5 Gal bucket skimmer & calcium reactor

stugray · #1 01/13/2007, 04:05 PM

I finally got around to perfecting the 5 gallon bucket skimmer.I have about $120 in it:

It is a beckett driven off of a Mag 9.5 made from a IO bucket ( lid screws on ). It has a hartford loop output & no valves other than the one to control air to the beckett. Input is a Mag 5, but soon to be switched to 100% overflow power.

I built this Calcium reactor, also cost me ~$120:

It is driven by a ehim pump and draws water from the sump with it's own power ( no 'feed pump' ).

Lot more pics if anyone is interested.

Stu

Roadtoad · #2 01/13/2007, 06:08 PM

Hey, great use of common equipment. Im in the planning stages of a diy skimmer. Can you give some details on the skimmer? Especially, what is the clear plastic material and how did you stick it to the lid? I have tried several times to stick acrylic to HDPE and it has always failed, do you reinforce it at all? Do you have a mag5 driving the becket?

What did you build the calcium reactor out of? I am almost done making a new one but I am using the Kent phosphate reactor as the source container.

stugray · #3 01/13/2007, 06:35 PM

The cone shape on the skimmer is a funnel from a beer brewing store that was designed to fit a 5 Gal bucket. It is held in place with the screw-top lid of the IO bucket. I used silicone when I put the dome on & tightened the IO lid, and it holds water.

The joint that comes out of the top of the dome is a standard reducing union for PVC cut to have just the 'cone section' left and glued in with marine goop from the inside.

The beckett is driven by the mag 9.5 ( the one in the pic ) in recirc while the mag 5 ( submerged in sump ) is just feeding the skimmer.

The calcium reactor is all cast acrylic. All drop material from a local acrylic shop, you pay by the pound. What you see cost $50 just for acrylic pieces.

Stu

Roadtoad · #4 01/13/2007, 06:49 PM

Cool, I havent been to a brewing store before. Did you buy the cone locally or on line?

stugray · #5 01/14/2007, 12:48 PM

I got everything locally except the pumps & beckett.

stugray · #6 01/20/2007, 01:19 PM

Bump - I'm surprised there was so little interest.

This skimmer rocks & is making skimmate that looks just like coffee.

Stu

E-A-G-L-E-S · #7 01/20/2007, 01:23 PM

alot of people don't have space for something that large.....very cool though! nice work!

Roadtoad · #8 01/20/2007, 08:04 PM

Definitely a cool mod. I will have something similar running in the next weeks!

coryjac0b · #9 01/20/2007, 08:25 PM

im trying to DIY a bucket skimmer, but a recirculating skimmer. MY only problem is i can't find anything that is in that shape locally. I was thinking of using a sterilite white plastic bowl, but don't know if its going to be sturdy enough. What is the cone shape thing exactly called so i can see if any retailers sell it online?

syntax357 · #10 01/20/2007, 08:28 PM

that skimmer is a monster!! its so cool wish I had the room for something like that.

jakano · #11 01/20/2007, 09:13 PM

I am very interested in this. I know it would be asking alot but is there any way to show some closer shots of the parts fitting together. I am having a hard time envisioning how the part from the brewing store and the bucket fit together.

caribbeanguy · #12 01/21/2007, 10:57 AM

interested as well to see how it connects to the lid,also is there any problem with water escaping at the lid from all the pressure? Thanks

caribbeanguy · #13 01/21/2007, 02:24 PM

also what is teh height of your riser in the tupperware? and how to you connect the cone to the pvc acting as the riser thanks

vic8361 · #14 01/21/2007, 05:07 PM

stugray,
You've done a great job with the skimmer I would like to make one in the future just for the fun of it.
The funnel you got is it similar to this funnel I found on the net?
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/produ...px?ProdID=6030
IF the funnel fits perfect with the lid it makes it pretty easy to make.
Great job.

Vic

The Reefer91 · #15 01/21/2007, 05:10 PM

how do you make all the bubbles for the foam? i know it's a stupid question, but i have no idea.

Charlie Davidson · #16 01/21/2007, 05:19 PM

Very sweet!!! Interested in more info on cone..?? I may make a N/W version.

coryjac0b · #17 01/21/2007, 06:24 PM

i found a 10 inch funnel on a home beer brewing supply site. here:

https://secure19.nexternal.com/share...D=860&All=#Top

stugray · #18 01/21/2007, 06:30 PM

I'll try to get some pics up, but I can summarize most of the details now.

As for the lid: The funnel from the link above ( http://www.midwestsupplies.com/prod...spx?ProdID=6030 ) is exactly the one I used. It was the largest one 12 inch. It fit perfectly onto the bucket.

I removed the rubber gasket from the IO bucket lid. I cut the top out of the lid with a rotozip tool & the circle cutter attachment that came with it. It took two trys, but I have plenty of IO buckets to experiment with. you want as much of the lip remaining to fit over the funnel lip to physically clamp it in place.
Next I cut some of the the lip off of the funnel so that is was square instead of the lip pointing upwards when I invert the funnel.

I used silicone when I put the funnel on the bucket, another layer of silicone, then the lid screwed on to complete the seal.
Once it dried, I was able to even reach inside & put a good bead of silicone inside along the joint.

The transition for the funnel to PVC was from a 3" to 4" reducer fitting. I cut the 4" section off of the fitting. I cut off the end of the funnel & enlarged the hole with a dremmel tool until the 3" part of the reducer fit through tightly. I glued in the reducer to the funnel with Marine Goop & then glued the fitting into a 3" pipe coupling and physically clamped the fitting to the funnel. This formed the base of the riser tube.

For the collection cup, I found a tupperware tub, & glued it to a piece of 3" pipe to fit into the riser. It fits snugly enough that I dont need to glue it in , and it can be removed for cleaning.
Inside the collection cup, the riser tube is only press fit in place, so it can be removed as well for adjustment.

The body of the skimmer has two inputs & one output. The two 1" input bulkheads on either side are made from 1" Compression fittings that are normally used for drain pipe. WIth some homemade gaskets & some silicone, they worked perfectly for $3 a piece. One is fed from the tank by a Mag 5, and the other is the input from the beckett injector housing. Both penetrate the sides & point downward inside.

The 1-1/4" Bulkhead in the bottom feeds the Mag 9.5 ( lower left in pic ), and the hartford loop output ( behind the skimmer in pic above ).

The beckett injector is mostly like the other DIY threads.

I try to get pics up once I find them all.

Stu

caribbeanguy · #19 02/16/2007, 10:41 AM

STU can you supply some closer shots of the parts as they fit together?

reefer4sho · #20 02/16/2007, 12:33 PM

stu,
your the man i wish i had more room....

tripsied · #21 02/16/2007, 01:13 PM

Wow! That is one huge skimmer! I wonder what that would do on my 15 gallon nano??

Great job, Stu!

I wonder if there are bucket that could be used to make one for a nano.

Tom

Reef Man · #22 02/16/2007, 03:21 PM

I want more pictures of that skimmer.

reefman.cam@gmail.com

megaspoot · #23 02/16/2007, 03:32 PM

Awsome skimmer! More pics please!

caribbeanguy · #24 02/16/2007, 04:15 PM

will be trying this as soon as I can find that Funnel, Midwest does not have the 12" ones anymore the largest is the 10"

STu will the 10"work on this or should I keep searching?

Also do we need to use the 3" pipe or could we use say a 2" pipe for the riser tube in the tupperware

vic8361 · #25 02/16/2007, 11:34 PM

Here's a 12" funnel, might be the one you need.

http://www.homebrewery.com/beer/beer-straining.shtml

Vic