Got my skimmer pump (Laguna Max Flo 1500 SWC Needlewheel) last week and finally was able to take it for a test drive. I must say I'm quite impressed compared to my old sedra needlewheel.

Still not sure what design I'll be using for the skimmer, but I whipped together a box with a diffusion plate to make some bubbles.

This is after an hour....I like it wet, and already a few pods swimming around in the V.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_2470.jpg

:wink:

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...affic_cone.jpg

Okay enough of the square skimmer......new build started.

It's been about 4 months now since I first added saltwater to my 75 gallon tank and I'm still far from my final goal of a successful mixed reef. There are several obstacles at the moment but let's deal with them one at a time.

Ammonia and nitrite made their appearance and left, leaving behind their garbage in the form of nitrate. The last part of the nitrogen cycle that has been a thorn in my side. That house guest that has overstayed their welcome. That pimple on the end of your nose that won't go away. That ex-....well you get the idea, I'm quite frustrated!......don't even get me started on Phosphates.

My first weapon of choice in this fight was macro algae. However, I now have have enough macro to fill a 5 gal pail and there has been no noticeable drop in nitrates over the past 2 weeks. I guessing that nitrate is being created faster than the macro can consume.

I just received my acrylic tubing for my skimmer this week and I'm hoping that this will have an impact. Not necessarily removing any nitrate, but removing waste before it has a chance to add to the nitrate problem.

Here are some rough details

Pump: SWC Askoll (Laguna) 1500 needle wheel
Diameter: 8"
Height: 23" to fit under my tank

Here is a shot of what I have so far. A 3" tall 6"OD 1/8" wall extruded acrylic tube which was welded to a 1/4" sheet of white acrylic and cleaned up with the router

Not much but a start

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3652.jpg

Today I managed to complete the diffusion plate. I would like 100% of the tanks overflow to go through the skimmer and decided to cut the bottom of the chamber to accommodate a 1.5" bulkhead which will be plumbed directly to the overflow of the tank. I'm not sure how this would effect the performance of the skimmer, but I'll be able to make some mods later if there are any issues with the design

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3653.jpg

After making a sketch-up of the hole pattern I made a printout and taped it to the top of the chamber. Using a drill press spent about an hour or so drilling all the holes. I hope that this would be enough.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3654.jpg

Here is a pic of inside the diffusion chamber where I'm hoping I get a good mix with the tank water and the air from the needlewheel

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3657.jpg

Here is a rough sketch of my plans for the sump (dimensions are approximate). I would like to plumb the overflow from the tank into the skimmer box, and then connect it to the diffudsion plate.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u.../SumpPlans.png

A single reactor will be used for calcium, however, I'm still undecided on the other two. I'm thinking of using one for GFO and the other for Sulpher. I'll try to add some plumbing to the sketchup to give a better picture of how things will be connected.

Today I made some progress on the skimmer body, which will be made from 8" extruded acrylic. The piece that I ordered was 24" long and will need to be cut down into the collection cup and the skimmer body. In order to do this I made a jig out of MDF to hold the acrylic tube in place on the table saw. Rather than sliding the tube across the table I placed it over the lowered blade and raised the blade height to make the cut. I recommend having a second person to assist in holding the piece as the blade is being raised.

Stop the saw once the blade reaches its maximum height before removing the tube. Lower the blade and rotate the tube 90deg and repeat until the tube is cut all the way around.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3659.jpg

The edge of the tube was quite rough and there were a cuts that didn't line up.....so off to the router table to clean up the edges.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3667.jpg

I clamped a guide to the router table, and decided that I could use the same jig from the table saw to slide the edge across the router bit. When cleaning the edges up on the router table the key is use multiple light passes rather than a single pass. The tube needed to be rotated several times within the jig in order to make it all the way around.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3670.jpg

Here is a shot of the flush trim bit I used. In order to use this bit for this cut I needed to remove the bearing from the top, or you could use a regular mortising bit.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3673.jpg

I did several passed and was not very pleased with the results. It appears that every time I rotated the tube in the jig I did not get it back the right position for the next pass. The pic below shows the edges of each cut which did not line up properly.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3676.jpg

I decided to remove the jig and use the guide alone. The guide was clamped to the edge of the table and while pulling the tube against the guide made several more cuts.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3678.jpg

The results were better this time around. However, I does take some getting used to working with such a large peice. There were several cuts where my hands shook a bit moving off the guide and the following notch created by the router bit meant I needed to make a few more cuts all the way around.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3677.jpg

After going around a few times I finally got a cut that I was pleased with and should make for a good clean bond.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3680.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3682.jpg

More Pics.....:)

This is what I'll be using for the union between the skimmer body and the collection cup. I've used several times in the past but this time I will make some more modifications.

http://www.hardwarestore.com/media/p...5_front200.jpg

One good thing about using the cleanout is availabiltiy. You can pretty much find them in any hardware store in sizes which include 2", 3" amd what I'm using the 4"

The downside I found in my previous skimmer was the number of turns required to get the collection cup off. This time I'll try to make a lower profile union and will use a PVC cleanout instead of the ABS below

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...ng/skimmer.jpg

The first mod is to remove the square in the center of the plug. I've tried several methods and I've found the easiest way is using a hole saw on a drill press. The one below was done with a hole was that was too small. I then proceeded to cut the remaining bits off with the mitre saw, but I wouldn't recommend it.....you can see the damage to the plug cause be the saw which will preven a good seal later on.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3684.jpg

Once the center is removed it's off to the router table to clean ot the rest of the material with a flush trim bit. Care is needed when doing this to prevent the peice from being pulled out of your hands and trown across the room. A jig can be used, but I find if you exert enough downward elbow grease I'm okay.

Always take note of the direction of the router bit and make sure you start the router givving enough time for it to come up to speed before putting the peice in position........and watch your fingers

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3685.jpg

When completed you should have a piece that looks like this....and if you're Canadian....the double/double should be there as well :)

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...g/IMG_3688.jpg