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Author Topic: My 6" x 30.5" DIY Recirculating skimmer in the making...........  (Read 5231 times)

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The Propagator

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Here it is in its current state of progress. ( No the bottom isnt glued in place yet ;) )


I got the idea from Randy Stacey:
http://www.randystacye.com/diy_needle_wheel_skimmer.htm
and just went a tad taller and used acrylic instead of PVC for my reaction chamber. ( I want to SEE whats going n in there ya ya know ! LOL! )

I started out with a 17 7/8" section of 6" O.D. x 5 7/8  I.D. extruded acrylic tube I purchased off ebay for $28.93 shipped.
I didnt have to cut it or sand it. I just used it as it came. I WILL however have to drill and cut out the pump ports and inlet and return's.

Then I bought a 2' section of 2" ID PVC from lowes for $3.00 along with a handy little 3-2 4 way floor drain.


I set the tube over top of the floor drain /cone. Centered it up the best I could.
Carefully stuck my hand in with a fine point marker and traced a line around the inside diameter.
I then removed the tube and measured 1/8th inch UP from my mark and made a new line around the diameter.
Then I used my dremel with a diamond wheel and slowly and evenly cut out a notch around the entire diameter so the cone would rest on the tube.
Then I used my dremel again to carefully cutt of the top of the drain just above the lip I cut.
VIOLA !!! Now I have a nice looking base for the skimmer and it dosent ove hang and stick out like a sore thumb !!
( no pics of that whole process thouhg sorry. but you get the idea I am sure.)

So after about 15 -20 minutes of sanding and cutting to make it even and level the best I could I used weld on to glue the cone on the tube.



Then I took a sheet of 1/8th acrylic I had lying around and trace the inside diameter of the section of the drain I just cut off.
Cut it out carefully with my diamond wheel and dremel as well deburred it and glued the acrylic in place.



Then I flipped it over making the cut side up and it slide right over the tube perfectly !




The Propagator

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I plan on getting a rubber gasket or making on to fit in betwene the removable bottom I made and the reaction chamber for easy cleaning and what not.
I am going to atatch it via 5 nylon bolts screwed into 5 x 3/4" acrylic cubes I will make and glue on the inside of the reaction chamber just above the bottom.

OOPS Forgot to tell you about the union !

All I did was buy a grey 2" union and cut it flush with the threads, cut a section of 2" PVC to fit in and short enough so that the threaded half would sit flush when glued.



( I 1st bought a white unin which is a little smaller but it makes it look to weird begin all white and its so small compared to the body ya know)
Since I already cut and glue it here is te little ugly white one I didnt use so you know where to cut it if your to lazy to follow the link to Randy's site LOL!



I already have my 1 1/4", a 3 x 3/4" uniseals.
Now all I have to do is use a hole saw and my drill to cut out openings in the reaction chamber for the uniseals, buy 3 more unions ( 3 x 3/4" unions so I can remove the feed line, and the recirc pump with ease.)
a gate valve, an 1 1/4" repair coupling, 1 1/4" PVC and one 1 1/4" elbow, decide what pump I need to buy, make my venturi
Then its GO TIME !!

I'll keep you updated.

The Propagator

  • Guest
YEAH !!!!! My collection cup arrived today !! YEAH !!!!



I ordered it from Pioneer plastics. Its just like the one Randy stacey used ( its even from the same company) only this one has a lid with a handle.

To make it work all I did was trace the outside of a short peice of 2" PVC
on the bottom and cut it out with a dremel.
I centered it up by eye the best I could and went to town.

After 20 minutes or so of playing around with it and clenaing it up to fit I deburred it and used weld on to adhear it to the top of the none threaded side of the union. ( MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE FEMALE PART OF THE UNION ON 1ST BEFORE YOU GLUE !!!)

I used some 4" Acrylic tube I already had for the ring inside the cup to direct the skimate to the bottom after exiting the riser tube.
Now this is whats cool about the lid. Its concave on top.
Why is that cool? It will help push the smimate to one side or the other easier to be directed by the ring to the bottom of the cup.





