DIY Skimmer

[amehel0]

Hey i was wondering how freshwater skimmers work. i have tried looking and basically all i can find is it needs and airstone and pump to run. but to people like guppy and dr joe can u tell me what goes where or show me a diagram or instruct me how to modify a saltwater one.also how does one add a recirculating one apart from the drilling what do u use to fit the pump on the hole?

 

[gunn55]

You can't use a skimmer for freshwater,it can't produce the amount of bubbles saltwater can.

 

[Dr Joe]

You can't use a skimmer for freshwater,it can't produce the amount of bubbles saltwater can.

Where did you get that notion from?!

Sure you can! (the airstone and aerator produce the bubbles)

Is it worth it? Depends...

 

[Dr Joe]

Hey i was wondering how freshwater skimmers work. i have tried looking and basically all i can find is it needs and airstone and pump to run. but to people like guppy and dr joe can u tell me what goes where or show me a diagram or instruct me how to modify a saltwater one.also how does one add a recirculating one apart from the drilling what do u use to fit the pump on the hole?

Without rewriting the wheel... http://www.hawkfish.org/snailman/skimmer101.htm

This is a good generic design.

You hook part the output of your filter's return line to the unit (split the return and use a valve to adjust flow).

Not sure what you meant in the last part of your post .

Now how good this works depends on the amount of Dissolved Organic Solids in your water.

You will have to use a higher volume aerator than you would with S/W and use a limewood airstone for more & smaller bubbles.

Ok, now that I've answered some of your questions..answer one of mine...Why do you want one or feel you need one (outside of the mad scientist cool factor ) ?

Dr Joe

.

 

[gunn55]

No skimmer will work with FW, you will never ever get the bubbles salt water can perduce with fresh water.
Not any skimmer they make today anyway.
Go ahead and try it, you will not get any skim mate in the cup.
Even new SW skimmer's have a break in period and will take time to get any skim mate.
The link you posted, I don't see where it say's fresh water?

 

[Dr Joe]

No skimmer will work with FW, you will never ever get the bubbles salt water can perduce with fresh water.
Not any skimmer they make today anyway.
Go ahead and try it, you will not get any skim mate in the cup.
Even new SW skimmer's have a break in period and will take time to get any skim mate.
The link you posted, I don't see where it say's fresh water?

No matter how many times you say it, your still wrong.

It can be done, it has been done and I have done it several times.

Do a search under Oddball and duanes about their systems. (duanes even has a chemical analysis of the catch container)

So please do your research before giving advice.

The link was directed at you, it was for amehel0.

Dr Joe

.

 

[spiff]

I'm not an expert at all, but all the info i see on skimmers is that they seem to be meant for saltwater use. I guess its not to say that you can't put a skimmer on a freshwater setup, but would it be useful? Something about the water tension properties aren't conducive to organic build up....

 

[amehel0]

theres specially designed freshwater k\skimmers and the idea is u pump the crap outta em wid airstones and flow so uget a huge amount of contact time and the skimmate is very liquid it is mainly used fer koi. but i want one fer th cool faactor plus ive got a crappy skimmer and i aint gonna do saltfor a while yet


with the recirculating pumps on skimmers i mean theese

the 6 pumps for thoose to extract and return u need to drill holes amd ,mount sumthing to make a water tight flat thing to fit a bulhead type thing so how do i do it

 

[amehel0]

also with the skimmer link u sent dr joe is that all id need esentially to do a freshwater one?

 

[spiff]

But how useful is a freshwater skimmer?