My first DIY skimmer

[whaase]

I've wanted to build one of these for a long time now. After my old skimmer wasn't cutting it anymore, I decided to take the plunge. Wayne might recognize the old skimmer! :biggrin: It stands about 2ft finished. I based it on the AquaC.

Here are some pics.

First one is of the parts..

http://aquahome.no-ip.com/piececut.jpg

Next one is a picture of the old skimmer

http://aquahome.no-ip.com/oldskimmer.jpg

Our messy shop! :lol:

http://aquahome.no-ip.com/shopmessy.jpg

My "jig" to keep the joints square.

http://aquahome.no-ip.com/keepsquare.jpg

Gluing it together.

http://aquahome.no-ip.com/cluetogether1.jpg

The nozzle.

http://aquahome.no-ip.com/spraynozzle.jpg

Here is 3 shots of it done.

http://aquahome.no-ip.com/completed1.jpg
http://aquahome.no-ip.com/completed2.jpg
http://aquahome.no-ip.com/completed3.jpg

It took about 2 hours to make. It was also my first time working with acrylic. Comments?

Walter

[Skimmerking]

looks good

Mike

[kuatto]

you make it look real easy :biggrin:

Jim

[EmilyB]

OMG Walter, you are zooming....you'll have SPS next :mrgreen:

[StirCrazy]

must be nice to have that much open room in your garage :rolleyes: wanna come organize mine? :mrgreen:

Steve

[UnderWorldAquatics]

thats looking more like a cabinent shop than a "garage"

[whaase]

Mike: Thanks.

Jim: Looks are deceiving :lol:

Deb: Never, no SPS!

Steve: It's our shop for work, we do renovations so we tend to collect "junk"

We do some cabinets if we need to.

Thanks everyone.

Walter

[Canadian Man]

looking great Walter

[whaase]

looking great Walter

Thanks Jon! I think I cought your bug! Next is a Kalk reactor. :biggrin:

Walter

[wayner]

Nice Job!, now, why didn't I think of that., gald to see you making good use of the Old Skimmer.

[whaase]

Well, after testing and trying to get it to work, it wouldn't. I missed a couple key concepts. Sooooo, look for my new thread "My second DIY skimmer" :lol: Almost done the new and improved version. I'll post pictures this afternoon....

Walter

[marine newbie]

I'm looking at building a skimmer similar to this and have a few questions. Does the spray nozzle basically break up the water flowing into the chamber and if so can i use the intake tube adapter with prefilter screen from a maxi-jet 1200 powerhead instead? What do you guys/gals think? Will that work? Don't really want to work with melting/burning pvc but will do so if there is no other alternative. Also looking to simplify the water intake part of the skimmer since i can't find any cpvc tubing and fittings in any Rona/Home Depot in Edmonton.

[whaase]

I'm looking at building a skimmer similar to this and have a few questions. Does the spray nozzle basically break up the water flowing into the chamber and if so can i use the intake tube adapter with prefilter screen from a maxi-jet 1200 powerhead instead? What do you guys/gals think? Will that work? Don't really want to work with melting/burning pvc but will do so if there is no other alternative. Also looking to simplify the water intake part of the skimmer since i can't find any cpvc tubing and fittings in any Rona/Home Depot in Edmonton.

The nozzel you make (and it is easy) jets the water creating foam. You can get those grey pvc fittings in the electricle isle.

Walter

[Azilla]

How much does a Project like this cost???

[Jeff]

Any thoughts on cost of parts (in particular the flanges and the acrylic)? What sort of pump will you run it with? I'm kicking around either buying a Tunze 230 or building a Beckett style skimmer myself.

[whaase]

I'm not sure on cost. I got some acrylic from a trade and I bought some more from Rona (24x48). The tubing/flanges I had from a old skimmer. So I can't really give a cost. Maybe some other reefers can give you some prices?

Walter