suphew Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Not planning on building one at the moment but was reading some posts the other day and people were talking about making skimmer chambers square and out of perspex. It occured to me that if you can make them square then why not out of glass? This then leads to lots of other interesting ideas like, instead of putting the skimmer in a sump why not make it as part of the sump? i.e. seal off one end, add some holes and a pump. What about turning an old tank on its end and using that? Cheap huge skimmer! It proberly no better than using perspex but for people used to working with glass might be alot easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Generally easier to drill holes in perspex and it's lighter. But other than that, I can't see any reason why it couldn't be made of glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Also perspex isnt as fragile (breakable) as glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted December 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Did consider both those points, also remember I'm just chucking round an idea, not actually planning to do it. Was thinking that the difficulty of a few holes was made up for by ease of glueing. Breakable, whats your tank made out of?? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 In comparison to perspex, glass is much more fragile. If you drop a 300x300 glass sheet with 5mm thickness onto concrete you will probably break it. But with perspex you probably wont. It will scratch but wont break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 good lick droping a skimmer thats builtinto the sump and not breaking the sump its self as well, i see your reasoning Suphew, i thinks its a really good idea, if a big company picked it up i think it would be awesome, save people double buying and alot of time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skuzza Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 I made one out of pluming suplies and it cost a total of $140 from pluming world.It works great and runs a 3300Lhr pump but needs a better venturi to create finer bubbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 my brother in law's a plumber so i think ill be hitting him up for some supplies soon (not for a skimmer) how big is the skimmer you made?? how much junk does it pull out?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_from_nz Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 Is there any difference in the time it takes for the bubbles to get to the surface (i think it is called diffusion time?) between a square skimmer and a round skimmer, you may find a round skimmer works better because of the even curve Just a possable dissadvantage, you could still diy a round skimmer. Also new plasti glues contain cloraform (spelling?) which melts the plastic slightly and gives a rough edge for the glue to set to, makes working with plastic quite easy now (once you get used to it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skuzza Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Heres a pic of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 how does yours work skuzza? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skuzza Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 Mine similar to the reeflife or lifereef skimmer(i think thats what they are called).It has a 50mm pipe inside the 100mm main outside tube.The 50mm pipe is to one side of outer tube.The inlet pipe goes down inside the 50mm pipe from the top(as in the pic).The bubbles have to go to the top of the 50mm pipe which is about 70mm from water level.It seems to create volcanic eruption of foam.The return pipe is down the bottom next to the 50mm pipe.In the pic you can see the return pipe go around a plastic fitting.That fitting holds the 50mm pipe in.It has a tap to control the inlet and out let flow.I am going to get a venturi of jetskisteve soon which should make it rip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 30, 2004 Report Share Posted December 30, 2004 does it work well? looks like a fairly simple design (the simpler the better imo) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skuzza Posted January 2, 2005 Report Share Posted January 2, 2005 I will get pic of it running after i get the venturi of steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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