Recirc NW skimmer

[big t]

It has been quite some time since I have made anything new for my system so I figured that it was about time to get a bigger skimmer built. Here is a start. It will be about 40" tall, w/ a 12" collection cup and a 8" main chamber. There is a 4" neck that is connected with a twistlock flange. On the bottom there is a 12" x 7 box where the water will be drawn down into to recirc thru the oceanrunner 3700 and also where the pickup for the drain pipe will be. The skimmer will be fed by a oceanrunner 2700 drawing raw water right where my two tanks drain into my sump. Anyway it is coming along nicely, I have been poking around with it for about 6 weeks and kicked it into gear today. Should be done tomorrow. Let me know what you think.

 

[reedman]

Nice Tom! Very Nice.

I really like the twist lock idea...a whole lot more convienient than screws.

 

[Krish]

Very nice Tom! Can't wait to see how it performs! Best of luck finishing her up!

 

[mungus]

Looks Great Tom!!! I would love to see how you did the twist lock. I am also intrested in the bubble diffuser. Did you drill all the holes by hand? What is the diameter of the holes 1/8"? Should be an awsome skimmer can't wait to see it up and running.

Brian

 

[bradreef]

The bubble diffuser is a question that I had also but what size tank to you think this could handle. also Cost and benefit of the round vs the square skimmer.

 

[Scooterman]

Looks like someone spent a lot of time making that twist lock, very nice!

 

[matts125]

Looks great Tom. that skimmer will pull out all kinds of fish poop!!!:lol: let me know when I can come pick up the old one... send me your paypal info and I can pay you for it, or cash works too...


Matt

 

[big t]

Well lets see here, mungus I made the twistlock on the router table with a circle cutting jig. I just did not cut complete circles and moved it in and out to get the profiles that you see. The reciever is 3 separate pieces of plastic cut to shape and then glued up to the form that you see. That neck portion was cut along with the rest of it and simply glued to the tube and the middle routed out. I cut the ramps by hand with a flat file. All in all after making the neck portion about 3 times and messing around with it (it was the first one I have ever made) it took about 4 hours to make. The bubble diffuser was drilled on a drill press. I spent a little time on design on the computer, but wish that I had taken more time to lay out the hole pattern so they are more uniform. But I am sure that it will work just fine.

Thanks very much Reed Scooty and Krish, this is a project that I am pretty excited about getting done.

Brad I would rate the skimmer as very ideal for a 180-240 type size which will be perfect for my system which is right around 240. Cost benefit is very poor compared to building square, however round is aprox 20% more efficient due to bubbles not combining in the corners. It also looks a lot more professional. As far as my cost I am building this project entirely of scrap acrylic that I have collected over the last couple years .

Matt I will send you a pm.

 

[Skimmy]

wow tom,
that looks awesome!!! someone's been doing thier homework!!

 

[big t]

Well things are coming along pretty good. I made the neck to body transition this afternoon. Here is a better shot of the bubble diffuser, the holes are 3/32"

 

[Krish]

Nice!!! BTW, watch out for Mark (skimmerwhisperer)! He has a thing for skimmers so keep it locked up

 

[Ed Hahn]

Wow, I want to see this monster work. I only wish you had one for a 300 gallon plus baby. I could use one.

 

[big t]

Well all I have left to do is plumbing, so it should be running tonight after I get back into the shop!

 

[matts125]

Looks Great Tom..

Matt

 

[Krish]

Very nice! Because of the collection cup, your skimmer sort of resembles a Euroreef to me! You da man Tom! You da man...

 

[spongebob lover]

wowuu hugeT .... your skimmer looks really kewl !!! .
i can't wait to see it working .

 

[DisturbedReefer]

I was lucky enough to be there for the initial start-up of this beast...Wow, very nice! Tom always does great work. I will be interested in how it progresses as it breaks in.

 

[Scooterman]

Tom, how do you get the joints so smooth & rounded, I noticed that on the corners of my tank, they were polished nicely!

 

[big t]

Well scooty it is honestly down to good old elbow grease. In the case of you tank I routed the corner over with a 3/8" roundover bit, and then started sanding with 320g sandpaper up to about 3200 and then buffed with a buffer. With this I rounded it over with a orbital disk sander w/ 60 g to start and worked my way up to 800g and buffed out. That little job took almost 3 hours. It was worth it tho . So far the skimmer is breaking in and looks like a big milk jug.

 

[DonW]

Nice job Tom. That flange turned out nice.

Don