So here is what I have done so far..........................



Now all I have to do is buy a few small plumbing peices, make a venturi, and figure out which pump I want to use. ( I alrerady have the uniseals )

Offline verper

  • Posts: 2,329
Looks real good so far.  How much $$$ do you have in it right now?

The Propagator

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Here is an updated pic with corrected measurements and all that jazz....



This little monster has a 6" O.D. x 5 7/8" I.D. x 18" tall reaction chamber with a 6" O.D. x 1 3/4" tall actual coned surface that funnels into a 7" section of 2" ID riser tube into the 5 1/8th" tall x 5" 1/8th" wide collection cup Actual height with lid installed is around 6" tall)
giving it an over all height of 30 1/2" inches.

Now is where the "halp me" part comes in.
What size and what brand pump should I buy for the recirculating pump?
How should I make the venturi?
As in which method/ mod should I use?
Do I have the valve in the right spot for proper adjustment of the water level in the reaction chamber?

None of the plumbing is set and glued in place yet ( save for the 1 1/4" uniseal ).
The ball valve is the only thing I could find locally.
Last but not least.....
Where would I find a 1 1/4" gate valve? No one has them locally

Thanks for your time and your help with this fellas !

So far this is my cost with out the pump: $122.51
The pump should be around $50.00 shipped. So I figure with the gate valve ( if I get one) and the cost of the pump I will be in the $200 - $220.00 ( $170-$190 using the ball valve probably)range for a recirc skimmer that is comparable to an octopus 150 recirc ( and mine is 3.5" taller at the reaction chamber I think? So that will up the tank volume it can skim a little as well :))that goes for $300.00.
Thats still a huge savings when you take shipping into account for an octo 150 recirc. (If it works LOL!!!)



The Propagator

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I decided on a GenX 2400 NW pump today.
Its puts out 633 gph.
I plan on mesh modding it, making my own venturi using Randy Staceys "quick patch" venturi method and getting it as close to 30-35 scfh as possible.



Offline Baggerhog

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Looks great keep us informed on the skimmate production.
Andy
Batavia, Ohio
500 Reef with 320 gallon sump setup

The Propagator

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Thanks!
Will do.

Offline ohioreef

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Looks good!! Can't wait to see it in operation.

Offline aquavista99

  • Posts: 1,807
Very nice. Would you mind posting a picture of the reef behind your collection cup picture?

The Propagator

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AW MAN !!!!

You would have to ask for a pic of it wouldn't you !! LOL!!

My camera takes SUPER CHITTY pics of my tank detail wise if I do anything but close ups :(
Here is a super chitty pic for ya anyway though :)
Its my 100g prop tank.




Offline aquavista99

  • Posts: 1,807
AW MAN !!!!

You would have to ask for a pic of it wouldn't you !! LOL!!

My camera takes SUPER CHITTY pics of my tank detail wise if I do anything but close ups :(
Here is a super chitty pic for ya anyway though :)
Its my 100g prop tank.



Very nice and full of lots of corals! I just set-up a 50g prop tank....will be using it as a QT as well.



The Propagator

  • Guest
THANK YOU ! :)

Ok so here are some pics of the trial run today.
SUCCESS !!!! :)

Mind you I still have not secured the bottom on so there are MASSIVE micro bubble and pressure leaks around the bottom.
Over all thouhg I am VERY please with the stock venturi as well as the over all performance thus far in its "beta" stage.

Here is a photo of some skimmate litterally minutes after turning it on. I dumped about 1/4 cup of skimmate from a seaclone 100 in there to see if it would pull any thing out right after this photo.

(You laugh.. but I swear to God pound for pound I have yet to find a skimmer that works more efficiently on my 29 than the seaclone 100. I dont know if I just lucked out and got a good one or what but it pulls out black gold fellas)



 5 minutes after turning it on dumping in some skimmate and making minor adjustments....



3/4" uniseal on feed line



A peek in the top secret test tub LOL!
MICRO BUBBLES AWAY !!! I expected alot at 1st because some adjustments and permenant fixes still need to be performed yet.
AND it hasnt even broken in yet.


