mepling
Active Member
I was wondering if anyone has tried this skimmer design. Looks reasonable but I was just looking for input.
DIY Skimmer Photo by mepling | Photobucket
DIY Skimmer Photo by mepling | Photobucket
Skimmer
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No but it looks interesting.
Generally the airsotone skimmer don't collect enough detritus to make them worth while. They don't chew up the air/water enough.
I would stay away from the airstone design unless you like doing alot of maintence. You need to have a good skimmer that will keep that water clean.
nova423
New Member
I think it is worth it if you have a smaller tank to DIY a small skimmer. They are never any worse than the junk being offered by vendors for small tanks.
The key to a good DIY skimmer is having something to tall enough to ensure enough contact time for the bubbles with the water. Generally 20" to 24".
I am running one right now on my 10g made out of fluorescent light covering (slightly flimsy but cheap and useful for other diy projects), a powerful luft pump, and two airstones. No holes for input or output on the tube body, just an open bottom as low as you can go.
The top of the reaction chamber is a 3/4" pvc neck fitting to a 3/4" vinyl tube leading to the collection bottle. To eliminate back pressure due to the larger diameter of the top of the skimmer, I put a series of tiny pinholes near the top of the collection bottle and covered it with a small bag I made with carbon to eliminate any chances of odor (idea stolen from Avast Marine works).
I pushed the tubing far enough past these holes in the collection bottle to ensure that none will squirt out as long as I keep the bottle emptied, which kind of forces me to keep everything clean and running nicely.
It pulls out some of the blackest, foulest smelling skimmate you could ever imagine.
But yes the DIY airstone skimmer requires tuning almost every day and the basswood airstones don't last that long.
The key to a good DIY skimmer is having something to tall enough to ensure enough contact time for the bubbles with the water. Generally 20" to 24".
I am running one right now on my 10g made out of fluorescent light covering (slightly flimsy but cheap and useful for other diy projects), a powerful luft pump, and two airstones. No holes for input or output on the tube body, just an open bottom as low as you can go.
The top of the reaction chamber is a 3/4" pvc neck fitting to a 3/4" vinyl tube leading to the collection bottle. To eliminate back pressure due to the larger diameter of the top of the skimmer, I put a series of tiny pinholes near the top of the collection bottle and covered it with a small bag I made with carbon to eliminate any chances of odor (idea stolen from Avast Marine works).
I pushed the tubing far enough past these holes in the collection bottle to ensure that none will squirt out as long as I keep the bottle emptied, which kind of forces me to keep everything clean and running nicely.
It pulls out some of the blackest, foulest smelling skimmate you could ever imagine.
But yes the DIY airstone skimmer requires tuning almost every day and the basswood airstones don't last that long.
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