DIY Protein Skimmer

BlueAbyss · #1 05-20-2009, 10:44 PM

I posted these questions on my nano contest tank thread, but got no response... maybe I'll get one here

I've decided I can't do without protein skimming on my contest tank, so I went ahead and ordered a Taam Rio 800 RV pump. This pump is a modified Rio 800 that sucks in air before the impeller, and recirculates some of the air / water mixture from the output back through the input. Has anyone ever used one of these?

I will be building the skimmer using glass and silicone, since I can't get acrylic tube here and I want to be able to see inside the skimmer. Further, I think it will look slick with the other tanks and their black silicone, like they were made as a set (which they sort of will be). However, I worry about the square form factor (rather than cylindrical) and what that will do for skimming?

Oh, and one last question... will isopropyl alcohol clean the glass well enough before I silicone?

byee · #2 05-20-2009, 11:03 PM

I can't answer your question on the skimmer part - square vs box shape.

If you use the 99% isopropyl alcohol should be fine. Make sure its not rubbing alcohol as it has mineral oil in it.

Send pictures once its finished.

BlueAbyss · #3 05-20-2009, 11:39 PM

Awesome, one question answered! Thank you! Yeah it's 99.9% isopropyl.

And I have seen box shaped skimmers here and there, I'm just wondering if it really makes any difference? I'll be building it this way anyhow, and I guess we'll see how it works. I'm working on it in sketchup right now, I may have something to show later.

byee · #4 05-21-2009, 02:02 AM

Innovation. Some of the refugiums (like CPR) actually have build in skimmers..square shape of course.

may want to do a review search on the product.

good luck

BlueAbyss · #5 05-21-2009, 04:16 AM

I actually have looked for a review thread on a few sites. No luck so far... I'll Google it to be sure.

So I just checked Google out, and there doesn't seem to be an actual review by a magazine or anything of this pump...

I've actually asked around, and nobody that I've come across seems to have used or seen one of these in use. All I've been able to find was a thread somewhere that suggested that a way to control the dryness of the foam (when these modified pumps are found in AIO systems... the thread was for a Rio 600 RV or something) was by controlling the amount of air introduced through the venturi.

So, maybe someone out there is using this pump, but I haven't been able to find them. Anyhow, now I just have to decide on a design. Since I understand fundamentally how a skimmer works, this shouldn't be too hard, I'm just not sure how efficient it will be. For 23 watts, it should be alright, and I can always mod the pump further with a mesh wheel. Off the shelf this pump will run 211 gph... that's a lot of skimming power on a system that's so far planned to be ~16 gallons.

Anyone have any suggestions for the overall dimensions of the skimmer? I'm sort of lost on this one...

StirCrazy · #6 05-21-2009, 04:49 AM

how are you thinking of doing your neck and colection cup?

I am not sure about the pump you are using as I have no experiance with it, but it might be a better idea to use it as a recirulating skimmer pump, so all that pump would do is take water from the skimmer and reinject it back in mixed with air. then you could use a controlable supply to feed tank water to the skimmer. I know this means using two pumps but it is a much more efficient way of doing it as I think the turn over would be so fast on that water volume with just the one pump you would have to have a rather large skimmer to get any sort of contact time at all.

as for a square skimmer, there are several home made ones I have seen that are square. it should work fine, not as good as round but if you do a recirulating set up like I said it should be ok, just a little harder to clean. personaly I would go 5 or 6" wide and say 12" tall for the main body, then do a 2" wide neck about 4" tall with 1" of it extending into your colection cup. for the colection cup I would go back to the 6" width and say 4" tall.

now I wouold have a inlet from the second pump enter the bottom and the outlet back to the tank on the oposit side with a baffel to keep bubbles from going right out. have this exit with a bulkhead into a 90 going up. then have a pvc tube (say 1" for the outlet) going up with a "T" mounted so you can go up more or out the side. then come out the side with a short chunk into a 90 pointing down and then another chunk of tube extending under the water line. then on the branch going up just put a 6" chunk. this will allow air to escape and prevent syphoning. and to adjust the water level all you have to do is change the position of the "T" up or down. this could be done by using a 1" repair coupling which will give you about 6" of adjust ment for fine tuning.

anyways if you need more clairafacation on anything let me know this was just a quick ramble off the top of my head.

almost forgot.. you only want about 50gph of tank water going to that as a max flow rate so the second pump can be small. this low flow rate combined with a recirulating type skimmer pump will give you plenty of contact time in a skimmer this size.

Steve