My diy nano cone skimmer

[spit.fire]

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/fishies%202/1FB7CFED-FBCB-468C-A94B-44C3EB9E7813_zps0g0cxa8k.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a171/tyty_220/fishies%202/8A7F41D9-1786-4DCB-AD3C-A285E77DE858_zpss4v6h41f.jpg

made a ghetto lathe using my tripod drill (glass drill) in order to make the air stone

the tube assembly is all acrylic (ugly prototype with bubbles in the tube from getting it to hot when i bent it)

took a case of beer to get the bottle to break right... :wink:

now once all the glue is cured ill try it in my actual tank :mrgreen:

[spit.fire]

Skimmer sucked... Made a new revised version, way better but could still use improvementhttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/28/ebac103f22598d308b996b25c6ee0e88.jpg

[Slyguy00]

lol thats awesome tyler! very creative

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

A case of beer :biggrin: no wonder why it sucked:lol:
Last attempt looks good and in working condition I bet no beer was involved in the revised edition :thumb:

[Slyguy00]

A case of beer :biggrin: no wonder why it sucked:lol:
Last attempt looks good and in working condition I bet no beer was involved in the revised edition :thumb:
:lol::lol:

[spit.fire]

haha ya, now i just have to make an adjustable mounting bracket and a new and improved airstone... good thing i have enough wood to make a few hundred of them or id have to go over my 3$ budget

[Reef Pilot]

Too much time on your hands?... lol.

[mike31154]

Beauty, but version 2 is no longer a cone!

I've been making my own wooden air diffusers for a while now, fiddly work but when I get it right, they're bomber, producing bubbles on all 4 sides. Store bought wooden diffusers that are drilled down the center only bubble on two sides. Have looked at ceramic air stones as well. The Boss Hog brand stones are a bit large but they're about the only non-wooden ones that produce sufficiently small bubbles to be effective in a skimmer. Interested in your attempt at making ceramic stone for version 1. What type of material did you use? Seems like that didn't work too well? Tell me more!

A few photos of my DIY hollow basswood diffusers.

https://tsl4pa.bl3301.livefilestore.com/y2pOYLg6bk4plvEFAu_-zdlAMhDOvL1tr9eaoZpWeXDImM5mhNjSZXNt2DI5TFqcwsS-D9VK3zX5f0rvEfY1nCzqOI9vhzYBoVMNhLRGyDjzJE/P1030451e.JPG?psid=1

First chunk of basswood I had was a narrow plank, so I first had to glue sections together to make large enough sides
https://tsl4pa.blu.livefilestore.com/y2pMtYQwcSeOI4OUvvySXT7SDAbA2B53cT2535F1fTh4wvaSo2 IiaP3bQ98T8e0-vWMlqk2DKVoezuJFnOc8o0eUI6y8OFsg3bxGXtXW6vA660/P1030449e.JPG?psid=1

Thickness of panels is important. Too thick & you need a monster air pump.
https://tsl4pa.bl3301.livefilestore.com/y2pei_zaqeQzwo-WptWouvy3_wK7__FzDlwEBWPl87W2GfKm2AWrOL_uaiqPeHavT lcZNc3B5FBq-w1-nS9psjkqOsYZHabVSxXH-fiMSHXlvc/P1030450e.JPG?psid=1

They last a very long time, I think I ran this one for almost a year.
https://tsl4pa.bl3302.livefilestore.com/y2p4e6D7RpacCXaSQTHUQ4V-I7673HFr9aGd7j-LRrXBvRTQ9T4gUtTBUkQhX3kMkswW75oDLdeIk8SBHby3iffTu avFChSkXkHIYo0EVLDhio/P1030542e.JPG?psid=1

[spit.fire]

Beauty, but version 2 is no longer a cone!

I've been making my own wooden air diffusers for a while now, fiddly work but when I get it right, they're bomber, producing bubbles on all 4 sides. Store bought wooden diffusers that are drilled down the center only bubble on two sides. Have looked at ceramic air stones as well. The Boss Hog brand stones are a bit large but they're about the only non-wooden ones that produce sufficiently small bubbles to be effective in a skimmer. Interested in your attempt at making ceramic stone for version 1. What type of material did you use? Seems like that didn't work too well? Tell me more!

A few photos of my DIY hollow basswood diffusers.

https://tsl4pa.bl3301.livefilestore.com/y2pOYLg6bk4plvEFAu_-zdlAMhDOvL1tr9eaoZpWeXDImM5mhNjSZXNt2DI5TFqcwsS-D9VK3zX5f0rvEfY1nCzqOI9vhzYBoVMNhLRGyDjzJE/P1030451e.JPG?psid=1

First chunk of basswood I had was a narrow plank, so I first had to glue sections together to make large enough sides
https://tsl4pa.blu.livefilestore.com/y2pMtYQwcSeOI4OUvvySXT7SDAbA2B53cT2535F1fTh4wvaSo2 IiaP3bQ98T8e0-vWMlqk2DKVoezuJFnOc8o0eUI6y8OFsg3bxGXtXW6vA660/P1030449e.JPG?psid=1

Thickness of panels is important. Too thick & you need a monster air pump.
https://tsl4pa.bl3301.livefilestore.com/y2pei_zaqeQzwo-WptWouvy3_wK7__FzDlwEBWPl87W2GfKm2AWrOL_uaiqPeHavT lcZNc3B5FBq-w1-nS9psjkqOsYZHabVSxXH-fiMSHXlvc/P1030450e.JPG?psid=1

They last a very long time, I think I ran this one for almost a year.
https://tsl4pa.bl3302.livefilestore.com/y2p4e6D7RpacCXaSQTHUQ4V-I7673HFr9aGd7j-LRrXBvRTQ9T4gUtTBUkQhX3kMkswW75oDLdeIk8SBHby3iffTu avFChSkXkHIYo0EVLDhio/P1030542e.JPG?psid=1


Funny, I found your post last night on another site and figured id give it a shot today after work

The first diffuser was basswood, I've got a chunk that's about 7' x 2.5" x 8" so I figure I've got a lot to play with

[spit.fire]

Too much time on your hands?... lol.


Some days lol, the fun part is polishing all the sanding marks out of the top from sanding the cap flush.

Also gotta build a collection container with an electronic shutoff to turn the air pump off when it's full

[spit.fire]

13371

[albert_dao]

You just need new sanding belts and or a 30" disc sander :D

[spit.fire]

You just need new sanding belts and or a 30" disc sander :D


Worked fine for me, think you had a beer too many

[spit.fire]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/03/539ac3ac5b805d0e45ab207b7109f5be.jpg

So the only modifications I can see that would help so far are a slightly larger extraction tube, better airstone (like the one mike31154 made) and a quieter air pump (mine is broken and jerry rigged together so it's noisy)

[mike31154]

Currently I don't have a nano tank but there may be one in the future. Some time ago while researching skimmers I came across a product from Japan that is made of glass.

http://mame-design.shop-pro.jp/?pid=6515458

There are some reviews on the reefbuilders site. There was(is) also an outfit called Gnome that produced something similar, but some folks got scammed & it seems the business never really got off the ground.

Just throwing this out there for anyone that may be interested in a non-DIY skimmer for their nano that is a little work of art & will look good, not use up a lot of space. And it may help your DIY effort by giving you some ideas.