DIY skimmer

[Ecoli]

I have a 30 gallon tank, its my first venture into reefkeeping the tank is about 10 months old. Curently i have a cheesy skimmer. I was looking for a replacement but there is no way i can afford to buy one. Especially since I know I am going to be setting up another larget tank in the future. Does anyone have any links or plans for a DIY skimmer that actually works. It needs to be able to be hooked up to the tank directly. I dont have a sump. If anyone can offer some help id appreciate it. THanks!

[Snailman]

Ecoli [welcome]






Here is the mother load of DIY http://www.ozreef.org/diy/index.html

[Agu]

What do you currently have? There are a lot of modifications out there to improve performance of "cheesy" skimmers.
Also, check the classifieds for a skimmer. Sometimes you'll find a deal, or another cheesy skimmer that has mods that make them work pretty well.
I don't recall ever seeing plans for diy skimmers that were hang on back designs.

Agu

[YZ]

I could make a hang on diy skimmer either venturi or counter current. To make it hang-on use a 6" length of pvc the same size diameter as the tubing you use for the main body of the skimmer and some 1/4" plexiglass.

Now take the 6"length of pvc (probly black since it would look better, you could also use acrylic but it would have to have a wall thickness of 1/4 for strength and ease to work with, but the acrylic will be more expensive) and cut it down the tube now make another cut and leave about 1/3 of the diameter. This 1/3 of the diameter will be the piece we're using and will go against the skimmer body. Now take the flat piece of 1/4" acrylic and make it so it will fit nicely on the top of this piece of pvc and shape it to fit the skimmer body.

Now make another piece from the 1/4" acrylic for the lip that holds on to the tank. You can drill and tap a couple holes for nylon screws in this piece to keep the skimmer level. The nylon screws will be inside, twisting toward the tank wall.

Now glue the three pieces together with either weld-on #16 or #40(stronger) not the #3 liquid stuff because it probly won't hold the weight. I would glue the 2 pieces of acrylic together first.

And last but not least, get 2 cable ties that are big enough to go around the skimmer. These will hold the bracket to skimmer, you might want to take some scrap acrylic and make little ledges to glue on the pvc piece so the cable ties will stay in place.
I could build you a skimmer for a reasonable price out of extruded acrylic and pvc fittings. I could also build one out of cast acrylic but cast acrylic is way more expensive and will cost more for materials. But with the extruded acrylic and pvc fittings you can definitly make a solid worth while skimmer!