ghostface Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 Has anyone ever (successfully) made a home made skimmer? Dosent seem to me like it would be very difficult - in theory anyway - to make quite a large one. It is just bubbles in a tube after all..... Thought it would be worth looking into before shelling out $1000-1500 on a deltec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 i have though about this to its just trying to get all the bits and getting me arse into gear looks easy pies would have had a play i bet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 Yeah I looked into it. Reef has a very good skimmer made. The reality is many of us have looked at it. The closer you get to actually doing it, the more expensive it gets. Plumbing, needle wheel pumps or venturis. There are some good value new and 2nd hand skimmers availabe here in NZ, infact I suspect the prices you can get for items like this from members of this board i don't you could do better anywhere else in the world. I'm not convinced you could build a skimmer for less, certainly not a comparable skimmer. good luck either way. Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 I have looked into it, even got (aquired!) some large pipe for it. Came to the conclusion that by the time you buy pumps (recon I would need 3-4 needle wheel) and all the plumbing fittings I just wouldn't have saved that much $. I have seen plans for large skimmers that use air pumps and stones to make the bubbles but they require a huge air pump and 6-10 of the biggest wooden (lees style) air 'stones' which have to be replaced every month or so. Other air stones don't give fine enough bubbles. Biggest thing I think people under-estimate is the cost off all the plumbing, esp when your talking about large diameter. The tube I have is over 300mm across just an end cap for it was going to be round $100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBlog Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 To get around the cost of the tube, I used those pressure sprayer bottles that you get from Bunnings for $9.95. I bought 6 for my new skimmer (cut them apart and glued back together), so I have the whole body (4' tall) for only $60 and the top is tapered perfectly to fit my collection cup from my queen that I bought originally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 Not worth the effort, as the skimmer I made cost more than a Deltec with the same specs, Skimmer is more than bubbles as you have to have the correct airflow and correct amount of water going through it to get peak performance. It takes many trials to get the thing correct so it cost to change things, How can anyone build a skimmer if they have not experience in using different skimmers, like making a car engine and not being a mechanic/engineer? Plus you can't sell a homemade skimmer, but you can sell a branded skimmer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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