Diy protein skimner

[Chris kindley]

Forgot to add you can get some nice rubber seals to seal the pipes into the PVC from aquacave for just a couple bucks. Just google ASM skimmer Uniseals

What are the 5 white pipes for? 2 are for pumps I'm gathering? What are the others for?

 

[bobman]

The 4 that are in a square type pattern the top 2 go from the outlet of the pump through the venturi and into the bubble plate. The bottom 2 go to the pumps intake and barely into the skimmer to make the pump recirculating. The last one off to the side is to hook to the overflow of the tank and feed water to the skimmer

 

[hejjo]

Keep an eye out on Craigslist. I picked op an octopus DNW 200-650 for 90 bucks in great condition.

 

[boscom77]

Here's a PVC skimmer I just finished for my 60 gallon cube with overflow and sump saved me about $200 and it works awesome

 

[Chris kindley]

Here's a PVC skimmer I just finished for my 60 gallon cube with overflow and sump saved me about $200 and it works awesome

How do you adjust the water level inside. And how do you see what that level is?

 

[reef_junkie]

Looks like he's used a slip fitting where that return sponge is, just like an ASM skimmer.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here's a PVC skimmer I just finished for my 60 gallon cube with overflow and sump saved me about $200 and it works awesome

That looks awesome! We need a DIY thread just for this skimmer.......with details. Include the pump you are using.....and I'm assuming some venturi for a intake.

 

[boscom77]

How do you adjust the water level inside. And how do you see what that level is?

The fitting on the left telescopes up and down or you could just put a ball valve in there I found this fitting and I thought it would be perfect and it is.
and I don't see the water level I basically used trial and error watching it every couple hours until you have it dialed in it seems as though I have done so and it's working great

 

[boscom77]

That looks awesome! We need a DIY thread just for this skimmer.......with details. Include the pump you are using.....and I'm assuming some venturi for a intake.

As far as the pump... i used I had an old backpack hang on the back skimmer pump which really doesn't have any information on it so I couldn't tell you Brand or GPH but I did widen the diameter of the air hose from quarter inch to 3/8 using a nipple I found and ground it down to fit the diameter of the inlet on the pump and plastiwelded it to the inlet.... looks/works great...like I bought it that way

 

[boscom77]

I used a Chinese soup bowl for the Top Cup 1/2 inch inch and a 1 and a half and 3 inch PVC and I can't say enough good things about uniseals!
Here's a picture of the inside where I attempted a bubble plate but may replace it with a better design(smaller holes) plus This one broke while I was making it I didn't have any more plexiglass so I had to turn it into this moon shape lol

 

[revhtree]

I used a Chinese soup bowl for the Top Cup 1/2 inch inch and a 1 and a half and 3 inch PVC and I can't say enough good things about uniseals!
Here's a picture of the inside where I attempted a bubble plate but may replace it with a better design(smaller holes) plus This one broke while I was making it I didn't have any more plexiglass so I had to turn it into this moon shape lol

Very cool bro! Would you mind starting a separate thread about how you built this skimmer? I would like to share it on FB!

 

[boscom77]

Very cool bro! Would you mind starting a separate thread about how you built this skimmer? I would like to share it on FB!

Sure where should I post this new threat I'm new here so I want to do it right.

 

[revhtree]

Sure where should I post this new threat I'm new here so I want to do it right.

Thank you and we're glad to have you! Here is the DIY forum: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do-it-yourself-diy.378/

 

[boscom77]

Thank you and we're glad to have you! Here is the DIY forum: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/do-it-yourself-diy.378/

Oh same one lol thanx!

 

[boscom77]

So per a request im step by stepping my skimmer build or at least giving you an outline...
Now im no mathematician and ive been told theres a ratio for air/water flow tank size skimmer diameter... blah blah
I winged it and so far so good!

So i started by doing a lil research on diy skimmers and just put this together in my head and started by going to my local loews home store and basically found all my parts but the pump there.
Start with the 3" pvc cut to about 8" fit into a flat bottom cap drilling a hole for my 1" uniseal for the output and drilling one hole at a 45° for my 1/2" inlet.

Next i cut a 1/2" section of the 3" pvc and cut a section out of it and squeezed it together and inserted it into the main body acting like a c-clip and siliconed it into place and set the bubbleplate on top while the silicone was fresh so it stuck! Trick is to space it so its just above the outlet elbow and the inlet elbows as to allow the inlet elbow to protrude through the hole without hitting the plate.

be sure to adjust the elbow slightly up and to the left to get the vortex which honestly im not sure why but i noticed the very expensive skimmers do this so i thought there must be a reason lol! Basically thats the hard part... let the silicone cure and put on your additional parts 3" to 1 1/2 coupling, then short pipe and an 1 1/2" coupler and then the collection cup.

after some fine dining at my local Chinese restaurant i found the pint soup cup to be a perfect size shape and material to use as my collection cup! So i used 1" pvc pushed through the cup with the 1" to 1 1/2 coupler underneath i layed a nice bead of silicone on both sides and it was like i bought it that way... perfect!

Next i found this telescoping slip fitting for my outlet adjustment.... i actually had a ball valve in line first but liked the way this looked and fit and it was just easier and less and less is more right...
For the inlet i found some compression fittings i had already and they were just what i needed and surprisingly my old backpack skimmers pump that im using fits perfect in the compression fitting so no headache there.
But i did decide to enlarge the air intake from the 1/4" to 3/8", i was lucky and found a nipple from something in my past and modified it by grinding the bottom to the diameter of the pumps intake and plastiwelded it to the intake assembly.

Fitting everything together i finalized it by pvc cementing only a couple pipes on the inlet and outlet as to keep it disassemble able for maintenance and such,

Set her into place and turned it on and it was a beautiful thing... except for the exhaust noise from the air inlet.... so i devised a fix for that too! Hence the empty pill container packed with filter floss and a hole at the cap end just big enough for the tube... id like to add too that in this particular pill bottle there was a little soft plastic freshness seal in the cap which when i drilled the cap and through this piece because of its pliability it stretched around the bit and basically provides an excellent seal around the tube without any silicone! Perfect!
Hope this helps anyone thinking of saving some coin by making their own skimmer, without the pump i think it might have set me back 40 bucks...
Any ?'s Dont hesitate!
Thanx,
Kevin

 

[Cory]

Here's a PVC skimmer I just finished for my 60 gallon cube with overflow and sump saved me about $200 and it works awesome

You could have made a cup by inverting that coupler and gluing a pipe in it.

 

[Bbaz123456]

Here's my cluster ef of a diy skimmer. It's ugly but works great. Been in service about 5 years and has literally pulled tons of skimmate. About 5 gallons every 10-14 days with the bottom half being thick sludge.

 

[MASTERSURGEON04]

YOU CAN GOOGLE (PRIMO REEF ACRYLICS) HE HAS VERY GOOD DIY SKIMMER STEP BY STEP CHECK IT OUT

 

[MASTERSURGEON04]

P S .THIS IS THE PART ONE OF THE SKIMMER
DIY Protein Skimmer (Part 1)

 

[MASTERSURGEON04]

PART#2
DIY Protein Skimmer (Part 2)