DIY Protein Skimmer?????

[punkroc701]

So I am new to the whole salt water aquarium thing and I am building my own as much as possible (I like to build stuff ) and I found these plans for a DIY Protein Skimmer Reef Workshop - DIY Protien Skimmer. For the most part the construction is self explanitory of the main skimmer, but I am not familiar with what he means by a High(er) pressure pump is. As well as where, or how to hook it to this thing when I am finished. I am only building a 26 gallon aquarium so I am thinking this is way more then I need for this build (a larger aquarium may follow this one if all goes well with it). Do you think this is to much for a 26 gallon, or should I go one Ebay or a LFS to get a $50 one? Any help is welcome.

Chris

[gregr]

I think the high/er pressure pump type he's talking about is probably something like a Sedra ksp 2500 or similar. If you take a look at an ASM G series skimmer you'll see they use Sedra pumps and you'll also see how they connect to the body of the skimmer. Basically the pump sits next to the skimmer in the sump and a curved 90 degree elbow connects the output of the pump to the body of the skimmer.
You might want to look for a used skimmer to save some money if you decide not to build your own. Good skimmers aren't cheap but I think you gotta have one. Hard to say if that DIY skimmer is overkill or not but generally more is better You should check to make sure your sump will have enough room for whatever skimmer you end up with too.

[gregr]

If there are any reef clubs in your area check em out- you can get great deals on used stuff from clubs.

[gregony]

Oh NO, that's a Beckett skimmer. Beckett skimmers need something in the order of 700gph at 8ft of head to work properly. It'll be 100 dollars and 100 watts getting a pump for that baby. For reference go to the Precision Marine website and look at what pumps they recommend for the Bullett One. Beckett skimmers are great but they're meant for tanks 100g and up. The electricity just isn't worth it for a smaller tank. If you're going to build your own skimmer you'll want to know the advantages and disadvantages of all the different types out there. It's quite a bit of research.
What GregR was referring to was a needlewheel skimmer (they would use a Sedra). Look up DIY plans for Needlewheel skimmers (stay away from Beckett and Downdraft style as they're wayyy too much for a 26g). Or just take a real close look at a needlewheel skimmer built for 75g or smaller and just copy as much as you can. Pay real close attention to the pumps that the skimmer you try to emulate uses. You can buy the pumps seperately with the needlewheels (see, pumps fail sometimes so they have to sell new ones). If you really like to build stuff this would be the way to go IMHO. If you think you'll save money doing this you may want to think how much twenty bucks is really worth to you.