. In this case though, I used something a little smaller. I had either a MJ1200, or a RIO 1100. I’ve been using the Rio for right now, and have constructed a venturi out of the output pipe extension, which came with the pump. With a little flexible tubing, it fits over in input of the pump and sends plenty of bubbles into the skimmer. As soon as I can get a bioball though, I plan to make my MJ1200 a needlewheel pump, which should make the skimmer even better! From the 2QT container, there is a 4” section of pvc (Sorry, I don’t know the technical term!) which screws onto the threaded part of the container. From there, I have siliconed a 4x2 reducer, and on top of the reducer, is a short length of 2” pvc pipe. I do not know exactly how long mine is, and I will probably try different lengths to see what happens, after all, this has only been running about a day and a half. I'm using the collection cup from my seaclone. So far, so good. I have it in a plastic bin with some old water change water. It is pulling out as much as my seaclone does in a week, in one day. This is a very very preliminary Version of this skimmer and I plan to make one that is a little more “finalized” in the coming weeks. I really just wanted to see if this thing works, and it does. Now I need to fine tune it! Sorry about the pic quality. I’ll try to get some pics of the skimmer out of the water sometime soon. Don’t forget to check out skeletors EAP skimmer in the DIY section! BTW, the skimmer is just under 19" tall. Thanks- Daniel Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted November 11, 2004 Author Share Posted November 11, 2004 cup after one day Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted November 11, 2004 Author Share Posted November 11, 2004 Ghetto-Venturi, I'm suprised it actually works! Link to comment
phatmike Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 Good diy man. Once you do the needle wheel it will double the micros in the skimmer. Post more pics if you can. Link to comment
Smokin-Reefer Posted November 11, 2004 Author Share Posted November 11, 2004 I'm very excited about getting the needle wheel going. I plan to take a bunch more pics, but I don't really wanna disturb this thing for a few days so i can see exactly how it's working, what I should change, etc. I know my riser tube and waterlevel could be adjusted more. So in a few days, I'll be sure to get MUCH BETTER PICTURES, than the crap I have up now. Link to comment
slaeyer Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 Definately need more pics! ;-) Link to comment
Undertheradar Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 Nano? That thing looks big...Im thinking something smaller with 3" Acrylic tube...hmmm..... Just busting your chops...looks good! Link to comment
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