Info on DIY nano skimmer, please

serob · #1 11/14/2005, 04:18 PM

Without being to search, this is becoming time consuming research. Can someone help point me in the right direction? I was trying to find something on making a skimmer for the fuge on the back of my 16 gal nano.
Thanks,
Sean

serob · #2 11/14/2005, 09:35 PM

Maybe I should have labaled this thread "Do not look in here!!"

tgillespie · #3 11/14/2005, 10:00 PM

lol. Here are a few DIY skimmers. All of them are going to take some time tweaking. Skimmers are really pretty simple, but just picky.

http://www.hawkfish.org/snailman/skimmer101.htm

http://reefcentral.com/diy/frac.htm

FragHo · #4 11/14/2005, 11:02 PM

Have you tried looking on nanoreef.com? Their search engine is always up.

smokedsalmon · #5 11/15/2005, 08:05 AM

all you need to do is frequent water changes and you dont need a skimmer

coralreefengr · #6 11/15/2005, 10:15 AM

We don't use a skimmer on either of our nanos. You need to make sure you have proper flow at the surface so you don't get surface scum. In our 20 gal, we have resolved this with an internal overflow. We just boxed off a corner of the tank with a piece of acrylic and put slots in the top. The overflow houses the heater and powerhead. There is no plumbing involved and it is very quiet. The other option is to aim a powerhead so it disrupts the surface. This is a little more challenging and we had some weird flow in our 10 gal doing that. I finally copped out and put an airstone in the 10 gal, but we get major salt creep with it...no surface scum, but the salt creep is almost out of hand. I'm in the process of retrofitting an internal overflow for that tank, too. So far I've only managed to get the new smaller powerheads and a compact heater. Still need to get some acrylic and come up with a design for the internal box.

grimmjohn · #7 11/15/2005, 10:27 AM

I made it a long time with my 15g with just a 100% water change a week..acros and clams did fine.

That said this is the best DIY nano skimmer IMO:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...howtopic=58540
Though the pics (or origianal thread) aren't showing up for me, but I bet you could email/PM undertheradar and he'll hook you up with'em...it's basically a "mini-remora." It cost's about $12 in parts if you have some tools (a drill, something to cut or score thin acrylic, and something to glue acrylic together) and everyone and their mom on N-R has built one.

Also: Lots of people are waiting for the the fission skimmer
http://nanotuners.nanocustoms.com/na...roducts_id=150

and the tunze nano:
http://www.tunze.com/149.html?&L=1&C..._tunzeprod_pi1[predid]=-infoxunter050

Cheers,

grimmjohn

serob · #8 11/15/2005, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by grimmjohn

Also: Lots of people are waiting for the the fission skimmer
http://nanotuners.nanocustoms.com/na...roducts_id=150

and the tunze nano:
http://www.tunze.com/149.html?&L=1&C..._tunzeprod_pi1[predid]=-infoxunter050

Cheers,

grimmjohn

Thanks all for the leads. I really like the size and price of the Current-USA Fission Skimmer. Does anyone have any feedback on them.

grimmjohn · #9 11/15/2005, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by serob
Thanks all for the leads. I really like the size and price of the Current-USA Fission Skimmer. Does anyone have any feedback on them.

Haha, you're welcome and nope...I don't think they are out yet..supposedly in a couple weeks I think. There is LOTS of buzz about them so you could probably find some good discussions here or at N-R or the net. I know I've been in like 4 threads where they were brought up. Though all I really know about them is that they will fit into the back compartment of a nano-cube and are supposed to be good skimmers.

Cheers,

grimmjohn