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Here are a few pics of my latest project, a 5G. water bottle skimmer.
A special thanks to Marc and Dale at The Hidden Reef for their brainstorming imput.


Cutting the bottle

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2538.jpg

bulkheads for the Sedra 9000 needlewheel recirculating pump

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2544.jpg

Connecting the pump. I couldn't find matching unions for those glued to the Sedra (It was off an existing skimmer) so I used 3/4" unions reducers and 1/2" pipe.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2549.jpg

The skimmer return line

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2556.jpg

and the skimmer feed line

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2558.jpg

A view of the guts. The elbows direct the feeding flows in a circular motion.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2559.jpg

Trimming the top down a bit

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2551.jpg

Siliconing the skimmer together. When I am completely satisfied with its performance I can seal it if neccisary with marine Goop

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2562.jpg

The skimmer return pipe

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2561.jpg

Cutting the lip off of the neck so 1 1/2" pipe will fit

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2554.jpg

Setting it in a 50G. sump for testing

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2563.jpg

Feeding the skimmer with a small pump

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2565.jpg

I mixed up some saltwater and then mixed in this from my 125 Coralife superskimmer (3 days of dry skimming)

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2569.jpg

This is what happened

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2572.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2575.jpg
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roll a joint

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After 1 hour

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2577.jpg

I emptied the skimmate back into the sump and adjusted the water level in the skimmer for a more "wettish" skimmate.
After 1 hour

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/100_2579.jpg

It works!
The Sedra pump could work better if mounted so that the intake was on the bottom and the outflow was on top but mounting it that way made the skimmer quite unstable and I worried about stress on the connecting piping. As it is the skimmer works pretty well and I think I'll keep it this way. I'm sure an acrylic stand could be made to support the pump in the inverted position though (that is Marc's specialty, not mine). One other note: All of the piping was dry fitted only and will be glued once the final skimmer is working the way I want it. This allows for modification along the way like shortening the skimmer return pipe (which I did).

Finally, Happiness is a stinky smelly skimmer

http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m...t=100_2573.flv
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Thats awesome, when are you going to have it up and running on a real system?

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This is the last puzzle piece to my temperate SW system. I'll probably fill the display tomorrow and make a post about the whole thing.
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awesome job dale. that is really impressive. how much did it all cost you? $1500 like a H&S skimmer? yeah right. thats crazy the skimmate you are getting

WOW awesome!
great job.
Looks pretty easy to do. when i get a larger salttank that would work great

Im going to check out hidden reef when I am back in town. I just moved from abby in july to victoria.

anyone know what kind of plastic these bottles are made of, and if there's a solvent/weld available for it? Like welding acrylic, or pvc? I think welding the top back on would give a much stronger seal than silicone that I would trust for a longer time.

I thought about using a 5 Gal bottle a couple of years ago but couldn't figure out how to make it work. Way to go! Looks like you figured it out!

I wouldn't worry about the temp seal if it's in the sump.


Garrick.

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The bottles are polycarbonate.
The silicone will probably hold for ever as it is not under pressure and it's in the sump anyways (as indicated) but others have used marine Goop when permanently sealing these bottles. The bond will be stronger than the bottle itself.
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Wow thats just awesome! I never would have thought of that application for a 5G carboy :razz:

very cool
 

very cool idea. this could be a very effective skimmer for people on a budget. just a question - how will you clean the bottle neck if it gets gunked up?
At present, I wet skim on my beckett now and only requires cleaning every 9-10 days and because sometimes the foam level drops and starts to gunk up the riser column and the more the riser gunks up, the harder it is for the foam to rise.

removable top
 

OK thinking about my own question on the previous post: just wondering how effective it would be if you were to make the top removable? I'm wondering if a long elastic band that can be used to loop around two opposite bulkheads (sedra intake bulkhead and small pump feed bulkhead) and crisscross them at the funnel to hold down the top. Will that be enough pressure to hold down the top for the foam to spit out the top?

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Good trouble shooting Chin!
This is why one should test things out before permanently sealing them. In my case I had a plan but lacked the parts (I was in a big fat hurry). I will insert a 1 1/2" ABS threaded coupler before the elbow so that I can remove the skimmate drain and use a bottle washing brush inside. I imagine your solution would work too, especially if you could place an O ring on the neck to prevent the skimmate from seeping out between the neck and the ABS elbow.
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update
 

Dale
any update to your skimmer? interested in its performance.

5G water bottle skimmer
 

I know this is a old post, but I was wondering if anyone knew what size tank this DIY skimmer would handle. Also has anyone else try to make one?

I suppose you could even stack three together to make a larger skimmer. Add additional pumps... scalable to any size tank! Very cool.

As far as how it might perform...I'm thinking that the neck is a bit narrow...one could add a bubble diffuser at the bottom. Other than that, it should work as well as any other Sedra pump based NW skimmer. What does it matter if it is made of polycarb instead of acrylic as long as the water doesn't fall out the sides!

Thanks Untamed .... I also agree about the materials. I used to work in a camera shop another life time ago way before digital and computers. I always
said you can have the crappiest camera body but it was the "LENS" thats taking the pictures. Its the "pump" thats making the bubbles.:biggrin: plus Im
showing off my display tank not my sump :wink: Just one more question what
is the purpose for the bubble plate?

Tanks.... Bill

This is how i did my 5 g skimmer. I also wanted to be able to clean the bottle neck, so I cut it out, glued on a 4" threaded coupling.

(Ignore the crappy silicone work... i was too lazy to take the thing apart and properly glue when the picture was taken.

The bubble plate is to reduce turbulence and channel the bubbles in the proper direction and orientation.