Advertisements
Aquatic Avenue Banner Tropica Shop Banner Fishy Business Banner
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: DIY: Surface Skimmer

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Tampines New Town, Singapore
    Posts
    282
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    1
    Country
    Singapore

    Lightbulb DIY: Surface Skimmer

    Advertisements
    Fresh n Marine aQuarium Banner

    Advertise here

    Advertise here
    Hello to all,

    Just a DIY project to share.

    My 2ft tank had been set up for close to 50days, initially I was really proud of myself as I was able to prevent any layer of firm that will form on the surface of the water. But that was not for long, towards the 40th day, the oil firm start to surface.

    My initial plan was to get the Eheim Skim 350:
    878.jpg
    around S$50 odd and get it over with. I started researching on this product in the forum:
    http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...=eheim+skimmer

    there are some cons discussed on the product, i.e. shrimps and fishes jumping into the opening as they are kind of wide. They are something that I could not live with.

    I proceeded with more reserch onto some DIY Skimmers and I stumbled upon (from www.plantedtank.net):
    http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...urface+skimmer

    for a moment I thought this was a good idea, no more bulky skimmer. I went ahead with the idea:

    cutting slots at the top of the acrylic tube and using finger cots to attached it to the inlet of my canister filter:


    this is how it looks like when it is attached:


    A video showing the skimmer in action


    I monitored this for a few days. A workable design, but not something perfect. Here comes the problem, this surface skimmer (the acrylic tube) is attached to the inlet of the canister filter. I am using an Eheim Ecco Pro 300, flow-rate is pretty strong, therefore you will need a good adjustment of the acrylic tube so that it is effectively removing firm and at the same time allowing enough water to be sucked into the inlet pipe to avaoid air being sucked in. Difficult but not impossible, next you will also need to cater and consider water evaporation. For me, it is too much of a hassle to adjust it that frequently. I need to re-design...


    Cheers
    eRic

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    1,128
    Feedback Score
    13 (100%)
    Country
    Singapore

    Re: DIY: Surface Skimmer

    NICE!

    is it noisy?
    I am balding but i am still young!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    196
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore

    Re: DIY: Surface Skimmer

    Coincidentally, I DIY something following that principle, though much uglier.

    Instead of the nice looking acrylic pipe, I simply used a 16/22mm tubing connected to 16/22mm intake with restricted flow. I inserted the 12/16mm inlet pipe into the 16/22mm tubing. The 16/22m tubing takes the plastic of the acrylic pipe and acts as the skimmer.

    I did not use the seal (because I didn't know about the link above) but relied on the strength of the canister filter's flow to draw in water from both the main intake and the skimmer. The advantage is that even if the water level drops, the skimmer will not suck in air.


    If you don't use a seal but instead restrict the intake, will it solve the sucking in air problem?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Tampines New Town, Singapore
    Posts
    282
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    1
    Country
    Singapore

    Re: DIY: Surface Skimmer

    Re-designing...

    I happen to have this low-powered pump lying around, Exo Terra Repti Clear F150:


    The idea came, after all, you will need something to suck the firm off the surface, so I started to operate on the pump:

    opened up the pump where it houses the mesh filter sponge:


    the portion where there is a cover housing the fan blades


    remove the cover where the fan blades are exposed:


    this slot happens to be the exact size where I can attach my acrylic tube:


    I stuffed small meshed sponge into the tube to prevent and particles from getting into the fan blades:


    with this design, I put it to test:


    a video of it in action:


    I attached my acrylic tube (modified with another slot to accomdate for the outlet of the pump) to the pump wired it up and ran it. At 150L/hr, my slots were too narrow for proper suction to happen, air kept getting sucked into the pump and thus forming bubbles that was released into the tank. Not very good as I am running CO2 canister and introducing O2 into the tank might defeat the purpose of the CO2. I did not have the right tools to widen the slots, I began to saw another few slots by the side of the acrylic tube hoping that will ease off the suction from the top. Opppsss, the final product failed. I sawed too many slots at the side, this time round, water got sucked in by the side instead of the surface.....urghhhhh.....


