Octopus skimmer mod

[Fishead77]

I bought an octopus 150 skimmer last year. It works great but must be emptied twice a week as there is no overflow container. If you have one of these you know that the catch cup must be unscrewed from the body to empty it = pain in the butt. So I have been trying to figure out how to make this a better mousetrap. Here's what I've come up with drill a hole in the lid on the catch cup just big enough to fit an airhose though - 1/4". Then purchased an airlifter ($12) and a digital timer programmable to a minimum of 1 minute. I have a one end of the airlifter in the skimmer catchcup and the other tube in an overflow container. Everyday the airlift pumps for 1 minute removing the skimate from the catchcup. It works nicely, yeah!

 

[Fishead77]

octo skimmer

And a picture

 

[lizardarm]

is it an airlifter or an aqualifter?
that'll work, but running that skimmate through the air/aqualifter is going to cause the pump to clog up pretty quick.
why not just drill the hole in the side of the collection cup and let gravity do the work. i think that that's how these types of things are usually done.

 

[Meche]

why not just drill the hole in the side of the collection cup and let gravity do the work. i think that that's how these types of things are usually done.

I agree, gravity is free (for now). Also, how are you to be sure that 1min is the exact amount of time required to pump out a daily skimmate production? Running the pump dry is not desirable, and neither is having the cup build up over time and dump everything back into the skimmer body.

Matching pump outputs is near impossible to do. What about a float switch instead of a timer?

edit: Sorry to stifle your enthusiasm for a DIY project, I commend you for your ingenuity. Remember 1% inspiration (you needing a bigger collection cup) & 99% perspiration (working that design to perfection).

 

[burning2nd]

i dont think the aqua lifter is gonna last long with that abuse..... but


id call that the "lazy man contraption"

nice...

 

[Fishead77]

I've had it running a couple of weeks now with no problems. I have the skimmer adjusted wet and haven't seen any problems with it pumping the skimmate out (overworking it). I think it takes about 30 seconds to pump out the cup, then it blows bubbles. I don't think 30 seconds a day of blowing bubbles will hurt the 'aqualifter'. If I could find a cheap timer that just runs a couple of times a week, that would be perfect. I had been running it manually but am trying to automate the tank as much as possible. My skimmer cup is lower then the tank/sump it is so the gravity idea wouldn't work. Plus this is pretty simple to set up and works great.