Neptune Aquatics

My Skimmer

pixelpixi

pixelpixi

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Thought I'd share my skimmer build. It's a little different from most skimmers. Here it is all assembled...

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The pump is mounted under the reaction chamber rather than next to it. I designed it this way primarily because in my sump I have a lot of vertical space, but not much room horizontally. I decided not to do a "recirculating/countercurrent" design (with a separate feed pump that brings water into the top of the reaction chamber, and the inlet of the pump connected to the reaction chamber). Despite what seems to be a trend towards that, I'm not convinced that it's actually advantageous.

The base is 3/16" ABS and the reaction chamber itself is 4" acrylic. The collection cup is made with flexible drain fittings from home depot. One nice thing about the flexible couplers is that it can all be disassembled easily, and different designs for the base, reaction chamber, and collection cub can be swapped in. I'm planning to design a new collection cup soon.

Here's the base with the pump, reaction chamber, and drain outlet removed.

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A few other construction notes:
- The pump, a Sedra 5000, attaches with a threaded PVC coupler. A bulkhead attaches the coupler through a hole in the base.
- The ABS plastic was remarkably easy to work with. It cuts and drills well and cements easily and securely. It made somewhat complicated parts, like the connecting channel between the reaction chamber and the drain, fairly straightforward to build.
- There's a 45 degree elbow at the bottom of the reaction chamber (not visible in the photos) which directs the water and bubbles up and in a vortex.
- The 4" acrylic is 4" outside diameter. 4" drain pipe is 4" inside diameter. I just used short pieces of 4" drain line, siliconed to the outside of the acrylic, in order to adapt from the acrylic to the flexible couplers.

The skimmer has been up and running for several weeks and seems to be doing pretty well. In the future I plan to make an adjustable height drain pipe and a new, more refined, collection cup.

I don't have any pics of it running, but I'll try to get some soon and post them here!
 
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=3908.msg45815#msg45815 date=1213580750]
how does water get into the skimmer body? If it sits in the sump I'd really be worried about those metal straps on the flex connectors
[/quote]

Yes, it sits in the sump. The hose clamps are stainless steel and they seem to be doing okay so far.

Are you worried about their integrity, or about the concentration of iron and other metals in the water?
 
Well what I'm worried about is not all stainless steels are created equally, and I have seen some rust. However those have been with moving parts and not stationary but just keep an eye on things. I'd also be worried about the screws, as often I've seen those corrode out when the straps were still fine.

If I were really worried, I'd remove the straps which sit in water and replace them with plastic zip-ties for peace of mind.
 
I aggree with Mike. My old setup had rusted stainless steel hose clamps in the stand without even being into contact with water. I would be worried if they would be in the water and would also replace them with plastic zip ties if I was you.
 
Good points. So far it seems okay, but I'll keep an eye on it.

If it does turn out to be a problem, it might be okay without any hose clamp at all, as those couplers are fairly snug. Or the zip tie thing might work. Or I could just extend the ABS tube on the base up a few more inches to get the bottom clamp out of the water.

Thanks, guys!
 
I would replace those clamps ASAP.. You will forget them and when you remember, it would be too late. There are several tank crashed because of rust.

Very cool DIY skimmer ;)
 
[quote author=Mr. Ugly link=topic=3908.msg45839#msg45839 date=1213593362]
Well, there's decent height on the body for reaction time. Plus the pump is working against a pressure head.
[/quote]

Exactly. I was originally going to make it even taller, but the pump couldn't handle the head pressure. Even if it were a recirculating design, and thus had no pressure difference between the inlet and outlet, the pressure would still cause the venturi to stop working. I ended up with a height that's 12 to 18" below the max it could handle.
 
[quote author=xinumaster link=topic=3908.msg45876#msg45876 date=1213640628]
The air hose looks to short. Is the air hose submerge in water too? Can you take a picture of your skimmer inside your sump?
[/quote]

The air hose is not submerged. The water level is between the two hose clamps on the bottom coupler. I'll get a picture of it running soon.
 
Ya, I thought the air hose had to be above the standing water level otherwise when power goes out, it will drain your sump/tank to that level.
 
[quote author=Elite link=topic=3908.msg45882#msg45882 date=1213642729]
Shouldn't the air hose same level as the collection cup?
[/quote]

No, it only needs to be above the sump's water level. There's no advantage to having it higher.
 
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