Ben and I worked hard to bring the DIY skimmer workshop to the Reef Splash and I hope that everyone that bought them at least understand more of the concepts behind skimming. Our goal was to perfect a low cost efficient skimmer that can be made from parts purchased from local stores. The second skimmer has 3/4 inlets and outlets instead of 1/2 inch and the major fittings (large union and reducers) were cut down to reduce the height of the skimmer. I also added what I am calling a stand pipe on the water outlet. I believe that the purpose of this is to regulate the water height in the column but there is a ball valve on the outlet to do this as well, but every commercial skimmer that we looked at incorperated this into the outlet, so if you have any ideas as to what this is let me know. We are going to also use a smaller needle wheel pump, the original pump was an octopus 3000 and now is the 2000 model puttingout 650 gph. We are also looking at modifying the needle wheel from a thread that we saw that replaced some of the needle wheel tines with poly net which decreased the output while bringing in the same amount of air and chopping it up finer. The venturi will just be airline threaded into the recirculating pump intake. To our supprise the problem is not getting enough air in but to much causing the pump to stall, this is what the mod is supposed to improve upon. I will post some pictures of it running when the pump comes in, everyone has them on back order right now. For the paint job we used the new Fusion paints which we were not overly impressed with. It is quick to run and colors like red do not cover well and require to many coats, however I really like the finish that it leaves. You just have to be really patient with it.
I think the reason for the "standpipe" is to give the air bubbles a last section to exit the water before returning to your sump, much like a baffle it creates a long section for the air to exit. I have not set mine up yet, but wouldn't the water height be regulated mostly by the hight of the output drain (or the hight of water in your sump if you place in sump, whichever is greater). I would think the output ball valve would just put some backpressure on the waterflow which could raise the waterlevel, but I worry about it backing up into the collection cup if you close it too much. One other question I had that wasn't talked about was a hole in the collection cup for the air to escape. Did you drill a hole in the top of the cup or the side? Just wondering how best to set that up.
I think that your are probably right about the standpipe relieving some of the air bubbles. Without the ball valve the water would be regulated by the standpipe, but my MRC becket injected skimmer has only a gate valve on the exit witch regulates the level in the skimmer, which will back up into the collection cup if not set to the proper level. What is so beneficial about having a valve on the outlet is that the level in the column is not effected by the water level in the sump which fluctuates with evaporation and thus would effect the skimate produced. The cup is drilled with a quick connect for 1/4 rigid tubing that drains to a seperate collection cup. You have a good eye for detail.
That all sounds right to me, and since I am an engineer I am all about the details. I think I am going to set mine up with a standpipe and drain used to control the height, although I will still use the ball valve just in case. I think this is how the Deltec AP series regulates water height. Anyway, if/when I get it running I'll take some pictures and let you know how it is going.
OK, I hooked this thing up this past weekend and have started getting skimmate from it. I don't have it in a final plumbing configuration because I want to see how it works for a bit and it still has a few leaks. I had to use some epoxy putty to stop leaks on most of the joints and still have a small leak on one of them that I have not been able to stop yet. I added a bit of plumbing to the design and it is external to my tank so the leaks are an issue (it wouldn't matter if it was used in-sump) I used a maxijet 1200 because it was cheap and easy and am fairly happy with the results. I'll take some pictures of what I have done. It is a bit louder than I hoped but should quiet down when I put it under the stand. If we want to do this again sometime I have some suggestions for changes but so far it looks like it will work pretty well. Has anyone else tried to use this?
