Adapting a skimmer to be a hang on the back

[Daniel Doherty]

Hey guys, so in my pictures attached you can see a skimmer. I got it with a freshwater tank yearsss ago I bought second hand. Only being reefing the last 6 months and decided I may aswell use it. Only problem is, no sump… and I don’t want to add one either. I filter my 60cm cube tank (60 gallons) with an oase 350 and another canister. I think I’m going to ditch the second canister and try fashion some sort of skimmer. I’ve a big adjustable flow pump from an old sump on a freshwater tank lying about to.
I was wondering if I could DIY it to hang on the side of my tank something like the bubble Magnus E3??? Any advice is welcome.
I don’t want a sump as I’m still in college and aren’t with my tank 24/7 my dad and siblings feed the tank mid week. The oases pre filter is really easy to clean and so would the cup of a skimmer be, so this will be an easier system to maintain if I end up going travelling for a prolonged period of time etc. My tank also isn’t drilled or anything.
Any advice at all is welcome, even if somebody could ID what type of skimmer it is?
Thanks

 

[FUNGI]

short answer....yes you can do

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Fantastic, any pointers on how to do it? Sorry fairly oblivious to how they work etc

 

[FUNGI]

where's the Venturi....cant see it from the pictures....

 

[FUNGI]

Remove the soft pump input and replace with PVC (I think you need one 90 and maybe 5" downpipe to connect the pump to)

 

[FUNGI]

you then need to add a T here.

 

[FUNGI]

This will allow you creat your "gate" to control internal water height...
solook somewhat like this:

 

[Daniel Doherty]

where's the Venturi....cant see it from the pictures....

Not 100% sure. Is it that little bit attached to the flexi pipe attachment for an airline maybe?

 

[FUNGI]

so...figure about $20~30 in costs.....you could buy a used HOB for that ...LOL

 

[FUNGI]

yeah...most lilely this :

 

[FUNGI]

The "T" gate valve is the key....without it, you'll never get the water height

 

[Daniel Doherty]

so...figure about $20~30 in costs.....you could buy a used HOB for that ...LOL

Hahah yes very true, my tank is braced though, so doing it this way let’s me make the bracket a bit bigger to “hang” majority of the HOB skimmers I’ve seen are made for rimless or smaller rimmed tanks. I’ve pvc piping and the pump lying around so I may aswell recycle! Thanks a million for the advice

 

[Daniel Doherty]

yeah...most lilely this :

Yup that’s what I was thinking.

 

[FUNGI]

also, teh pipe that goes down the T at the top, make sure that teh bottom is cut at a 45 dgree, so it acts like a gate valve to ope and close

 

[FUNGI]

and make sure to wrap the whole thing in foam.....and you won't hear a peep out of it

 

[FUNGI]

I used this for mine (Bedding Topper)....$5.00

 

[FUNGI]

Ugly as F....but quite as a baby sleeping

 

[FUNGI]

LMK how it works out......I'm a big DIY fan, especially for skimmers...

EDIT: And I would do a leak test first......

 

[Daniel Doherty]

So just to reiterate, it’d be something like this?

 

[Daniel Doherty]

LMK how it works out......I'm a big DIY fan, especially for skimmers...

EDIT: And I would do a leak test first......

Will do, thanks a million for all the advice, it’ll be Christmas by the time I get to it though… currently doing uni exams at the moment!