    Cheers
    eRic

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Tampines New Town, Singapore
    Posts
    282
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    1
    Country
    Singapore

    Re: DIY: Surface Skimmer

    .......urghhhh......

    I dumped the acrylic tube and started working on a new one, only this time round, I tried my very best to widen the top slots with sand paper and only sawed 1 slot by the side to ease off the suction from the top. So with the enhanced final design, I put it to the test:

    a video of the final enhance version in action:


    notice the cyclone effect at the opening of the acrylic tube? This shows that the DIY surface skimmer is actually doing its job, sucking the impurities on the surface of the water. To cater for water evaporation, I had sawed the slots long enough to cover at least 20~30mm of evaporation. But that still cannot escape minimum adjustments now and then. I started to monitor the performance of the skimmer. I notice that that location placement of the skimmer does play a big part of being an effective surface skimmer. My initial location, not so effective (placed directly opposite the outlet of my canister pump). Although, the skimmer is working but somehow the surface impurity does not float to that corner of the tank. I started relocating it to right beside the inlet of my canister pump. This time round, the firm disappeared quicker than expected.

    Well, a pat on my shoulder for meeting my objective of getting rid of the firm from the surface of the water form tank. Conclusion, I should the first design worked well with firm actually getting cleared within an hour. But what annoyed me was the air being sucked into my canister pump, that cooncerns me for the life span of my pump. Not so good. The second design, I guessed it fulfill my requirements and served as it was designed to.

    I hope this share will good for anyone out there who are facing similar problems with similar expectations. Feel free to comment on the DIY surface skimmer (afterall, this is a sharing session). Also do feel free to modify this design to cater for your needs or if you have a better enhancement to it (afterall, this final design was enhance from a design stolen from www.plantedtank.net the credit goes to usgetata)


    Cheers
    eRic

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Tampines New Town, Singapore
    Posts
    282
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    1
    Country
    Singapore

    Re: DIY: Surface Skimmer

    Quote Originally Posted by Erctheanda View Post
    NICE!

    is it noisy?
    If the air does not get sucked into the canister, basically it is silent as Christmas night. But if the air makes its way into your canister, you know what happens when you on a glass of coke and towards the end, you are sucking in air. Sounds almost exact.


    Cheers
    eRic

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Tampines New Town, Singapore
    Posts
    282
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    1
    Country
    Singapore

    Re: DIY: Surface Skimmer

    Quote Originally Posted by erwinx View Post
    Coincidentally, I DIY something following that principle, though much uglier.

    Instead of the nice looking acrylic pipe, I simply used a 16/22mm tubing connected to 16/22mm intake with restricted flow. I inserted the 12/16mm inlet pipe into the 16/22mm tubing. The 16/22m tubing takes the plastic of the acrylic pipe and acts as the skimmer.

    I did not use the seal (because I didn't know about the link above) but relied on the strength of the canister filter's flow to draw in water from both the main intake and the skimmer. The advantage is that even if the water level drops, the skimmer will not suck in air.


    If you don't use a seal but instead restrict the intake, will it solve the sucking in air problem?
    Wow! You guys are efficient, I was just finishing up my enhance final version of the skimmer and I got replies. Heehee. Well, I had totally no idea of this idea initially. And I copied from another forum. This is a good design but I just do not feel good when air keeps getting into my canister.


    Cheers
    eRic

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    196
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore

    Re: DIY: Surface Skimmer



    This is a photo of my modification. It actually works as well as a bulky plastic skimmer. As mentioned, I do not use any seal but restrict the intake a bit. I then depend on the pure "power" of the canister filter to suck water through the main inlet as well as from the "skimmer".

    The disadvantage is that it stops working if water level drops due to evaporation. But I do mid-week water top up in addition to weekly water change, so not an issue.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •