DIY Skimmer - 2nd Test

newsalt · 02-15-2004, 02:47 PM

I'm still testing my DIY Air Driven HOB skimmer. During the first test, the water coming into the skimmer was overflowing out of the collection cup...it wasn't leaving the skimmer fast enough. The piping that sent the water back to the aquarium was 1/2" sch 40 PVC. The responses I got from my original post mentioned increasing the return pipe to 3/4" and lowering the point where the pipe spills back into the tank. Well, I did all that and it worked no more overflow. No I want to know if the level in the skimmer column is high enough. Also, I tested the air portion of the skimmer with my small Whisper 500 air pump. The pump did not have the power to generate the magnitued of bubbles required. Can anyone suggest a good strong (and quite) air pump that would do the trick? The skimmer will hang off the back of the aquarium and the air pump will be on the ground or very close to the ground. The point were the air enters the skimmer will be approx. 52" from the air pump. Here are two pictures of the skimmer. One shows it in operation on my test tank and the other shows the water level in the column while it's operating.

Thanks for any input.

newsalt · 02-15-2004, 02:49 PM

I don't know how to place two photos in one post, so here's the second picture.

addict · 02-17-2004, 01:33 PM

Wow... that's lookin good!

It's really hard to judge how much water is the correct amount, since the level will change once you introduce air to the system and the foam head starts to develop...
I'm not sure about the air pump, since I've always used Whisper pumps, but I've seen some that are claimed to be virtually silent (though you know how marketing-speak goes...). I've been doing a lot of searching for equipment lately, so offhand can't remember exactly where I saw them... I do know that they have a translucent blue case on them though.
One thing I'll mention, is you probably want the air pump to sit on top of your hood, rather than on the floor... in the unlikely event of back-siphon on the airline it'll save you a lot of pain and heartache...

Great Job!

mps9506 · 02-21-2004, 09:59 AM

Try the tetra deepwater air pumps.
If you want to adjust the water column height you may want to try one of those pipe connectors that are used to repair broken pvc and lets you adjust the length, I can't think the name of it at the moment.
Mike

ScottT1980 · 02-21-2004, 10:08 AM

Mike is reffering to a compression coupling I believe, it really saved me a lot of headache with the tweaking when I ran a DIY skimmer...

Looks great though, best of luck with it...

Take er easy
Scott T.

mps9506 · 02-21-2004, 01:29 PM

Yup, that's it.
Mike

johnlewis · 02-21-2004, 06:56 PM

I would not use the air stone I would just put a airline on the in take of the pump. Then you will get smaller bubble and less work replacing air stones. If you still want to use a air pump the tetra luft pump is for high pressure. You can also put a ball valve on the return to set the column hight.

mps9506 · 02-21-2004, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by johnlewis
I would not use the air stone I would just put a airline on the in take of the pump.

That's what I did on my DIY skimmer. Worked well, but I found you need a larger pump as you lose a lot of flow when you do this.
A nice thing about the air driven is you can power it with a small powerhead and get a low flow protein skimmer that gets excellent contact time. The low flow you get with these skimmers is what makes them efficient.
I was quite happy with my DIY air driven skimmer, only reason I changed to a ventrui was I got tired of changing airstones every week or two.
Mike

02-15-2004, 02:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
newsalt Torch coral Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 574 View Gallery Karma Komment	DIY Skimmer - 2nd Test I'm still testing my DIY Air Driven HOB skimmer. During the first test, the water coming into the skimmer was overflowing out of the collection cup...it wasn't leaving the skimmer fast enough. The piping that sent the water back to the aquarium was 1/2" sch 40 PVC. The responses I got from my original post mentioned increasing the return pipe to 3/4" and lowering the point where the pipe spills back into the tank. Well, I did all that and it worked no more overflow. No I want to know if the level in the skimmer column is high enough. Also, I tested the air portion of the skimmer with my small Whisper 500 air pump. The pump did not have the power to generate the magnitued of bubbles required. Can anyone suggest a good strong (and quite) air pump that would do the trick? The skimmer will hang off the back of the aquarium and the air pump will be on the ground or very close to the ground. The point were the air enters the skimmer will be approx. 52" from the air pump. Here are two pictures of the skimmer. One shows it in operation on my test tank and the other shows the water level in the column while it's operating. Thanks for any input. __________________ Equipment 120g Reef, (2) 250W XM 20K MH, (2) 110W T12 VHO Super Actinic, MRC MR2 Beckett Skimmer, 55g Sump, Iwaki Return Pump Setup August 2006

02-15-2004, 02:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
newsalt Torch coral Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 574 View Gallery Karma Komment	I don't know how to place two photos in one post, so here's the second picture. __________________ Equipment 120g Reef, (2) 250W XM 20K MH, (2) 110W T12 VHO Super Actinic, MRC MR2 Beckett Skimmer, 55g Sump, Iwaki Return Pump Setup August 2006

02-17-2004, 01:33 PM	#3 (permalink)
addict Reef Lobster Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Sierra Nevada Country Posts: 1,621 View Gallery Karma Komment	Wow... that's lookin good! It's really hard to judge how much water is the correct amount, since the level will change once you introduce air to the system and the foam head starts to develop... I'm not sure about the air pump, since I've always used Whisper pumps, but I've seen some that are claimed to be virtually silent (though you know how marketing-speak goes...). I've been doing a lot of searching for equipment lately, so offhand can't remember exactly where I saw them... I do know that they have a translucent blue case on them though. One thing I'll mention, is you probably want the air pump to sit on top of your hood, rather than on the floor... in the unlikely event of back-siphon on the airline it'll save you a lot of pain and heartache... Great Job! __________________ -David *addict's tank specs:* Coming soon!

02-21-2004, 10:08 AM	#5 (permalink)
ScottT1980 Reef Lobster Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 1,484 View Gallery Karma Komment	Mike is reffering to a compression coupling I believe, it really saved me a lot of headache with the tweaking when I ran a DIY skimmer... Looks great though, best of luck with it... Take er easy Scott T. __________________ My Tank

02-21-2004, 09:59 AM	#4 (permalink)
mps9506 They misunderestimated me Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Charlotte and Wilmington, NC Posts: 6,862 View Gallery Karma Komment	Try the tetra deepwater air pumps. If you want to adjust the water column height you may want to try one of those pipe connectors that are used to repair broken pvc and lets you adjust the length, I can't think the name of it at the moment. Mike

02-21-2004, 01:29 PM	#6 (permalink)
mps9506 They misunderestimated me Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Charlotte and Wilmington, NC Posts: 6,862 View Gallery Karma Komment	Yup, that's it. Mike

02-21-2004, 06:56 PM	#7 (permalink)
johnlewis Scopas Tang Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Brighton, MI USA Posts: 448 View Gallery Karma Komment	I would not use the air stone I would just put a airline on the in take of the pump. Then you will get smaller bubble and less work replacing air stones. If you still want to use a air pump the tetra luft pump is for high pressure. You can also put a ball valve on the return to set the column hight.

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