Skimmer

[Flounder]

I am going to try and build a skimmer. Mine is just too small.
I bought some 8" pvc pipe. (I had to buy it in 12 foot lengths, so I will sell the rest on here when I am done)

The recirculating pump..which side is the air intake on. Before the pump or after? I thought that before would kill the pump.

[Turf]

it is usually after on PH's but on my skimmer pump it is before so there is more time to wip it up.

[Flounder]

So it might be a good design to "follow?"

[Turf]

I would think so and don't see a problem but maybe someone else has an opion.

[spsick]

any good skimmer has the air on the intake of the pump

[Boker420]

The air usually goes in on the intake side of the pump. That way with a needle wheel or such impeller the air bubbles will be finely chopped creating more surface area for organics to attach to and rise to the skimmer cup. You have to adjust either the air flow or the water flow or both to keep the pump from cavitating and performing at max.

That design should work. The only thing I would like about using PVC is that you can't see what's going on inside. Good luck. I made one like Spazz's originals and it was a chore, but it works.

[Flounder]

Yeah I wish that I could see whats going on. But for the price of the PVC vs acrylic....I had to sacrifice something. The taller the better right? I thought about an air stone skimmer, but people dont like cleaning those...I dont think I would like to replace that monthly.

[David Grigor]

Taller the better, yes and no. If you going do a needle wheel skimmer it can't be too high or it will not suck in the air because too much pressure. Stick with about 24" chamber before the skimmer pump.

Unfortunately, when building yourself rarely will you get it right the first time, prepare yourself for making two or 3 revisions. Really by the time you account for all the parts you likely won't have saved anything. Best bang for the buck is the Octopus NW200 for low $200s. With some mods it's a good 8" skimmer.

[zryder]

so what does said skimmer rate up to?
im about to try to build one for myself to work on my 220...

[mrbill]

Not to hijack the thread but would a Octopus needle wheel pump be a good pump to use to retrofit a old skimmer? Do the Octopus pump numbers reflect the liters per hour capacity? I havent been able to find any pump capacities.

[Troy]

I was you 12 months ago.

I have a skimmer now that I like, but TONS of hours into it, and a fair amount of cash too.

If you are doing it to save money alone, your probably doing it for the wrong reason. I learned a lot about skimmers and have the ability to tweak this one to my heart's content now since I made it myself, but I was probably working for $1 / hour during the creation process. I have a monster skimmer that's doing a great job now, but that's after probably a dozen tweaks/revisions. David's right about the height. Get too tall and it will shut down. I had to supercharge mine with an air pump to overcome the head pressure.

I think your nuts not to incorporate at least some viewing windows. If I hadn't been able to see what was going on inside the chamber, I never would have known what needed fixing. Good luck, and give me a call if you'd like to come by and see mine. It's 7' by 8", 2 sedra 9000's and a high powered air pump.

[Chris Goetz]

It's 7' by 8", 2 sedra 9000's and a high powered air pump.

7' as in seven feet? Wholly crap? Got a pic?
Chris

[zryder]

pm sent.
planning on building a 4' by 6 or 8", depending on pipe availbility

[Troy]

Yep, that's 7 feet. I'll try to get a picture up soon.

4' is right around the limits of a Sedra's ability to suck air unassisted. Different pumps will have different effective heights.

[zryder]

I was thinking about having dual OR2500's. how would that compare?

[Boker420]

You would need OR 3500's to compare to the sedra 9000's.

[zryder]

ok. again, i dont mean to hijack, but it might be usefull to both of us..
are 2 or2500's good enough for a 8"x4' for a 220?

[Chris Goetz]

ok. again, i dont mean to hijack, but it might be usefull to both of us..
are 2 or2500's good enough for a 8"x4' for a 220?

I'm not certain, but I think that a 4' reaction chamber might be too much for OR2500/2700. I have a single OR2700 on a 6"x20" body and it works well.

Chris

[Chris Goetz]

Has anyone ever seen an oval skimmer or one like this:
-____
(____)


I'm tempted to take a piece of tube and cut it in half and glue in some flat pieces to make an elongated/oval with flats body.

This would not have a few potential advantages:
no corners(supposed reason tubing is better than square skimmers)
cheaper to build using smaller diameter tubing 4-8"
better use of space/less wasted sump/stand space
?


Chris

[patent]

ok. again, i dont mean to hijack, but it might be usefull to both of us..
are 2 or2500's good enough for a 8"x4' for a 220?

Very much doubt it. Not for a 48" high tube. If it were me, I'd want to have an air boost for even two 3500s. Otherwise you are at the outer limits and I personally don't think it will be as effective.

[patent]

better use of space/less wasted sump/stand space
Chris

Cool idea, the sump space is always an issue for the off the shelf ones. It always seem that the skimmer I want barely, if at all, fits inside the standard size tanks that fit under my stand. I think the whole world expects you to buy a custom acrylic sump or something.

Saving space would be great. I've seen square skimmers before, but not oval.

[Flounder]

I see that if the skimmer is a recirculating, that it usually costs more. Mine is a recirculating, would I want one that isnt?

[patent]

I see that if the skimmer is a recirculating, that it usually costs more. Mine is a recirculating, would I want one that isnt?

IMHO (take this for what little its worth) a recirc. is usually a little better, though I would think it would be a little harder to make, hanging the pump on their firmly and all. Usually with a recirc. you want the output of the pump to be a straight shot into the skimmer body, rather than a curve. You also need a feed pump or a feed in from the tank return.

[Flounder]

Since I am re-doing my skimmer... I want to make sure I have the sump set up properly too. The return pump should be about 4-5x per total volume? My tank is about 200 gallons, so I should be looking for a return about 1000gph. Or should the return be matched to the feed pump on the skimmer.
"Don't move more water than the skimmer can handle" Is that what that means? I am not relying on the return for my water movement in tank. I have several maxi's and koralia pumps.
Seems like the more I research and try to learn the less I know...

[patent]

Since I am re-doing my skimmer... I want to make sure I have the sump set up properly too. The return pump should be about 4-5x per total volume? My tank is about 200 gallons, so I should be looking for a return about 1000gph. Or should the return be matched to the feed pump on the skimmer.
"Don't move more water than the skimmer can handle" Is that what that means? I am not relying on the return for my water movement in tank. I have several maxi's and koralia pumps.
Seems like the more I research and try to learn the less I know...

I think the pump should return at least what the skimmer can handle and that is where I start. Personally my return from the tank to the sump branches off, I send 1/3 to a seperate refugium, 1/3 to a skimmer, some to a phosphate reactor, etc. So my pump is a little stronger than just the skimmer needs to match all that. So all you really need is a pump that can pump as much as your skimmer can handle, and the rest can be powerheads in the thank.

If its more than the skimmer can handle, I'd be branching the return from the tank to the skimmer.

Nothing really wrong with having a bigger pump, but it may not be energy efficient compared to a powerhead, and may add more heat than you want. Anyway, that is just how I do it, other methods are equally valid.

patent