My attempt at a beckett skimmer

[MORAY]

Here is my beckett skimmer I built for a whole lot less than it would be to by one. I must say it's working real well. Aquatic Eco sells the fountain head for like $14.95. If you aren't familiar with them, check them out, they are a mail order but they are located in Apopka on Benbow. They have a catalog with tons of stuff in it. They can be a pretty good source for stuff and they will price match. Anyway, back to the skimmer, I'm pretty thrilled with it since it is kicking *** for me. I just had to share. Here is a pic of it and a couple of the tank inhabitants.
<img src="http://myweb.thump.net/2389/dscf0003.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://myweb.thump.net/2389/dscf0002.jpg" border="0">
<img src="http://myweb.thump.net/2389/dscf0001.jpg" border="0">


John

[anative]

Very nice! What pump do you have running it?

Jon

[MORAY]

Hey Jon,

I'm using a mag 12 to drive it. Seems to have plenty of pressure for driving it. I do some improvements I can make to the skimmer though, I may build another one if a couple months.

JOhn

[mustangsv0]

is that the purple digitata i see in the last pic? :eek2:

[MORAY]

No, that one is the purple tip. The purple cant be seen in that pick.

[mustangsv0]

john,
you need to take more pictures then?? i want to see your tank.

good work on the skimmer by the way. when i get my tank with a sump up, you'll need to show me how to make one of them.

victor.

[smpolyp]

Vic it's time to have a meeting at your house. Dedicated reefers have to. let me know if you ever want to make skimmers,reactors,ect.. Also let me know when you would like a table top frag.

[Navymedic]

hey nice work on the skimmer, how long it take to do?

[mustangsv0]

that's funny russell. you've been telling me forever to have one. i would if i could. your welcome to come and check my little 55 frag tank out though.

i want of piece of that acro dude. i'll give you 50 for the first frag.

[MORAY]

Navy,

For the most part I built it over a couple days working a little at a time, I spent a lot of time reading and asking a few questions of people who have built these. I started out making a down draft and converted over to beckett. I did a lot of experiments with it in the kitchen sink, but it took me a while to figure out that the sink water was too clean to foam. It was pretty frustrating because I couldn't see a problem of why it wouldn't work. I have a project that I need to do on the house and then I'm going to build more. I have some ideas on how to improve certain aspects. If other people are interested in building one, we could get a group together and build some. It's not that difficult, however, I wasn't real worried about aesthetics. I was just concerned about performance and cheap. I built it out of scrap acrylic I had. One thing about buying acrylic sheets is if you can buy a scrap piece, you can get a much better deal. For me there is a great pleasure in building something verses just buying one. The problem for me was even though there is a lot of info on these, there isn't much on designing. I wanted to get away from the gate valve on the exit and came up with a way to adjust water height without it. Altogether my cost to build it was probably $40-60, so that's pretty cheap. It's amazing to see how little algae growth I have now with this skimmer. The one I had before sucked. I guess I've kind of rambled hear, but that's me.

[Navymedic]

dude u can ramble all u want, it's all good, i agree that there is always satisfaction when u build something and it comes out working. cudos to u bro, good job!!:thumbsup:

[richo]

Nice skimmer John. Attached is the CC skimmer I built. It is about 40" tall and is situated under my workbench out in the garage. It is also kicking but. I believe that I could have paid a fortune for it retail. - R

[MORAY]

RichO,

That looks pretty cool. I've read that the CC skimmers can be the most efficient, but the downside being the height and the maintenance. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in person. I think there is no greater satisfaction than when you build it yourself and of course when it works.

JW

[scubadude]

Originally posted by MORAY
I think there is no greater satisfaction than when you build it yourself and of course when it works.

JW

I couldnt agree w/you more MORAY! Nice job on the beckett...VERY NICE...I seen the post but just went into it, and glad that I did your workmanship is above par. I Like how you put the beckett up high and also the valve in there for air flow. After the meeting at Danny's house im starting to realize how much knowledge is really involved into ORCA you guys really have alot of experience and this is want pulls me to your club....Dont get me wrong I love talking to newbies too (they surprise me) but I see and hear the involvement and it gets me so excited!

