Monster 5' DIY Quad Beckett PVC Skimmer

[merlock116]

painting is a good idea. i'd give the pvc a good cleaning then paint it w/ some krylon fusion paint.

[spazz]

holy monster skimmer. this would make my little tinker toy look like a pop bottle next to your skimmer. i cant wait to see this monster up and running. just take your time and it will all work out to one smelly cup of skimmate. lol

[AcroSteve]

Originally posted by 69vette
BTW, when you put that 1/4" thick gasket on the window, those 4 holes you have drilled aren't going to line up anymore.

Valid observation! Plus, there will be 20 more bolt holes!!


Have you considered using Weldon 40 to attach the acrylic to the pvc?

It works. I put a small flat window in a skimmer I made using it.

I think the bolts and gasket are too much trouble.

Keep us updated.

[MarkS]

Originally posted by AcroSteve
Valid observation! Plus, there will be 20 more bolt holes!!

I did not think of that. I can use the plastic welder to fill in the holes and then redrill. Hopefully I did not do too much damage.

Originally posted by AcroSteve
Have you considered using Weldon 40 to attach the acrylic to the pvc?

It works. I put a small flat window in a skimmer I made using it.

I think the bolts and gasket are too much trouble.

Keep us updated.

I thought about that. However, there will be times where I'll need to remove the window for cleaning. I can see sludge collecting on the edges of the opening at some point in time.

[X88&94GT]

dont know if you used anythign else to clean the pvc but the best thing i have found is regular pvc cleaner. i am sure acetone will probably work as well. I

And I am going to tag along to see how this turns out looks sweet!

[MarkS]

I installed the inlets and outlets. I now both love and hate Uniseals! They are wonderfull for inserting smaller pipes into larger pipes, but WOW! They will KICK YOUR BUTT when you try and install the pipes!

The outlet is 2". I had to make a 2" pipe nipple, but it is way too long. I'll have to buy one.


This is the 1" inlet. Water will be pumped from the sump into here.


This is going to be a water level indicator port. It is 1/2" PVC. The indicator will be 6' of 1/2" clear PVC.

[rkl303]

Good idea about the water level indicator.

[MarkS]

Originally posted by rkl303
Good idea about the water level indicator.

Thanks. It's not my idea though. I first saw it on Weatherson's AWESOME DIY skimmer thread.

I'm going to mark the indicator with a permanent marker every 6". It will make adjusting the skimmer MUCH easier.

[H20ENG]

Mark,
You could put a tee at the top and bottom so you can easily clean out the sight glass of algae. Also, at the bottom of the sight tube could be a drain valve.
I always used this trick for draining large skimmers:
While the skimmer is full, put a cap on the hartford loop vent. Instant siphon- all the way to the bottom
I use a drop of Dawn dishsoap on the Unis and bevel the crap out of the end of the pipes. A little too late, but for next time...

[MarkS]

Originally posted by H20ENG
Mark,
You could put a tee at the top and bottom so you can easily clean out the sight glass of algae.

I'm not sure I follow... I am going to put a ball valve and union where the clear PVC connects so I can remove it and clean it out. What do you mean exactly?

Originally posted by H20ENG
Also, at the bottom of the sight tube could be a drain valve.

I forgot the drain valve and fittings! Good thing it's not too late to fix this.

[H20ENG]

At the bottom, where your 90 pointing up for your sight glass is. That could be a tee with a valve. At the top, rather than having a 90 pointing down, install a tee. Use a threaded cap on top, that way you can open up the sight glass and use a rod and rag to clean it out in place (think of cleaning a shotgun). The valve at the bottom can double as your drain valve for the skimmer

[MarkS]

I got the flanges made today!! I'm so excited! All I need to finish this beast are the pumps and the collection cup *cough*price quote, spazz*cough*. After spending a lot of time trying to find someone to make the flanges with a CNC router, I gave in to having them cut by hand. Andy at MyReefCreations gave me the best price, but I would have to pay shipping both ways. The president of my local reef club gave me a price quote of $15 per flange and that was too good to pass up. I am not disappointed at all! The arms you see are those of El Presidenté.

Here he is cutting the first PVC flange:


Cutting the PVC opening:


Here is the PVC base plate with the groove. At this point, I am glad I did not have Andy cut these pieces. It turns out that I measured the PVC pipe wrong. If Andy had cut it, the ID of the groove would have been too big and I would have been screwed! It's also a good thing that I cut 1" off of the pipe and brought it with me!


The pipe fits perfectly! Whew!


Here is the finished PVC flange sitting on top of the base plate:


And the finished acrylic flange:


I've already cut out the gasket and mounted the PVC flange. I'll take pics of the skimmer later today and post the progress.

And a bit of good news! The owner of one of the better LFS's in San Antonio agreed to let me test the skimmer at his store when it's finished. This will give me a large volume of water with a high fish load to really test the skimmer and I can show off the finished skimmer in action. If there's anyone in the San Antonio area that wants to see it in action, I'll post the date and location when I finish the skimmer.

