Wouldn't it be extremely cheap to DIY a monster air driven with some big ABS or pvc? Seems to me the biggest cost is the air compressor/bubbler?

yes! ;)
good skimmer dont have to cost 3000$! :biggrin:

Gorilla Glue

how often do you replace the stones
 

ok so now as we know thy are great, how often do you replace the stones, or do you sand them off a bit for a nother few weeks.

only down side I would considder is the nois of the air pump.

I used a 40W comp. to feed my needel W. with air, as my skimmer is tall, and hate the sound.

gust ordered a laguna 2900 to build a mesh wheel, thy should handel the suction of air, so I loos the compressor.

however you never know in the future, so always interested to find out how long the w. stones last

KevinK:

we change the stones every 3-4weeks...
we made our air stone (33cents each!)

for the air pump mine is really quiet (O2 Max Air Pump,885 Gallons per Hour)

Check the first photo of my post #18 in this thread. That air diffuser was doing its thing for 6 months if not longer and still producing better bubbles than any brand new store bought wooden diffuser. As you can see, the wood grain is starting to open up quite a bit so sanding or anything else is not going to extend the life of one of these. When I was using the store bought diffusers, I once soaked and boiled a few of them in a vinegar solution in an effort to get more life out of them. The performance wasn't that great after that, but I was able to use them a little longer.

For my skimmer I don't need a piston air pump, the Rena Air 400 diaphragm pump is more than enough and along with the small AquaClear 301 powerhead, you can barely hear a thing. My lighting fans and VorTech pumps pretty much drown out the low hum produced by the Rena.

I use the pondmaster linear compressor and they are extremely quite.
For my air stones, I use a pair for each skimmer and change them every 4 or 5 weeks, cleaning the removed one and drying it out and using it at the next change.
Two stones get me more than a year service.
The advantage of boring the centre hole is that you don't have to glue an assembly together.

Great thread. Tagging along

none of these pics show what I would consider significant skimmate at all...

I respect a simple, cheaper alternative but I think its pretty clear these skimmers dont even seem to perform better than a coralife skimmer.

Not to knock whats working for you, but there is no way I would never put one of those on my reef...especially with how affordable a lot of the venturi, needlewheel and beckett skimmers have become lately.

I would potentially try one on a nano though...in fact, I think I may just make one this weekend and try it out.

The amount of skimmate has nothing to do with it. The question you have to ask is does the skimmer pull out enough DOC's to keep nutrients low. I think it's evident, judging by the success of the tank that this skimmer is effective. I for one love to see these air driven skimmers in use, it gets back to the basics of foam fractionation and has some good old ingenuity thrown in to make it all work. If you're looking for effective skimming you don't have to don't have to buy a Bubble King or a Deltec, if you're looking for bragging right then that's another story.