Big skimmer, big hole. How to fix it? How to improve it?

Burks · Jan 10, 2009

So I got this skimmer from a friend who owns a fish store. He needed two 3' shop light fixtures (I had 4' ones that I cut 1' off to fit over my 40 breeder, fresh). So I traded those for the skimmer. It came with his shop and he just never bothered to set it up or work a lot with it. He did try to repair it (broke when he moved it). Never worked correctly.

Skimmer specs -
Body: 36" tall, 4.5" wide
Neck: 5" tall, 3" wide
Total height with cup attached: 47"

Here is the area that was "repaired". Basically drilled out so the venturi injection was at an angle versus straight in. We tried silicone, we tried PVC glue, can't get it to seal well enough.

Here is the full length shot:

Any ideas on what size pump to run this on? How to repair it? Should I just use it to rebuild the skimmer into something better?

I do have a Gen-X 2400 on hand.....if that helps.

Edit: So someone said to use weldon to fix the hole. Still, any ideas how how to improve this thing?

Saltysteele · Jan 10, 2009

did i mention i love weldon?

does it have a diffuser plate?

i've been thinking of how to add one to my octo nw110, and whether the benefits of one are worth it. seem to be coming on more and more skimmers these days

kgross · Jan 13, 2009

With the diameter of that you are going to have a hard time getting it to be a really good skimmer.

To patch the hole, use some weldon 40 best or weldon 16 to glue a scrape piece of acrylic over the hole. Try to heat the scrape first and bend it to shape.

What I would suggest on that skimmer would be wooden airstones with a good high pressure air pump (2 luft pumps with 1 airstone each). With that height I don't think a diffuser plate will do much of anything to be honest.

What a diffuser plate is really good for , is when you have to large of a pump on to short of a skimmer and end up with turbulence at the top of the skimmer breaking down the foam. With a good tall skimmer they are not normally needed, but if you are trying to run a higher flow pump on a shorter skimmer they can make a big difference.

Kim