World's Quietest Protein Skimmer, By yours Truly

[SeymourDuncan]

Here is my latest experiment with silent skimming, as I am hard of hearing anyway...i made this as quiet as i could so i could hear other people talk. Does it work? I don't know, I am hard of hearing.

IT consists of a 5g jug, a 900gph pump w/ custom venturi intake, some Orings and a couple PVC pipes...and the hose (which could be replaced with a cup.

Check it out, Comment, Request plans, and let me know if it is as quiet as i think it is. that would be great.

World's Quietest Protein Skimmer! - YouTube

 

[Flipside]

I imagine you'll be cleaning that hose out a lot. I would prefer a removable, clear skimmer cup, personally, with a drain line from it. That way I could see what was going in there.

Cool looking little doohicky, though. As long as it's working for you, that's all that matters.

 

[revhtree]

HAHA! Worlds "quietest" huh?

 

[aaronbrown]

doesnt sound to quiet to me

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Ahh! Thanks guys, I guess I am worse off than I thought as far as hearing lol. But in all seriousness it is in the basement so I made sure it was loud. The hose pops right off too, so I can just roll it up in a bucket of vinegar water! I did make a skimmer cup from a coffee can, but I was having issues with the jug opening. I wanted to not have to cut it, as the culligan opening makes a geat bubble forming neck. I will check the bucket and see what a night of skimming did.

 

[ritter6788]

Lol can't wait to see if it works. Nice design.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

well it works but its WAY TOO TOUCHY!! guess i will add 2 ball balves, and air control. The pump needs regulated, the air is sloshy and inconsistent, and the output is annoyingly sensitive with the swing arm level adjustment....for a non foaming device like a reactor...this could be ok. Now I am going to write down what sizes i need and hit up the Hardware shoppe.

However, since I will be removing it I will also be documenting The "Rebuild" down to the O rings.

This is almost perfect...I am so proud of it, when it works I will develop a name for it, like a dog that is potty trained. I want the skimmate to land where I say...Like a dog that is potty trained. Ok, wish me luck on my local place having something i need actually in stock!

Once I get this puppy complete I will be working on the next creation
>>>The MANGROVE TIDE TANK.<<<
My goal is to take a 29 gallon tank with a sloped Dsb that has a dailiy tide change, and never floods :O I have the tank filled with established sand, 5 mangroves and 20gs of water under a 75w DAylight bulb from the Grocery Store. THey have been growing under this light for 2 months and each plant has new white propagules that are a couple inches already...so something i am doing has worked so far lol.
(Going to be a Separate Thread of course.)

Once this is done, anyone with future plans of a basement sump may want to sell their old skimmers and install one of these puppies. More than likely you will need a stronger pump to install a basement sump...The skimmer can fund that, THen take your old pump and ram it in a jug like Me...W.T.Falken...Proud owner of the yet to be named WORLDS QUIETEST PROTEIN SKIMMER!!!!! For Deaf people

 

[SeymourDuncan]

*Mental note
wait i just figure out the tide tank..........all i need to do is have an overflow that is not air tight...when the pump is on...the overflow will function normally...when the timer turns off the pump...the overflow not being air tight will slowly siphon water through it until it reaches the low point in the external part of it....With a simple aqualifter on the same timer as the pump, the siphon should also be fail safe....theoretically...right????
*Yes im Mental

 

[SeymourDuncan]

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!

IF I AM NOT TOO FAT after eating today i will post my resulting madness that now is an amazing skimmer. I never added a valve, but recalibrated the swing arm to adjust water level...the only thing that could make it better would be a needlewheel pump....i am using a laguna pond pump at the moment for this...im not sure what type of mods are possible on it, but when I get a new pump i may have too good of a skimmer! lol.

I did not give up, just got busy with the holidays of course along with the flu

 

[SeymourDuncan]

And my skimmate is outstanding. this is after 1 hr. either my water was that dirty (i just did a water change a day ago) or this thing can pump out some grime!!!

 

[AsphaltPays]

Nice job

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Thanks, Im gonna check it again and take a pic to see if my basement is flooded with bubbles yet! haha

 

[SeymourDuncan]

This skimmer worked so well I took it out. It produced so much it was costing more in RO water for top off than it really should have. I have downgraded to a super skimmer 220 and my water is clean as can be in my 90...since I ran the worlds quietest skimmer for about 4hrs a day to keep the corals happy (too clean and they got angry)...I would recommend this design for a non-photosynthetic tank of equal size or for a regular reef tank it can support at least 400 gallons easily, with a larger pump and plumbing it can easily support up to 3x that much without becoming an explosive flood machine. With a recirc pump on it rather than a pump larger than mine, that could make up for larger volumes without the added pressure and would allow longer reaction time in the chamber.




"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon." And a link to my tanks https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123851

 

[Reefing Madness]

Love it. Im thinking of giving it a shot. But I gotta make it to be out of the Sump. Hmmm. Or do I have the clearance under my stand?? How tall is that thing?:bigsmile:

 

[SeymourDuncan]

To make it external would require some ingenuity. It wasnt quite water tight on the uniseals and being thin I would not trust it. It may be wiser to make an external sump for the skimmer or use another container that will fit in your existing sump.

The jug is about the height of the 55 I believe. Plus headroom for the hose or if you want to make a collection cup (it will probably flood) a coffee can is a good choice to keep the recycled food container theme lol. One skimmer I made with a gravel tube and an ice cream container lol. Ghetto fabulous!


"Live like tomorrow already happened. Yesterday is only 3 days ahead. Today will be here soon." And a link to my tanks https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123851