DIY Skimmer Monster: How to’s and Guidance. Picture Heavy

[joekool]

ok so you may or may not have thought about building your own skimmer but it’s not that hard and it won’t cost you a lot of money so why not try it.

I will work with you to build the appropriate size skimmer for your setup.
First is a video and then I will put up photos.

 

[joekool]

Venturi parts.
Now I would wait to glue in the jet piece until you have water running through it. Test it out in a bucket or barrel and adjust By sliding in-and-out until you hear it sucked the most amount of air and produce the most amount of bubbles in your container then mark the position thing glue it all together boom simple

 

[joekool]

These are based on a counter current design with wood air stones. Just for some reference. We are going to use Venturi design so they will handle a larger bio load.

 

[joekool]

I’m sourcing some 12’’ PVC at the moment and will be making a Monster skimmer to be built shortly. Stay tuned for that.

 

[Reef-junky]

Very cool

 

[Greef_in_the_Reef]

Cool post!

 

[revhtree]

Following!

 

[Ranjib]

Tagging along.

 

[bobman]

sweet cant wait

 

[Greenstreet.1]

On the boat

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

Very interested to see how this goes!

 

[joekool]

@Reef-junky How much space do you have again. Thought you said 28 high but how much floor space do you have available. We may need to do a multiple setup to get the right skim going.

 

[joekool]

Ok so for fun I took my skimmer and rebooted it with some new features. I installed double venturi's and dual drains. I also raised the height of the venturi and have them firing downward.

And here are the pictures lol
View from bottom

From the top down.

More in progress

Complete. Sorry I didn't take more in progress pictures but if you can't figure out what I did from the pictures feel free to ask.

 

[bif24701]

Following.

I see no reason why with proper design concepts, contact time and a good pump a DIY skimmer couldn’t do as well as any other.

With the white PVC will you be able to see the action and tune the skimmer well? Normally they are built of clear acrylic so that you can clearly see what’s going on and adjust the action.

 

[User1]

Another forum a lad made a skimmer using a 3d printer. Darn thing worked incredibly well. @Biff - there isn't a reason honestly. If one has the skills, patience, and willingness to learn from failure it is more than possible. Plenty of them around. Only reason why I'm using an off the shelf product is that I've when I was running my 100 gallon years past I over sized my skimmer with future upgrades in mind. Now that I'm upgrading I pulled it out, cleaned it up, and installed it. Otherwise I would have gone down the CNC / 3D printer route.

@OP - good job, coming along nicely. I like venturie skimmers.

 

[joekool]

Following.

I see no reason why with proper design concepts, contact time and a good pump a DIY skimmer couldn’t do as well as any other.

With the white PVC will you be able to see the action and tune the skimmer well? Normally they are built of clear acrylic so that you can clearly see what’s going on and adjust the action.

Proof is in the pudding....Oh I mean skimmate lol. You don't need to see inside or at least I don't I just look at the production of foam.

 

[joekool]

Another forum a lad made a skimmer using a 3d printer. Darn thing worked incredibly well. @Biff - there isn't a reason honestly. If one has the skills, patience, and willingness to learn from failure it is more than possible. Plenty of them around. Only reason why I'm using an off the shelf product is that I've when I was running my 100 gallon years past I over sized my skimmer with future upgrades in mind. Now that I'm upgrading I pulled it out, cleaned it up, and installed it. Otherwise I would have gone down the CNC / 3D printer route.

@OP - good job, coming along nicely. I like venturie skimmers.

3D would be cool. Unfortunately it would be costly for the size I need.

 

[Reef-junky]

@Reef-junky How much space do you have again. Thought you said 28 high but how much floor space do you have available. We may need to do a multiple setup to get the right skim going.

It would have to fit in my stand 22 to 23 inches max height is what I could go. The skimmer would also have to be external. As far as feeding the skimmer that would be off a manifold. My total system is about 100 gallons and heavy bio load. I have no problem going the PVC route. Would a skimmer that small work without a needle wheel pump?

 

[joekool]

You may have to use needle wheel. I'm out working so I get back to you later today.

How wide was your floor space?

 

[AlexG]

DIY skimmers work just as good if not better than store bought skimmers. Iagree that DIY skimmers can also save you some major $$$. I saved several thousand dollars by going with a DIY skimmer. Mine has been running great for a few months now after some tweaks and modifications it is delivering some great performance. The best part about DIY skimmers is that there are so many proven designs out there that its not hard to find something that will work for your system. I am looking forward to seeking your skimmer up and running @joekool. Here are a couple of pictures of my DIY skimmer.