[isaac]

ok, ive been reading heaps about protein skimmers and thought id try designing one.

what i need to know is if my tank is 150L and sump is about ~50L how much Water should the skimmer hold, how many L/H should the pump be pushing through it and what size air pump should i use

Ok here is a pic of my design, i wont be putting a tube on the return line because i will be just haninging it above the sump so the water can easily flow into the sump.

and um coul sum1 please add me on msn p_o_w12@hotmail.com i need some1 to directly help me thx

[Poseidon]

I think you need to do more reading.

It looks like you are trying to make an air driven counter current design skimmer right?

Here is a good link for a counter current skimmer.

[isaac]

yep, im trying to make a counter current skimmer, i read that page about protein skimmers now i have a pretty good idea of flow rate through it

could you just tell me the floors in my design keeping in mind it is not to scale whatsoever it will be taller and i need to change the collection cup design
i need to know where im going wrong so i can improve it

Thanx for all your help.

[Reefland]

Isaac,

There are some good protein skimmer designs on the web for a DIY'er. Keep in mind however that many people are in the business of making skimmers for a reason; because they are good at it, and have put a lot of time in researching, building, trialing, and erring. I would leave such an important piece of equipment to the experts and purchase one of their models.

[smidoid]

A skimmer is too important to "smeg up" as we say here, Issac and in case you haven't noticed, the airstone method is as about as crude as they come - because the stone cloggs within days in a marine tank and usually will have to be replaced every few weeks.

Venturis are the most popular method for mixing the air and water, although there are others such as the ETS which require large, powerful pumps to generate the foam.

There's actually a fair amount of maths involved too to get the most effective bubble size vs. contact time for the most effective cleaning to occur. You can't just expect to bubble air through water and expect to clean out the nasties (believe me, I've tried).

If you really want to make your own, go out and buy one first. An airstone-based counter current design is cheaper to buy than build ($20-$30 perhaps) anyway and you'll quickly realise the folly of that method. Once you move to venturis, you'll probably find the same thing: it's cheaper to buy one ready made!

At least this way you'll have a working skimmer to compare yours too. You can run the commercial design against yours and see which one collects the most muck.

[isaac]

Ok thanx guys. ^^ just me trying to be a cheap ass again...

[Randy]

I bet you could make a killer hang on skimmer with 4" PVC and a GenX needle wheel pump set to recirculate. You could use a tiny powerhead to push water through the skimmer.

The only thing you would see in the display tank would be the tiny pump hanging int he display.

That would be ceaper than buying one if you really thought about the design. If you have a sump it would make things much more simple and likely less expensive.

[The R/C Man]

As a builder of skimmers I really like the beckett style. They are a fairly straight forward design and very powerfull at what they do.

[isaac]

Yep im making a Beckett skimmer out of a mix of PVC and Acrylic, i have enough Acrylic for a sump box and now i just need to buy the beckett and all the PVC parts. ive got a killer design but its not on this computer, ill be builing the skimmer in the sext few weeks so ill do a thread with pics and dimentions

Cheers. Isaac

[smithcreek]

My first visit to this forum. Have to say it's an interesting approach to DIY you guys have here. When someone asks for advice on how to DIY a project people tell him not to, he won't get it right, there are others that know better, he won't understand enough to make it work, so just buy one.

Kind of defeats the whole DIY thing doesn't it?

[smidoid]

DIY skimmers are one thing you can't afford to get wrong. There are lots of DIY projects that almost everyone can try (sumps/refugiums are a great starting point) but skimmers aren't one of them.

[smithcreek]

That may be true if you want to get fancy with all sorts of flanges and whatnot, but there are lots of plans out there and I think some of them are simple enough for just about anyone. Plus, once you get the hang of doing any kind of reactor tube type DIY you can make all sorts of fun stuff and you have to start somewhere.

[Ixthys]

Why can't you "afford to get it wrong"?

The debate over the need for skimmers on a tank is just as big as the debate over the right kind of skimmer to use.

I say, experiment 'til you're blue in the face. If it works- great- if not, go buy one. The one thing I completely agree with is that he needs to do more reading (based on the the initial design he presented) to get better results. Plus, there are a ton of designs already posted on the web.

[smidoid]

At the risk of starting another "to skim or not debate" most tanks do need a skimmer to reduce the amount of pollutant in the system. The problem with a bad design (home made or commercial) is that you get lulled into a false sense of security. In my experience, and I have made a few, it's generally cheaper and lot less hassle to just go out and buy one. There are much more useful things that you can make cheaply such as fluidised bed filters and NNR systems.