It's been a while again, but there's been quite a bit going on outside the tank - bought a house and had to halt the tank upgrade for a while. Also it looks like it's going to go in the basement, which needs a ceiling!
I have managed to pick up a few bit here and there though. A 30 gallon tank second hand for a sump is the latest. I'm currently in the process of tearing out the old wrecked silicone before re-siliconing it.
I have the skimmer, just the lighting and a load of rock from BRS to go.
It's a bit frustrating, but there you go, but that brings me to the main subject of the post. My current piece of crap hang on skimmer. Seriously it's a waste of the earth's natural resources - no kidding.
If anyone tries to sell you a Weipro skimmer, just say no...
Anyway, with the move to the big tank and the better skimmer on hold, I had to do something. I'm battling to keep the water quality up and getting no help from the skimmer. I left it running to boost gas exchange as I have a covered tank, but lately I reckon it can't be doing much for that either. No matter how much I clean it, play with it, cajole or curse it, it just seems to get worse. Something had to give, so I was left with a choice of buying another one (which would cost about half the price if the rock for the big tank) or rig something. I chose the second option.
A trip to Windsor Plywood saw me with a board foot of 1" basswood (apparently the same as limewood) which I ripped into a 1/8" piece of end grain. Then I got out the C/A and made an airstone that would fit down in the body if the skimmer by the inlet. It's about 1" square by 3/8" (sorry, didn't have the presence of mind to take a photo). I drilled the lid of the skimmer and fed the airline down through the neck.
The results are spectacular. If I block the venturi, it's much quieter or a start, and there's bubbles - lots of bubbles.
From this:
The skimmate and the foam you see is left over from running it with the airstone earlier. Check out the lack of bubbles!
To this:
For the first time (pretty much ever) it's skimming!
And the best bit is for 6 bucks I've got enough wood for about a hundred or so airstones.. It may be my imagination, but the fish seem to be more active too, perhaps the oxygen levels have increased.. Or it could be in my head.
But still - IT SKIMMS!!!