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Looks good. One thing for cleaning the inside, I use a pressure washer on mine. It has a 5' X 10" reaction chamber on it. Even with a pressure washer, you still can't get everything out. I don't think it really hurts the performance of it though. I'm using 3 sedra 9000 pumps w/ venturi's on the inputs to power mine.

A note for you to think about, mine sits in it's own 30 G sump. if I let the wtaer level in teh sump get too high, when the skimmer is shut off, the water from the skimmer will drain back down into the sump and overflow it. Got to take that all into account when you set it up.

My skimmer holds about 20 G of water alone and can overflow the sump before it all drains into the main sump if the skimmer sump level is too high. And I've got a 2" drain connecting the two sumps.

So what size tank are you putting this monster on? Mines on a 400G FOWLR that I'm converting to a reef.

[MarkS]

Originally posted by blown63chevy
Looks good. One thing for cleaning the inside, I use a pressure washer on mine. It has a 5' X 10" reaction chamber on it. Even with a pressure washer, you still can't get everything out. I don't think it really hurts the performance of it though. I'm using 3 sedra 9000 pumps w/ venturi's on the inputs to power mine.

A note for you to think about, mine sits in it's own 30 G sump. if I let the wtaer level in teh sump get too high, when the skimmer is shut off, the water from the skimmer will drain back down into the sump and overflow it. Got to take that all into account when you set it up.

My skimmer holds about 20 G of water alone and can overflow the sump before it all drains into the main sump if the skimmer sump level is too high. And I've got a 2" drain connecting the two sumps.

So what size tank are you putting this monster on? Mines on a 400G FOWLR that I'm converting to a reef.

This little skimmer will only hold 30 gallons. It is strictly external. The outlet is 24" from the base. Coupled with the fact that the skimmer will never be 100% full of water, I am not too concerned. If I leave the gate valve full open, the water level will never go above 24".

The tank it will be going on is a 360 gallon plywood tank. You can find the thread buried somewhere in this forum. I was going to DIY the sump, but later decided to use two 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank. One will be the sump and the other will be a refugium. I may do a 300 gallon sump and a 150 gallon refugium or vice versa. Either way, the skimmer will never overflow the sump.

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Sounds good. Mine actualy drains out from the pumps which are attached to the skimmer box and therefore will completely drain the skimmer.

I bought the total system so I can't claim the design or idea, but it works great. I started a thread in the large tank forum. My total capacity is a little over 500 G so you've got me beat.

[MarkS]

Originally posted by blown63chevy
Sounds good. Mine actualy drains out from the pumps which are attached to the skimmer box and therefore will completely drain the skimmer.

That is not an issue with mine. The inlet is about 4" from the top, so draining the skimmer through the inlet is not going to happen. Even if the skimmer was full to the top, I'd only drain 4" of water.

[prafferty]

Cleaning the pipe ... My wife gets these "MagicEraser's" from the MrClean family of cleaning products and so far they have worked flawless on everything they have been used on including permanent marker!!

I cant wait to see this in action!!

[MarkS]

Originally posted by prafferty
Cleaning the pipe ... My wife gets these "MagicEraser's" from the MrClean family of cleaning products and so far they have worked flawless on everything they have been used on including permanent marker!!

I cant wait to see this in action!!

Ah! Señor Presidenté! I was wondering what your RC screen name was. I've been looking for an excuse to buy that product. Sounds like a good excuse to me. Again, thanks for the flanges!

OK, I finished most of the plumping and glued on the flange and base plate. Everything fits together nicely.

The four unions you see sticking up is where the injectors will be going. There will be 2' of clear 1 1/2" PVC on top of the unions and the Beckett housings will be on top of the clear PVC. This will allow me to see foam production immediately after it leaves the injector and will put the injectors above the water level, reducing back pressure.

[bkztrini465]

Nice work. Can't wait to see it completed.

[gjuarez3]

not bad mark, i posted om maast

[havoc1010]

Could you post a drawing and show me how that thing works?

[Kim G in Ks]

Looks like it is coming together. How did you end up securing the viewing window? It looks like four bolts and silicone? Have you water tested the window?

Kim

[MarkS]

Originally posted by havoc1010
Could you post a drawing and show me how that thing works?

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking? Do you need me to explain how a skimmer works in general or how a Beckett skimmer works? My design is just a large Beckett skimmer.

Originally posted by Kim G in Ks
Looks like it is coming together. How did you end up securing the viewing window? It looks like four bolts and silicone? Have you water tested the window?

Kim

Yep. That's it. Just four bolts and silicone. I ended up taking this method because I screwed up. I'll be able to water test it when I get the remaining PVC parts by the end of the week. I hope it holds.

[smjtkj]

Can't wait to see it complete!

[nonamesright]

is this for your 35? i don't know if a skimmer that size is even close to being needed for a tank that small. nice diy work though, im impressed