HumblePie
Community Member
Hey all,
I thought I would share a very simple and cheap project I just completed. The total cost for me was $8 as I had most of the parts lying around in my aquarium junk drawer. If you had to buy all the parts, I bet you could do this whole project for about $15-$20 ($30 if you have to buy an air pump).
A little background:
This project came up due to necessity as I am getting ready to head out on a 2-week trip and recently my pico tank has started to get a bit of an outbreak of what I believe is cyano. While I'll be doing a pretty decent water change before I head out, I really wanted to see if a protein skimmer would help. Unfortunately, for my little 2.6g tank the vast majority of skimmers out there were too big. I did find one that would actually fit in my in my tank but it was $100. Even if I wanted to buy it, the package would not arrive in time. I decided I had to bust out some some old aquarium DIY ability to try and get something working for the few days before I head out. I haven't built one of these before but figured, it could not be too difficult. Honestly, it turned out to probably be one of the easiest aquarium projects I have done to date...
This project took about 15 min to make and was incredibly simple and straightforward (seriously it is only 5 steps!).
I currently have this running inside the main area of the tank to test it out but it is small enough that it will fit in one of the reservoirs in the back of the tank which are only about 2" wide.
What it’s made from:
Essentially, just about everything I used was rummaged from my aquarium junk drawer. The only thing I bought was some super cheap plastic tubes off of Amazon for about $8 (had to buy a set of them). Here are the parts:
Tools I used:
Here’s how to build it:
1. I used a Dremel to first cut a hole in one of the caps and expand the hole to roughly match the diameter of the thermometer cover. Note if you are using a straw, just drill a hole in the center of the cap and make sure the straw fits snuggly.
2. Using a Dremel (a craft razor knife would work too) cut a 2”-3” section from one of the tubes. Sand it so it is flat and even It should look like this.
3. Glue the thermometer cap (or straw) to the top of the cap. Make sure there are no gaps that water can leak out from.
4. Glue the 2”-3” tube to the top of the cap so it looks like this. Again, make sure there are no glue gaps.
5. Drill a hole to fit the right angle airline tubing connector and glue it in place so you have a drain tube.
6. You’re done! Now go crack a beer and celebrate the minutes of hard work you spent building this!
One last note, you can either use the airline control valve to limit the amount of bubbles produced or just move the skimmer up/down in the tank to control them.
Here's a couple gratuitous shots of it in action...
I thought I would share a very simple and cheap project I just completed. The total cost for me was $8 as I had most of the parts lying around in my aquarium junk drawer. If you had to buy all the parts, I bet you could do this whole project for about $15-$20 ($30 if you have to buy an air pump).
A little background:
This project came up due to necessity as I am getting ready to head out on a 2-week trip and recently my pico tank has started to get a bit of an outbreak of what I believe is cyano. While I'll be doing a pretty decent water change before I head out, I really wanted to see if a protein skimmer would help. Unfortunately, for my little 2.6g tank the vast majority of skimmers out there were too big. I did find one that would actually fit in my in my tank but it was $100. Even if I wanted to buy it, the package would not arrive in time. I decided I had to bust out some some old aquarium DIY ability to try and get something working for the few days before I head out. I haven't built one of these before but figured, it could not be too difficult. Honestly, it turned out to probably be one of the easiest aquarium projects I have done to date...
This project took about 15 min to make and was incredibly simple and straightforward (seriously it is only 5 steps!).I currently have this running inside the main area of the tank to test it out but it is small enough that it will fit in one of the reservoirs in the back of the tank which are only about 2" wide.
What it’s made from:
Essentially, just about everything I used was rummaged from my aquarium junk drawer. The only thing I bought was some super cheap plastic tubes off of Amazon for about $8 (had to buy a set of them). Here are the parts:
- 2 plastic tubes with caps (1” x 8”) Note, next time I would buy 1.5" tubes as the limewood air stone had to have the corners sanded down to fit in the 1" tube...
- 1 ear thermometer cover. Note you don’t need this and you could use about 1” cut from a wide mouth straw instead.
- Airline backflow valve
- Airline control valve
- Right angle airline tube connector for a drain tube (note a 3-way connecter will work too if you trim and glue shut one end.)
- Suction cup and holder. Not necessary but nice to have as it allows you to mount it on the glass.
- Limewood air stone
- Airline tubing (not pictured)
- Air pump (not pictured)
Tools I used:
- Dremel
- Glue gun
- 150 grit sandpaper (optional)
Here’s how to build it:
1. I used a Dremel to first cut a hole in one of the caps and expand the hole to roughly match the diameter of the thermometer cover. Note if you are using a straw, just drill a hole in the center of the cap and make sure the straw fits snuggly.
2. Using a Dremel (a craft razor knife would work too) cut a 2”-3” section from one of the tubes. Sand it so it is flat and even It should look like this.
3. Glue the thermometer cap (or straw) to the top of the cap. Make sure there are no gaps that water can leak out from.
4. Glue the 2”-3” tube to the top of the cap so it looks like this. Again, make sure there are no glue gaps.
5. Drill a hole to fit the right angle airline tubing connector and glue it in place so you have a drain tube.
6. You’re done! Now go crack a beer and celebrate the minutes of hard work you spent building this!
One last note, you can either use the airline control valve to limit the amount of bubbles produced or just move the skimmer up/down in the tank to control them.
Here's a couple gratuitous shots of it in action...
