here i go again... protein skimmer time!

[sasquatch]

Ohh lol you cracking me up, keep the outflow below the cup, otherwise you cant adjust water up and down for wet or dry skim. Steve

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

Ohh lol you cracking me up, keep the outflow below the cup, otherwise you cant adjust water up and down for wet or dry skim. Steve

oohhh yaaa!!! sry if i seems completely clueless... im not usually this stupid.

ok so i bought the 3 inch pvc and a few fittings and stuff. i have some 3/4 inch pvc leftover from my sump plumbing, so ill be using that plumb the return line. i know that i will need some more parts, but i figured id come home and see how what i have will work. i got a 4 way tee thing (like the one lucy used on hers) and it was $10!!! that sucks! total so far is $32

[sasquatch]

yup! then theres the reducers and all the other related mess just because you want something that cant be done in plumbing land, well its a whole lot cheaper than acrylic. Steve

[rDr4g0n]

i ended up returning the 4 way tee in favor of a 3 way one with a reduction built in. just spent another $13 and i know i need about 2 more trips to the store lol

[rDr4g0n]

well guys im getting along with the job. figured id post some pics. much thanks to igerold and sasquatch for ideas and help!





im gonna add another compression coupling, and i need to get the barbed inlet and outlet. i need to finalize exactly how im getting water from teh tank to the skimmer (tee off overflow or drill a new hole in overflow?) i also need to finish the collection cup, and finally, i need to make an awesome airstone like igerolds.

oh, and yes... i have red leather couches.

[lgerold]

Hi!

It's looking great! You aren't far from done.

One simple way to make airstones for your set up would be to take some basswood, and cut 3" long, 1" square rectangles, across the grain, so the grain goes across from side to side. Then, choose a drill bit the exact same size as an airline coupler, and drill a hole from the end, about 2 inches or so deep. Super glue the coupler in. This stone won't give you three dimensions of bubbles, but you could use three of them. With the 3" body, I think it might be tough to make a small enough three dimensional stone. I could be wrong though!

Great work!
Lucy

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by lgerold

Hi!

It's looking great! You aren't far from done.

One simple way to make airstones for your set up would be to take some basswood, and cut 3" long, 1" square rectangles, across the grain, so the grain goes across from side to side. Then, choose a drill bit the exact same size as an airline coupler, and drill a hole from the end, about 2 inches or so deep. Super glue the coupler in. This stone won't give you three dimensions of bubbles, but you could use three of them. With the 3" body, I think it might be tough to make a small enough three dimensional stone. I could be wrong though!

Great work!
Lucy

thanks for the compliments and coaching!

i currently have 3 limewood airstones that i bought for my old skimmer (a small in-tank countercurrent skimmer that works, but not as efficiently as this new one will). do you think i could use 2 or 3 of those and still get decent performance? i plan to build some basswood stones a little later on (i honestly havent done the research yet, been focusing on building teh skimmer).

[lgerold]

I'd go with what you have for now, especially if you can run all three.

Are you planning on filtering the air entering the pump? I understand that you could be looking at replacing the stones monthly. I hope that it won't be necessary with the filter box. It's been about 2 weeks now since we set up our skimmer. No decrease in air flow so far (we can watch through the window.)

Good Luck!

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by lgerold

I'd go with what you have for now, especially if you can run all three.

Are you planning on filtering the air entering the pump? I understand that you could be looking at replacing the stones monthly. I hope that it won't be necessary with the filter box. It's been about 2 weeks now since we set up our skimmer. No decrease in air flow so far (we can watch through the window.)

Good Luck!

i may look into building a HEPA filter box like yours... how much was teh filter itself? i hear theyre close to $40...

also, im sorta at a standstill because my local home depot doesnt have some fittings i need

[sasquatch]

What choo need rDrlol, maybe we can see something else to fill the bill. ps your post count is falling, pick up the slack abit huh. Steve

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

What choo need rDrlol, maybe we can see something else to fill the bill. ps your post count is falling, pick up the slack abit huh. Steve

your mom is falling!

no really. she is. you better go check the place where you last saw her.

[sasquatch]

[rDr4g0n]

im sorry, that outburst was unwarranted. im making a new account just to give myself bad karma.

seriously though, i have an idea. can i use a powerhead to get water from my system into the skimmer? i have an extra one, and this would save me a lot of trouble (trying to redo the plumbing for my overflow for the 4th time) and i think it would work jsut fine. pros? cons?

[sasquatch]

sure you can! from display or sump? more gph from display, but adds another PH

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

sure you can! from display or sump? more gph from display, but adds another PH

i could actually put it in the overflow box so it would not be visible. oh and using a powerhead means i can make the skimmer as tall as i want.......