# DIY Protein Skimmer



## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

Hey all, thought I'd share the current progress of my skimmer 

I am doing it beckett/venturi style

box measurements are as follows : 10.75"L x 6.25"W x 6.75"H

I am not going to use acrylic tube as previously though, I decided to use a cube/rectangular column, to ease the cost and fab all the stuff myself here at home

where you see the blue marker is where my return line is going to be, will have a ball or gate valve to control flow

going to add a 10" shaft, and 5" cup (give or take an inch)

I will be using a KENT 1/2" venturi intake and run it with a ~700-900gph pump










will update with more over the week

here's another box that I'm also going to build, going to make a second skimmer, slightly different sizing and see what works best, may have one for sale when they're done 

the walls are not perfectly straight, because it was bent for another project and that was cancelled so the walls are a little funny looking lol, but will still work fine


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Looks good so far. Keep us posted with updates!


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> Looks good so far. Keep us posted with updates!


will do!

I just cut the peices for the tower/cup and I will be finishing the edges tomorrow at school... glue them together now (atleast the tower) and square it all off tomorrow tower is going to be 5"x5" *give or take about 1/4"


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Keep it up Jim! :3


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

ok I made the tower a little larger than I thought I measured? lol... ended up with... 5.75"x4.75" OD....5.25"x4.25" ID ... lol


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Ah, I love that. Calculate a million times, plan, plan, plan and measure three or four times.....




....and you're off by a quarter inch. Love it.

Can't wait to see the final product. How many/what pump are you going to have powering it?


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> Ah, I love that. Calculate a million times, plan, plan, plan and measure three or four times.....
> 
> ....and you're off by a quarter inch. Love it.
> 
> Can't wait to see the final product. How many/what pump are you going to have powering it?


I plan on using just one mag 5-7 (whatever comes up for sale) ... I will test run with a rio800 which is only about 170gph with 1 foot of head ....

after the mag 5-7 comes up, I will determine whether or not I need dual pumps... pretty easy for me to add a pump with the stuff I have available

from what I read one pump should be fine...atleast to start up 

I will be drilling a secondary inlet and plug it so I have a bulkhead ready in place should the situation arise  may still use it just for extra circulation

on note of the collection cup, I am using a peice of conduit (PVC) in the centre of the cup as the uptake.... the cup will be clear plastic though so I can see in it

the tower and cup will connect via a couple finger tight screw/bolts and an O-ring to keep it water tight 

this may get operational as early as tomorrow for tests


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

anyone know where I could score a beckett foam 1408 head? or assembly? I only see them for sale in the states? any stores here that carry them?

I know I can get them off of ebay, but I don't want to use ebay, want to deal in toronto

this is for the secondary skimmer (or maybe mine if I find quickly) - run two intakes 

thanks


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## blossom112 (Mar 19, 2008)

off topic ........but i have to let you know the crayfish had thousands of babies and most amazing


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

blossom112 said:


> off topic ........but i have to let you know the crayfish had thousands of babies and most amazing


really?!?! cool! great news!  are you separating the adults from the young? I need pictures!


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

here we go, tower and collection cup...well box is done and assembled... lid is a drop on, with a snug fit by the small peices you see sticking out...

the entire cup is attached to the plate below it, (see pic) and there is another plate between the cup and the tower, these two plates will be attached with a coulple thumb tight screws (probably plastic), and sealed with an o-ring

total height is only 21.75" which is perfect for what I wanted  will take little to no space above to remove the cup - with the screws 

the tower and top part of the box aren't sealed yet, as I don't have the bulkheads yet... no time to go out today after searching for a beckett head as a secondary inlet


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Nice, looks good.

Waiting on the wet run!


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> Nice, looks good.
> 
> Waiting on the wet run!


lol me too...need those bulkheads 

I did water test it all, all water tight


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Looks good Jim. How tight of fit is the skimmer lid? You may need to put some holes in it to prevent any back pressure.


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

UnderTheSea said:


> Looks good Jim. How tight of fit is the skimmer lid? You may need to put some holes in it to prevent any back pressure.


it is a "tight" fit, but there is some play front to back, just not side to side (the way i set the grooves)

I have since added an overflow barb , which will lead to another container....that should relieve back pressure.... if there's much I will drill another hole


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

alrighty, I'm picking up a beckett 1408 tonight, and a mag 12 pump... the mag 12 will probably be my skimmer pump, maybe my return... Going to check out other pumps tomorrow to use as a return - prefer something not so expensive lol... maybe a rio?


