Christian Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 So I was looking into the reef octopus skimmer and making a diy skimmer so the reef octopus has a 4" venture design to force air in with the water like most skimmers. But what's the real difference between a dIY with the same pump and a reef octopus besides it being clear? Here is kinda what I was thinking while I was at home depot 4" pvc Would it be able to basically do the same job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I think the real trick would be in the tuning of it. Reef Octopus has invested time and engineering into getting the height and contact time of the skimmate with the neck dialed in and balanced with the pump. The gate valve is also a very important feature which you do not have in your design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 The bottom picture I got off of google just for an example. I would at least have DIY built to the same specs as the reef octopus as far as the high and water flow and air and pipping. I guess the only difference between the pvc and the reef octopus would be the bubble plate and clear plastics Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 The high price of skimmers is more associated with the pump than the body. I just don't see you saving that much going this route but it's doable. Hardest part is being able to tune your skimmer without being able to see through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 The high price of skimmers is more associated with the pump than the body. I just don't see you saving that much going this route but it's doable. Hardest part is being able to tune your skimmer without being able to see through it. I agree with Ty. The body of the skimmer is fairly cheap in comparison to the whole price of the assembly. May as well just buy a skimmer that is proven to work well, you can see through, and has less chance of needing to constantly tinker with and repair. When it comes to important pieces of equipment like a skimmer, it doesn't pay to cut corners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I mirror what everyone else is saying. Why cut corners. It's going to be impossible to tune with an opaque body. Not to mention the discharge is way to high. Not to mention it doesn't have a gate valve on it. Not to mention a 4" to 3" reducer isn't a wine body shape like the skimmer manufacturers spent so much time developing. Not to be a jerk but if you need a skimmer why potentially kill thousands of dollars in coral trying to save a couple hundred. Penny wise pound foolish IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I've seen some high quality tanks using a DIY skimmer on the internet. From what I can see, they need to be made much larger than commercial skimmers and have stronger pumps. That could also be because those people want dramatically overpowered skimmers on their tanks though. Every one of them has had an external pump powering them as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 The devil is in the details. With diligent work you may be able to get a DIY setup very close to a commercial one, and even pull out skimmate, but the performance will always be sub par. Think about the smooth body inside the reef octopus, vs the joints you will have in your PVC. The bubble plate hole sizes, number of holes.... Neck size, neck curve and angles. All of these small details have been fine tuned by reef octopus and other manufacturers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 It all was an idea I will most like my being running a reef octopus on my My fish room build in the near future. I have seen larger skimmers that are not see through besides the collection cup and even than some of the state aquariums don't have clear skimmers. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 In full disclosure, everyone knows im a crazy DIY-er, and over-complicate things because i want to try new (or old) things. The skimmer is your #1 piece of equipment for waste extraction and O2 infusion. Calculate the investments in your tank from corals/fish/invert... is it worth saving 1-200 bucks on this central piece of equipment? How much of your investment will be lost while you re-invent the wheel vs paying for decades of research and tuning? (yea yea, i know some people don't even have skimmers, that's not the point). lurk forums, CL, ebay, amazon warehouse deals, etc. There are good skimmers out there for a good price, much less than building your own. If you do try it, check out regal plastics off metric. usplastic and ebay have some as well (probably cheaper). get some clear acrylic and make your life easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 It all was an idea I will most like my being running a reef octopus on my My fish room build in the near future. I have seen larger skimmers that are not see through besides the collection cup and even than some of the state aquariums don't have clear skimmers. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Buddy your talking about skimmers that aren't measured in inches tall but feet tall, the pumps are rated by gph they are rated by horsepower. The systems aren't by the hundred gallons they are multiples of ten thousand. It's not even apples to oranges. It's more like oranges to donkeys. But I promise you bill wann isn't just throwing some PVC together. There is still quite a bit of engineering that goes into the big skimmers. I don't think any one is telling you it can't be done. The question is why try and do it when there are so many great options out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I agree with Reburn. Many people can't fathom trying to make a DIY skimmer. I wouldn't even consider it if you handed me a furnished workshop and blueprints. In the 90's people were doing it left and right to save money, but I haven't seen it done a whole lot recently. Until about 2005 you had to mod every skimmer that came out of the box to get decent performance. The first generation Reef Octopus were famous for needing a mesh mod on the impeller. Let's not even talk about ASM or Seaclone, which make better HOB refugiums than skimmers. My guess is that technology has gotten better and people are making more income than they use to. If I had a system as large as yours, then I would prefer running two or three skimmers rated at 300g heavy than running one big one. It will be cheaper than running one large skimmer, you'll get more contact time, and the pumps are smaller so they will make less noise. I like to think of my equipment as immortal, but they do fail. If you were running two, and one died, then you would have that second running until you got a replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I like to think of my equipment as immortal, but they do fail. Shhhh, you will upset the pump gods. some things you just dont say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.