DIY Beckett skimmer

[Frankie]

I thought I would contribute one of my DIY projects.
The material used is:
2x 48"x24" 1/4" cell cast acrylic, 1x 8'x8" cast tubing, 2x 8'x2" cast tubing, 1x 8'x5" tubing, two Beckett injectors, 40 1/4" nylon thumb screws, one 1 1/4" slip to slip gate valve, Weldon #4 andschedule 80 fittings and tubing.

Tools i needed to build it were:
Table saw, Drill press, dremmel, thread taps, miter saw, square, hammer, (for when all else fails ) sand paper (220# and 120#) buffing compounds ( I like the hard sticks) Buffing wheel with three seperate pads and did i mention a hammer?

Here are some material pictures:

I started by building the mixing box. The dementions are 12"x12"x14". In the origanal design the baffle in the box is a true 90 and the 5" tube riser sits an inch through the bottom. I found this to be a flaw and tilted my baffle so the bubbles would slide either to the 5" riser or back to where the mixing tube inject the bubbles. I also dadoed my bottom baffle for the 5"riser to sit flush with instead of pushing through 1". This allows to bubbles not to gather around it causeing the skimmer to burp.

I started by building the mixing box. The dementions are 12"x12"x14". In the origanal design the baffle in the box is a true 90 and the 5" tube riser sits an inch through the bottom. I found this to be a flaw and tilted my baffle so the bubbles would slide either to the 5" riser or back to where the mixing tube inject the bubbles. I also dadoed my bottom baffle for the 5"riser to sit flush with instead of pushing through 1". This allows to bubbles not to gather around it causeing the skimmer to burp.


__________________

 

[Frankie]

I used a friends jointer to get the edges perfect for the gluing up.
I bent the needle for getting into tight spots. It worked well:

Here is the water output with 90's and bulkhead installed. You want to install this before you install the 5" riser. So make sure it's tight! You only get one chance to do it.

Next i Installed the 5" inner riser. Because i had tilted baffle it sits on I needed to cut the bottom on an angle with my miter saw so it would stand straight and level:

Then i glued the top of the box on:

Next was the cup. This was the fun part where i learned how to make circles and flanges. I used my drill press like a milling machine. I set it to a high speed. I cut my acrylic sheet to the desired sizes,

drilled a small hole in the middle to fit a finish nail, nailed it to the press table and turned it into the 1/4" double fluted router bit. I used a 3/16" double fluted bit for the dado's to fit the 3/16" tubing in.

I cut the tubing with the table saw. I made a sled to roll the tube into the blade:

Tight fit!

 

[Frankie]

I taped the flanges together and drilled the holes for the screws.

Then i tapped the flanges for the nylon screws:

finished.

 

[Frankie]

Next came the Beckett injectors. Now that i understood what it took to make the flanges with cup the injector housing went smooth.

 

[Frankie]

I bought most of the materials from Rhino Fittings, Plastic Material, Plastic Cutting Boards, Trade Books, Paisley Farm, Washout Booths for $664.30 with shipping. I have enough tubing left over to either build another smaller skimmer or use for other projects. I am thinking a Calcium reactor and waist collector for the skimmer. The O rings I got locally.
This skimmer is rated for a reeflow Marlin pump. I saved close to $600 dollars building it myself.

 

[Frankie]

The original Barr skimmer did not have the diffuser plate but the company that bought the design added it so i did also. I used a bath tub strainer for my hole template:

 

[Frankie]

Next I made a custom flange to hold the down draft tubes in place. Just a shape out of my head that i thought looked cool.

Then i glued in the downdraft tubes with the Beckett's installed:

 

[Frankie]

I used Banjo quick connects like the original Barr skimmer has. These things are cool!

 

[Frankie]

I also built an air filter for the injectors. This will help silence it and give me the option of useing filter media to keep air born pollutants from being injected into the tanks water. Like dust and such. I can also fill it with carbon or some other chemical media for other nasty air born stuff.

 

[Frankie]

And that was it. Here is the finished skimmer. I hope others out there will see that they too can build their own with the proper tools and care.
I used goggles and kept my work stations clean at all times during this build. Please do the same when useing power tools.

 

[Krish]

That's insane!!! I'll take to for my 10 gal nano Very nice job man. Very clean work

 

[Frankie]

I did recently modify the Beckett's
What I did was modify the Beckett injectors by reducing the hole size. This has been an ongoing idea on other forums but I have yet to try it until now. Here are the results.

Smaller bubbles!

Smaller bubbles means more bubbles per square inch. More bubbles means more surface area for nutrients to attach to thus going me a better export of nutrients.
Here you can see in the main chamber the bubbles are so small it looks like milk:

This is what I got 5 minutes after turning on the skimmer.

If anyone would like to build one of these or has need of advise on a DIY project please feel free to PM me.
Frank~

 

[Frankie]

Thanks Krish

 

[hank187]

That is a nice skimmer. how much did the build cost if you dont mind me asking?

 

[Frankie]

I forget Hank. It was a year ago. I do remember that I could have bought a bubble king instead LOL

 

[returnofsid]

Frankie, exceptional write up with great instructions and photographs!! Thanks so much for contributing this!!

As for price, and it being as expensive as buying a BK instead, lol.... a lot can be said for the feeling of having built such a nice piece of equipment, yourself!! Sometimes, DIY can save a ton of money... Other times, it'd be more financially responsible to buy from a manufacturer...lol. But then you don't get that feeling of accomplishment!

Again, Great Job!!

 

[Frankie]

Thanks for the replies so far everyone!
Yeah, I did it because I could. Not to save money. It was a great experience and I recommend anyone with good DIY skills to build what they can. You will understand how things work so much better by building it then buying it imo.

 

[tamarindthai]

great build tread indeed,,i am always be a fan of becket skimmer went all the way to RC TOTM with becket skimmer and i still using it(home made by club member reeffan),,not BBK
thank for the idea of reducing hole size on becket,,,so you just plug the old hole and drill the now hole ,,what size is the new hole and how many is it?

 

[Frankie]

Hello tam,
Thanks. I used marine epoxy from Lowes to fill in the old holes. I used a 5/64" bit I think. I will go check it out later to be sure.
KZ sells then made with smaller holes. I am going to try this next time I order from them. Here is a link to it:
http://www.korallen-zucht.de/en/sho...nozzle-white-line-for-revolution-s-and-m.html
You can get them here in the states through Aquariumspecialtys.com if you call Scott ahead of time so he can order them.

 

[Skimmy]

excellent pro build quality...
very nicely put together, and it looks awesome.
the BP should be great for a double beckett skimmer.
KUDOS