I should add, this beckett means the venturi i paid $35 for is probably not going to be used... I will hang on to it for a backup to my beckett though, or run both, or use it on a second skimmer in the future..... one that I may sell if this works well


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

got the mag 12, and it's a beast, getting a mag 24 tonight as well... can't decide which should run what... one will be the skimmer, the other my return.... I think I shoudl run the mag 24 on the skimmer with the beckett for top performance...but at the same time, I want massive flow in the tank... BAH!

and the mag 12 with the plumbing shoudl give me only about 1000gph at the return nozzles...the mag 24 will give me ~1400


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Heh, I was going to critique the air/water mix method but since you opted for the Beckett, it's a moot point .

One critique I can add is that is the water exit. It looks like it's a hole for a 1" bulkhead but you should be using a 1.5". Remember to put an elbow inside the box and have the end angled so that the water in the skimmer box enters the elbow close to the bottom, as close to the angles piece of acrylic. Use a gate valve to control water exit flow.

Flow wise *within* the aquarium to sump loop, one should be aiming for a 5-10x turnover rate. This is mainly for optimal cleaning of the water by the skimmer and secondly, and just as important, the retention of "flowing" water volume when the power cuts out.

Though your plumbing dimensions will handle the flow from a Mag12, just make sure that the sump can handle the water volume when the power cuts out.

JM2C/HTH


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

wtac said:


> Heh, I was going to critique the air/water mix method but since you opted for the Beckett, it's a moot point .
> 
> One critique I can add is that is the water exit. It looks like it's a hole for a 1" bulkhead but you should be using a 1.5". Remember to put an elbow inside the box and have the end angled so that the water in the skimmer box enters the elbow close to the bottom, as close to the angles piece of acrylic. Use a gate valve to control water exit flow.
> 
> ...


yeah the 1" bulkhead was for when I was planning on using the venturi...I will be enlarging that tonight for a 1.5" gate valve...

I also know all about the elbow to the seam of the divider within the PS.

and yeah my sump can handle the extra backflow for power outtage - which I can check again tonight


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

hojimoe said:


> yeah the 1" bulkhead was for when I was planning on using the venturi...I will be enlarging that tonight for a 1.5" gate valve...
> 
> I also know all about the elbow to the seam of the divider within the PS.
> 
> and yeah my sump can handle the extra backflow for power outtage - which I can check again tonight


Cool, cool...I can't tell ya how many ppl forget to put the elbow in...LOL!


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

wtac said:


> Cool, cool...I can't tell ya how many ppl forget to put the elbow in...LOL!


haha, I bet, that kinda leaves tons of bubbles in the system right? lol or keeps no pressure within the PS


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

alrighty, I hooked up my skimmer and system last night... my skimmer doesn't seem to get any foam rising up the tower... I think the plastic has to "break in" correct?


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

wait... I think it's because there is no protein to skim yet right?


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

yeah I found my answer...don't start the skimmer until there's livestock... well the skimmer works, just nothing to skim which is supposidy why the foam doesn't rise much yet :S


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

I would run it. This will minimize the anxiety of waiting for it to "break in". Puree some cocktail shrimp or drop in a cube or two of frozen food to help feed any nitrifying bacteria on the LR, if you bought some.

HTH


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

wtac said:


> I would run it. This will minimize the anxiety of waiting for it to "break in". Puree some cocktail shrimp or drop in a cube or two of frozen food to help feed any nitrifying bacteria on the LR, if you bought some.
> 
> HTH


already threw in some frozen mysis, there is a few smaller peices of established rock from my other tank, and some new stuff from UTC... the skimmer has been running, just turning off at night so there isn't a flux in water levels while I'm in bed... I am making a platform for it, because it's sitting a bit too low, the water level is easier to control when it's up about 3 inches


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## hojimoe (Mar 7, 2008)

alrighty, I had to move the skimmer around, so I couldn't fit the valve on it anymore, which is fine because without the valve, the water level is right at the base of the tower...thank you mag 24! the foam is going about half way up the tower with little air going into the becket when I open it more, it will jump higher, but with larger bubble size...still breaking this bugger in....

I also managed to loose my memory stick for my camera so no more pictures ATM...

I made a little platform as stated, just from two PVC couplings, and a sheets of acrylic (perfect height)


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