The Propagator

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Outlet sample to see exactly how bad the micro bubbles actually are that are making it out of the return really are.( because the bottom isn't sealed up yet)

[isn't]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/DuaneJ/Skimmer%20pics/testrun5.jpg[/IMG]

30 minutes worth of skimming







I am SUPER pleased with it thus far !!

And fellas I can only go by what I have now because I haven't used any other type of venturi yet but with the way I attached it this venturi ROCKS !
( I 'll get into exactly what I did in a bit)

The Propagator

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I made a flange today ( RANDY) LOL!!
Randy Stacey put that bug in my ear when I asked him about cubes to use as atchment location for the bottom.
I had to do it !
Its not pretty because I did it with my dremel but it works.





The Propagator

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Well I was faced with a new problem today !
Where the fook do I find gasket material?
NO NEED !
I simply "planed" down and smoothed out all edges to mate flush then used a little bit of silicone in betwene the flanges. and I do mean a little.
Like 7 drops about the size of a dime all around it.
I tightened up the bolts and VIOLA a no leaking monster !


I did another test run, only this time I also lowered the recirc. pump out put about 2 inches lower in the chamber and installed a "T".
Then I faced the input on the recirc. pump downward a little to suck up micro bubbles and it WORKS LIKE A CHARM as well as adding about 2 inches more air to water reaction time ( in other words more bubbles with less micro bubbles).
Brand new skimmer and I am getting minimal micro bubbles at best.

Here are a few pics of the 2ND "grub tub" test.
This time I dumped in about half a gallon of skim-mate from all of my skimmers then let it sit out side for two days in the sun to spark the nasty stuff growing for some REALLY funky water to test it out on :LOL:
The tub is a 13g tub filled to about the 10g mark.
Here it is after the 2 day bake in the sun with 1/2 gal of watery skim-mate mixed in it.
EEEEWWWW SMELLY !!!



Here is the collection cup of the skimmer literally less than 20 minutes after it was turned on.



Tub water after about 2 hours:



Tub water after 4 hours:





A pic of the outlet so you can see I am not lying.
Virtually no micro-bubbles.



Bout .5 gallon of skim-mate pulled out in less than 6 hours.



Now its skimming slower.
When a heavy load is present it goes berserk-o and skims heavy, after its has about skimmed the majority of it all out it goes back to normal or nothing until something is introduced to the tub to skim.
Any one else experience this?
Bubble size problem maybe?

The Propagator

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Made use of the El' Crapo' skimmer body that came with my El' Crapo'
Pro clear 150 wet/dry. It is now my skim-mate collector LOL!

This is about 4 days worth of skim-mate. ( its lighter at the top because the sludge and sediment has settled.)



Shook up and from the top down.
NASTY NASTY NASTY smelling rotten eggs garbage.



The heavier crap in the bottom



This little bastage is truly bad azz !
I cant believe it works this good with out a gate valve or the mesh mod.
and its not truly even broken in yet !
Think what it will do with those mods !!!!

Offline aquavista99

  • Posts: 1,807
Looking good! Just a little darker and it will be a "Great day for a Guinness!!!"

The Propagator

  • Guest
Ha Ha !
It does resemble a black and tan doesn't it. :)
Its broken in alot since the last photos.
Now its really pulling out some crap!

The Propagator

  • Guest
Re: My 6" x 30.5" DIY Recirculating skimmer in the making...........
« Reply #19 on: June 06, 2007, 04:20:52 »
Broken in Skim mate and foam production.
THIS THING IS EVIL !!!
It literally blows the mud and crap out of the neck when it builds up onto the collection cup lid LOL !!  (UNLIKE "some" expensive units that are supposed to this cheap 'O D.I.Y. skimmer  one does.)

[supposed]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/DuaneJ/Skimmer%20pics/skimmate8brokenin.jpg[/IMG]





That's 2 days worth of skim mate BTW ;)
I will snap a photo of the collection container so you can get an idea of how much this dude skims.
My tank is CRYSTAL clear now. :)

 

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