diy skimmer build!!

[freetareef]

reedman... yeah i got mine from the lowes in smokey point just a bit north of ya. they sell it in 10 and 20 ft sections, but if you look thruogh all 4 aisles of the plumbing section you'll find a 2' piece of 6" pvc they call a basin extender and it was $15. in fact i got everything but the pump from lowes...have fun and don't forget to post your exerience and out come!!!

 

[freetareef]

so my hand is felling better and i went back to work today and i forgot to bring my skimmer stuff so i can mod it the easy way... with air tools!!!! so tomorrow i will post my progress and the neck i decided to get off ebay, and.... oh yeah... hey rlugo... ya know on randy's skimmer page where he has the links for the skimmer parts that he used, i went to the site where he got the collection cup, and it directed me to a website where i could buy one of the 7"x7" cups and when i was checking out it said that there was a error with the website and to contact the webmaster. I was wondering if you ordered a cup from there, and if you did if you had any problems ordering? if you got one some where else ya mind sharing your source??? as a matter of fact... any one know where to get a good size collection cup??

 

[rlugo29]

I just used a food grade Rubbermaid container from walmart. It's not very big, but I'm drilling it so I could have it drain into a separate wast collector that will shut the skimmer off when full.

 

[thincat]

Careful

yea!!! lol!!!! that should clean er up huh!!!! i haven't decided on flow yet... i want to utilize my overflow lines as to not add another pump... if i use both lines i'll have 300gph and one will be 150... maybe skimmer or luke can chime in once again... i'll do some more reading tonight. oh yeah here is a pic of my hand lol!!!

OWeeeeeeee!
that was a bad cut. Be careful with putting your hands in your aQ. for awhile. NO fragging please....

 

[freetareef]

yeah i'm one handed for a bit...

 

[thincat]

Serious about not sticking that hand in your tank. Lots of defensive poisons in there.

 

[freetareef]

have you ever seen our aquarium water under a microscope? i wouldn't my hand in there for a million bucks!!!

 

[freetareef]

just wanted to post some update photos....

this is the bottom of the cone i got. i cut it so the top will be the cone and the bottom will be the bottom of the skimmer. i glued in a piece of acrylic that i shaped to fit in the rim like this....

 

[freetareef]

then i took the intake of the pump and put the fittings i got at lowes on them like this...

then i drilled a hole close to the intake and made it big enough for the hose barb to be pushed inside....

then i cut a piece of airline hose with a 45 on one end and pushed it the hose barb fitting...

after dry fitting it all together and liking it i glued it all together...:lol:

 

[rlugo29]

Great idea on the bottom of the skimmer. Is it removable? I used a rubber end cap that fits tightly over the 6" PVC. So, it can be removed for easy cleaning. I was gonna try to order my pump, Uniseals, and fittings this weekend to get this baby finished, but decided to spend $$$ on a Craftsman Router to help with other projects.

 

[freetareef]

it will be all glued together so no i wont be able to take it apart besides the unions on the pump.

 

[freetareef]

i was thinking since it isnt clear i won't have any inside algae issues.
hey guys i have another piece of thin acrylic that i wanted to make a bubble plate since ther is gonna be mad turbulance in the skimmer. what size holes should i drill?

 

[freetareef]

and should i drill holes in the whole plate or just a 4 inch circle of them in the middle of the plate?

 

[Skimmy]

good question! luke will be able to answer it better than me, i thinks
off of the top of my head, i would say find a pic of the atb/wm cone and replicate what they did for amount of holes.

 

[Skimmy]

also, i think your venturi would work better if you made it on the volute it's self instead of plumbing connected to the volute.
use a bic pen body for the air line post, i did it with a reducer, instead of making a diagonal cut in the air line post, but both methods work well, it looks like this:

 

[luke33]

I'd drill a bunch of 1/8" holes in the bp. The venturi works well that you made. It works best when you have the 3/4" pvc to fitting and then another restriction of the fitting like it is. Works best that way for some reason. I have drilled the volute itself before but never got the #'s like i did the other way.

 

[rlugo29]

What's a bubble plate and will I need one?

Freetareef, I hope you don't mind me asking my questions here.

 

[freetareef]

its all good...

a bubble plate is a plate in the skimmer body, a little above the turbulance from the pump, that has a bunch of small holes in it. the purpose is to cut down on the turbulance, and to form a better head of foam. like the bubbles go through the holes in the plate and continue to raise in a straight path instead of swirling every where... like totaly dude... lol lol

 

[rlugo29]

Any updates?

 

[freetareef]

not yet i need to get the uniseals this weekend as i just got paid, then i will slap it together. i got a new system this week so i've been busy setting it up... it is a 150 say whats up in my showcase thread!!!!