S'pore's Ugliest Hybrid DIY Skimmer...

[Tanggy]

ke ke.... very interesting!! all the household items used!! how much you spend for all the cintainers?? or did you hijack you wife/mom's!! great effort and ideal. cant wait to see the results!

[nicky30092002]

Salute U bro! All the best!

[ervine]

ke ke.... very interesting!! all the household items used!! how much you spend for all the cintainers?? or did you hijack you wife/mom's!! great effort and ideal. cant wait to see the results!

Spent about $20 bucks? Can't remember.. bought them a long time ago when I was planning to make a spray injection style skimmer... and no I din steal from my mother's tupperware collection.. she would have killed me!!

and I hope it works too... hais.. but have to settle my exams and stuff first... oh well...

Hmmm... maybe I should patent this... Tupperskim version 1.0a

[ervine]

BTW, the skimmer is now running on the tank... still has a lot of teething problems, in fact I doubt it'll work very well...

Will post pics soon...

[RAV-65]

Bro... good luck!!

Vincent Ho

[ervine]

Well.. I'm considering ditching my skimmer and rebuilding one based on the traditonal deltec...

I ran the skimmer for around 12 hours but stopped it due to leaks. No matter how I sealed it, it still leaked, very frustrating, this is the number 1 reason why I want to can the skimmer...

Anyway here are some pics of it while it was in operation during the 12 hrs (of which NOTHING was skimmed, but nothing was skimmed from my weipro either...)

This is how I modded my supply pump to supply bubbles on top of my maxijet...

[ervine]

Here's the bubbles in the mixing box. Notice the big bubbles sticking to the sides of the skimmer (any ideas how to get rid??) and also, there are MEGA bubbles which build up in the mixing box and eventually find their way up, which again is very irritating... I wonder how the Aqu*C skimmers solve this problem...

Also, there are quite a few really tiny bubbles entering the exit side of the mixing box and landing up in the tank. I attribute this to the fact that I made the MJ draw water from this side thus creating a pressure which sucked the bubbles down instead of allowing them to rise up naturally..

[ervine]

Well here's a close up of the mixing box bubbles. Do you guys think the bubble size and density is good? I donno, doesn't look good to me...

[ervine]

So here's the riser tube. Once again the big bubbles sticking on the side and the mega ones floating to the top constantly...

[ervine]

Close up look at the bubble density in the riser...

[ervine]

So here's the whole skimmer in operation after about 1hr or so...

[ervine]

Alright, that was the last of them. Now I need advice from the gurus out there.

Should I salvage the skimmer by fixing the leaks or should I just can the whole thing and build one the Delte* way?

Will the bubbles at the side and the big mega bubbles floating to the top cause problems?

Also, where to find a good bio-ball that can be used to mod my impeller? I've been looking around but all the bio-balls I find are horribly soft... I suspect the bubbles aren't as fine and as many as I hoped because the impeller is still in it's original state..

Lastly... for some reason my skimmers never ever foam, even my weipro doesn't really foam... hm.. anyone knows why?

[ah^siao]

mayb the tupperware is still new.. that's y the big bubbles stick onto the sides... mayb aft u cahnge to needlewheel.. the bubbles will be much finner.. better.

[ervine]

Yah that's what I thought too...

[Eric]

Okay that's all for the pics... perhaps someone can help me with some of the problems I'm facing..

1. It seems like the MJ becomes very loud after a particular point after I tune the air valve... any idea what's wrong?

2. The return pipe keeps "burping"... how to solve this?

Thanks... hope to fully test the skimmer on my tank soon.. too bad exams are around the corner and I'm back in hall mugging again.. sigh

The air probably cause the maxijet to cavitate thus the noise.

I think if you use a more powerful pump, you can generate more bubbles, the maxijet seems underpowered for a skimmer that size.

Just my views.......

[ervine]

Hm... underpowered ah... Hmm.... don tell me I need 2 MJs!!

[Eric]

Hm... underpowered ah... Hmm.... don tell me I need 2 MJs!!

Try go for 2500-3000l/hr pump, Ehiem 1260 would be good. attach a rubber hose in the suction of the Eheim and punch a hole on the rubber hose to attach the air intake.

Then use the maxijet to act as a circulation pump at the 2nd part of skimmer box to extend the contact time.

If doesnt work dont find me.........hehhee

[ervine]

I see I see... ok I think I know what u mean... Might try using my 2500l/h pump for it... no money to get another 1260...

But by the way the 1260 is with bioball mod? Or without..

[ervine]

Well... I gave the old skimmer the boot and went ahead with a more "secure" design...

this monster stands 2.5ft tall with a mixing riser of 2ft... notice that I reused the collection cup and neck.. hehe too lazy to make a new one...

once again leaks have occured in initial water testing.. but should be a lot easier to resolve than my previous skimmer...

[ervine]

Here's a pic of the DIYed needlewheel impeller using a $0.50 plastic brush... not very nicely cut but it get's the work done

[hamannbmw]

Here's a pic of the DIYed needlewheel impeller using a $0.50 plastic brush... not very nicely cut but it get's the work done

Bro, u need toothpaste

[ervine]

Hehe... maybe ah... toothpaste can help polish the little spikes a little...

[ervine]

anyway can go see this thread here http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?...pic=15204&st=15 to have a look at the effectiveness of the impeller... don't wanna double post the results

[hamannbmw]

wow.. impressive.....

[Golden Tooth]