TheChef
Active Member
SO, more experiments
In previous tanks I used a sander WT 350 that I modified to use a powerhead instead of the wooden airstones and found it worked great. I lost the powerhead and went on ebay to find another, but I found a cheap PS (~$30) that came with a powerhead and bought that instead. I figured if the PS was garbage I could just use the pump on my old sander
It was about 12 inches tall and a few inches wide, but the powerhead extended the skimmer to almost as far out as it was tall. Ill need to adjust it with the dremel and cut the tubes back a bit.
right off the bat you can see there are a LOT of microbubbles, so im grateful for a sump w/ baffles (this isnt the final resting place of the skimmer, its just easier to adjust this way, Ill put it in my sump once its dialed in).
the outlet, which you can adjust to allow more or less outflow, also needed dremel modification. Even with it fully open the cup started overflowing relatively quickly. widening the outlet mouth fixed this easily. The skimmer is also highly dependent on water level, any lower than what you see in the picture and the cup would start to overflow
aside from all the problems you would expect from a $30 skimmer, it DOES produce good water flow and plenty of bubbles in the chamber:
Ill be monitoring it over the next few days and letting you guys know if it works well enough to produce some nasty skimmate. If it does, down into the sump it goes; if it doesnt, then back to the sander
and as promised, here are a couple shots of the new stuff. Im excited for post Xmas, as Ill have a bit more budget to work with and should be able to get some fish and more coral
In previous tanks I used a sander WT 350 that I modified to use a powerhead instead of the wooden airstones and found it worked great. I lost the powerhead and went on ebay to find another, but I found a cheap PS (~$30) that came with a powerhead and bought that instead. I figured if the PS was garbage I could just use the pump on my old sander
It was about 12 inches tall and a few inches wide, but the powerhead extended the skimmer to almost as far out as it was tall. Ill need to adjust it with the dremel and cut the tubes back a bit.
right off the bat you can see there are a LOT of microbubbles, so im grateful for a sump w/ baffles (this isnt the final resting place of the skimmer, its just easier to adjust this way, Ill put it in my sump once its dialed in).
the outlet, which you can adjust to allow more or less outflow, also needed dremel modification. Even with it fully open the cup started overflowing relatively quickly. widening the outlet mouth fixed this easily. The skimmer is also highly dependent on water level, any lower than what you see in the picture and the cup would start to overflow
aside from all the problems you would expect from a $30 skimmer, it DOES produce good water flow and plenty of bubbles in the chamber:
Ill be monitoring it over the next few days and letting you guys know if it works well enough to produce some nasty skimmate. If it does, down into the sump it goes; if it doesnt, then back to the sander
and as promised, here are a couple shots of the new stuff. Im excited for post Xmas, as Ill have a bit more budget to work with and should be able to get some fish and more coral
