Simple air stone driven protein skimmer.

[anomeda]

Just thought i should show my Diy skimmer.

Body is pvc and the end cap is acrylic. So to attach the acrylic/pvc i used superglue, and for the grey pipe pvc glue. I'm also going to build a better looking acrylic collection cup that fits inside the first chamber there.

Total lenght is 11.8" and pipe diameter 1.5"
Tetra Aps 100 air pump. I have it on 100%(no air regulator valve connected)
Sander lime tree wood air stone 19x19x54mm

To build the hanging bracket i cut some pvc pipe that i heated up/bent to right diameter. And to keep it in place i cut another piece of pvc to a smaller diameter to get a tight fit.

And a video before i cleaned it.

 

[SciGuy2]

I like it. Reminds me of the old Sander Piccolo.

 

[anomeda]

Yeah it's working better than i thought it would with my low bioload. I was looking at alot of different skimmers and found a few with this design.

 

[Oliver d]

Nice,as a back up to have something like this lying around.

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

Air driven skimmers are amazing. Their downfall is replacing airstones. Very cool though...

 

[anomeda]

I ran a bigger Not diy skimmer in my old tank and it would only produce foam 2-3times under those few months(same bioload but a few gallons less) most certainly to oversized. So i put it away for a few months and just added this one 2-3 weeks ago.

Exactly.. I have a few extra laying around.

 

[Greybeard]

Looks a bit like the reef glass unit. I had an air powered skimmer, in like 1985 It was a counter current version. Had a second tube drawing water out of the bottom of the skimmer tube and a water inlet at the surface. Worked pretty good, when it was adjusted just right... but you had to play with it virtually all the time to keep it working.

 

[anomeda]

Reef glass was my first design choice actually. I first built one with the output on top and the airline inside the body, but that one did not work very well with or without air valve.
For this one i get the best result without air valve, and after i found the "right" depth i havent had to adjust it at all, set and forget : ) But i guess it could be better tuned in with some patience. But for now this light brown/tea will have to do.

 

[Orm Embar]

There was a mod I read about once to use ceramic airstones (not as good as limewood, but they wouldn't need replacement) and filling the wet portion of the skimmer body with bioballs to reduce bubble size by them running into those before hitting the air/water interface. I'm curious if that would work as well while solving the "replace the airstone every so often" issue

 

[anomeda]

Sounds interesting. I have no idea how often i will have to replace the wood, but maybe once every other month will be enough.

 

[Eric Boyko]

How do you feed water into the skimmer?

 

[iceman66]

I have a boxful of wooden airstones I no longer need. Used them in a counter current skimmer years ago....can supply you with many months worth, cheap!

 

[SciGuy2]

How do you feed water into the skimmer?

The skimmer body acts as an air lift, pulling water in from the bottom. It's a co-current flow design.

 

[SciGuy2]

There was a mod I read about once to use ceramic airstones (not as good as limewood, but they wouldn't need replacement) and filling the wet portion of the skimmer body with bioballs to reduce bubble size by them running into those before hitting the air/water interface. I'm curious if that would work as well while solving the "replace the airstone every so often" issue

I've only heard of filling the skimmer body with bioballs on freshwater pond skimmers.

 

[anomeda]

The skimmer body acts as an air lift, pulling water in from the bottom. It's a co-current flow design.

This is embarrassing. I was going to say the air pump. So thanks for giving the correct answer.

I have a boxful of wooden airstones I no longer need. Used them in a counter current skimmer years ago....can supply you with many months worth, cheap!

I'm stocked with a few allready. But i really appreciate the offer!