DIY Hang-On Skimmer

[johnfluevogs]

I built my very own hang-on skimmer and all seems to be well in the fact that it does hold water. As for its effectiveness at removing waste I can’t say. It is built out of PVC with a Maxi Jet 1200 Venturi style injection device. Every time I open the air valve to start the flow of air I immediately get bubbles out the exit into the tank and my tank become a bubble infested. I am working on posting a drawing or picture. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Rikko]

More baffles somewhere.. Ideally you can close the gap where water moves towards the exit (ever seen a Prism? Just looking at one running is a great learning experience in skimmer physics) and move it down.. The lower the exit baffle is, the fewer bubbles will go out with it.
Having not seen your design I can't say much further. I have another DIY HOB skimmer that failed sitting in a pile in the corner that I'm still mad at.

Of course there's the old vulgar solution of just putting some kind of foam or mesh over the output to nab the bubbles, but to me that's a bandaid fix rather than a design improvement.

 

[wetworx101]

or a wider pipe. I tried the same and was amazed that not even 3" pipe was big enough for a MJ600 venturi fed...the flow was just so much that the height/baffles didnt matter...the whole thing was froth!