My completely worthless DIY Skimmer

artrichter001 · 12-05-2007, 07:05 PM

So, I decided to build a Skimmer. After hours of hard work, I finally came of with my finished piece. I was so proud of it. I installed it in my sump and let it run for 3 days. No skimmate yet. I'm starting to believe I made an awfull mistake in the design but can't figure it out yet. Can you tell?? Here's a pic:

Jason McKenzie · 12-05-2007, 08:30 PM

So where is air injected into the skimmer.

Brandon1023 · 12-05-2007, 08:39 PM

That was my first thought too....

artrichter001 · 12-05-2007, 08:53 PM

Air is injected by a venturi effect in the powerhead's water exit. i built the venturi myself. there's a lot of microbubbles

'''''
could it be that the powerhead is too powerful and there is excess current inside the skimmer?

Jason McKenzie · 12-05-2007, 09:35 PM

That's What I thought. I'm sure you will get some skimming sometime. How about water level in the riser chamber. How high is it

J

reef_guru · 12-06-2007, 07:49 AM

you can buy just the venturi to replace the one you have to make better bubbles. how do you adjust the water level? what does the pipe on the right angled up do? can you see the bubbles through the white pvc neck into the cup?

newton27 · 12-06-2007, 08:06 AM

Your input is drawn from the inside bottom right...the input should be coming in from outside the skimmer. What is the tube on the top right do? That looks wrong too. If that is where the input water is coming from that would not be efficient. Bubble foam would not stir properly either. IMO

artrichter001 · 12-06-2007, 08:09 AM

Water Level:

artrichter001 · 12-06-2007, 08:20 AM

I'm gonna try to explain what I did. The 45° bent-up tube you see in the upper right side, is where water comes in to the skimmer from my overflow. I use the powerhead to create the bubbles, so it draws water from inside the skimmer and sends it back into the skimmer mixed with air. The powerhead does not draw water from outside the skimmer becasue then the flow would be upwards, in the same direction as the bubbles, right? I was told that contact between water and bubbles should be "counter current". I cannot see the bubbles in the white pvc neck. Would it work to draw water from outside the skimmer and cancel the water entrance at the top right? Thanks for your input.

reef_guru · 12-06-2007, 08:31 AM

your setup where the water outlet is works fine. euro-reef rc models do just that. and work very well. do a google search on the rc ( recirculating ) models to see what im talking about. then there are other models that just circulate which brings water into the pump from the outside. rc models get more contact time. try either a needle wheel or a better venturi. and can you adjust the water level?