RichO,
I would love to see your skimmer too....You guys read the book by Escobal? Aquatic Systems Engineering? Its for sale at Aquatic Eco and it can be pretty complex but it explains in as much detail as you want the dynamics of skimmers. I totally agree that CC skimmers are more effecient but space hawgs! Im in the process of building a couple of 8-9' CC skimmers for my green house, I have been through the beckett stage and built a few of them. Here are a few pics of my becketts

http://www.coralfragz.com/greenhouse/skim9.jpg

http://www.coralfragz.com/skim10.jpg

http://www.coralfragz.com/skim11.jpg

http://www.coralfragz.com/greenhouse/skim2a.jpg

I put the pics in progression series, as you can see the main problem I had with the becketts is the overflow collection methods :lol: I think thats not a bad problem to have, but I was using mag 18 or mag 24 pumps to drive these skimmers...I think I will be able to drive my new CC skimmers much much more effeciently and skim just as much if not more, with much less electricity consumption.

[scubadude]

Moray
Can you elaborate on your becket housing? Im curious as to what ID and OD the acrylic tubing is for the housing...and how is the injector held in place? Thanx :)

Rocky

[MORAY]

Rocky,

I would like to elaborate on my beckett housing but honestly it needs more work. But to answer your question, I used a 2" acrylic tube(I think it's 2 inches). But I'm going to rework it and make it better and when I do that I will elaborate on how to do it better. I do have a very good understanding of what needs to be done and I will be more than happy to share that with you. The other thing I would do differently is go to a 6" reaction chamber along with some minor improvements. The bottom line on this is I built it out of scrap pieces I had laying around, so from that respect it works great, but my next will be better. I just have some other things that are falling into a higher priority right now. One thing about working with acrylic is you can get a lot better pretty fast. Interesting enough this month's Wood magazine has a section on working with different types of plastic and there individual strengths and weaknesses. Everything we pick up adds to us making better products.

Just for the record, I for one appreciate you guys coming to our meetings. It's just hard to be able to talk in depth the the amount of people I want to. Maybe next one, it looks like it will be a great deal of fun and I hope to see you there.

One last thing, I appreciate everyone's kind words about my skimmer. It makes me want to strive to make one better and share my results.

Thanks,
John

[smpolyp]

The next officers meeting is the 13th and I will try to see if we can have a prodject day for skimmers. There are so many members that would like to build thier own skimmers.
P.S There is a nozzel for a down draft that is sold at Lowes that kicks butt.

[Fuzzy]

Hi All,
I'm a fairly new Reefer in the Orlando area and just heard about ORCA. I'm looking forward to signing up and attending the next meeting.

I currently have a Remora Pro on our 56 Reef, which is great. And I have a Prizm on my 30 long at the office, which is not so great... I'll probably replace it with either a Remora with Maxi pump or possibly one of the smaller Tunze HOB skimmers. Does anyone have any experience with the Tunze?

I'm also looking for a DIY skimmer for my 25 Tall Seahorse tank. Most of the commercial units are either too big or produce way too many bubbles for a Seahorse tank. I'm wondering if any of these designs can be modified to work with a tank this small?

Thanks for your help!

[MORAY]

Hi Fuzzy,

It's always great to get new people to the club. I think it's the best organization I have ever belonged to. Full of great people helping each other to be better reefers. It's also very cool to have another woodworker in the group. I love tools. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with either of your products, but the depth of knowledge in the club is great, so maybe someone else will have your answer.

I do have some ideas on a DIY skimmer we could talk about at the meeting.

John

[richo]

Fuzzy, read my interests. YZ125 here, haven't had much time to ride lately though. There is a good track in christmas/bithlo if you like to jump. - R

[Fuzzy]

Hi Richo,

We have 3 bikes, a KDX80, CR125, and a KDX220. But man have I been drooling over the new YZ426F..........What a ride! Too bad both my hobbies are so darn cheap!
My knees don't handle the whoops like they used too. So I pretty much stick to the trails out at Crooms in Brooksville. My sons are into jumping, and I do belive they have been to the track at Bithlo.
I used to ride with Central Florida Trail Riders, they sponsor fun runs and a couple of Enduro / Hare Scramble races. A really good bunch of people. Unfortunately business has been so crazy lately I take every job I can get. So not much time for riding......

Moray,
Thanks for the offer, I'd really like to get some more ideas on the skimmer. The Tunze's are a European skimmer that look pretty interesting. The bigger units are not cheap, but they have one that is rated at 50 gal that may work for my 30 Long. Plus it's only $120, and supposedly doesn't need a bubble box. The Bak Paks and Remoras are going to be closer to $180 by the time I upgrade to the Maxi pump and get the bubble box.
That's one of the reasons I'm up for trying a DIY. My wife is starting to reign in my spending on the fish........ and I still have to stock my 30 and Seahorse tanks!

I'm looking forward to the next meeting!

Fuzz

[richo]

Fuzzy, I'll look forward to talking to you at Jon's house on the 21st.