The sea cucumber Stichopus chloronotus apon touching stiffens the tissue in it's body wall. But after it is rubbed vigorously the body wall becomes do soft that it will flow between the fingers.
I thought it was time to upgrade from my current Jebo 180 protein skimmer,
which has done a fair job for the money but a bit under-powered for my
6' tank. However, being a bit cash deficient, it came down to going for a DIY project.
Acrylic tubing is expensive, so I gained inspiration from my kitchen
cupboards.
The completed "Tupperware" Beckett Protein Skimmer
The parts used for are Tupperware clones: Spagetti jar - $2.95, spice jar - $1.50, medium storage jar- $1.99.
The plastic containers used to construct the skimmer column.
I cut a hole in the bottom of the spagetti and spice jars. then used an old toilet cistern outlet seal to connect them together.
This has the advantage of being able to dismantle it easily for cleaning of the collection cup.
Be careful though, as kitchen plastic, although flexible, tends to shatter if sawn.
So I made the cuts using a soldering iron and tidied up the cuts with a small round Dremel sanding tool.
Skimmer column parts assembled.
In my plumbing odds box, I found a sink trap (U) which worked out to
be ideal for directing the water/air mixture from the Beckett injector
into the skimmer column (aka spagetti jar).
U tube fitting to direct air/water mixture into column.
The sump or base region of the skimmer was made from acrylic, scrap
pieces with an outlet bulkhead made from screwing together male and
female threaded PVC fittings.
A rubber washer was placed between the fittings and the arcylic to seal
it.
"Bulkhead" fitting for outlet through side of sump.
The upside-down spagetti jar was joined to the top of the acrylic
sump using Weldon 16, with the ridge for the origional lid giving a
good bond.
Assembled skimmer showing path of water flow.
Beckett injectors are supposed to operate with a pump rated at a
minimum of 4000 LPH, but by filling the 40mm down tube with bioballs
(making bubbles smaller using the downdraft principle), was able to
achieve very effective skimming with a 2700 LPH pump.
You may note that my design has "legs" on the ends of the
sump. Although this unit has proved to be 100% watertight, the only
place it could reside was in the refugium which has a DSB. The legs allow
it to sit over the sand without interfering with the function of the
DSB. The pump is directly below the overflow from the main tank. The
outlet pipe was gradually shortened to find the optimum working level.
This last pic shows the skimmer in action just 10 mins after startup.
It has been up-and-running for about a week now, producing around 500ml of concentrated skimmate daily.
Skimmer in action.
Costs
Kitchenware = $6.44
Taps = $2.75
PVC fittings = $12.70
Tubing = $3.20
Beckett = $15.00
TOTAL = $40.09
Comments
Written by
on 2006-10-27 16:53:53What would you rate that skimmer for? I am setting up a 90g (eventually reef) and think I would like to try this design.
Would you say it is an overkill?
Tupperware skimmer Written by
on 2007-11-29 21:14:07Sir,
I plan on getting creative and making one just like that this weekend. Do you happen to have any other further photographs on the building of this skimmer what a genuis design!!!!!
thank u for your time
Ryan
Skimmer Written by
on 2007-12-19 12:33:27Made loving working it! its killing my prizim pro. LOL Setting it up to go on my 125 Gallon now. THX
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