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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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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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