Skimmer Shape

[Chiefmcfuz]

Thanks for the future nightmares Chiefmcfuz.

Sorry

 

[Deanos]

how about if you made the square skimmer and put rounded pieces of acrylic in the corners and weld on em...

You mean to make the square more round?! Seems like more work. Just use a round tube.

 

[masterswimmer]

I think Ronen came closest to nailing it. A round skimmer will almost eliminate dead spots. An enclosure with corners would probably have areas that don't received the same circulation as one without corners.

Just my $.02

swimmer

BTW, Chief, I was just starting to get over the nightmares.....now they're rekindled :sad2:

 

[DEEPWATER]

how about if you made the square skimmer and put rounded pieces of acrylic in the corners and weld on em...

that would be like builbing a building and then putting in t he foundation ..tony tony tony :lol:

 

[Blue02celi]

Cheap women are not sexy ,theya re cheap :groupflip

Umm Eric, cheaper can be sexy on a woman too :lol2:

cheap women and cheap on a women can both be sexy dammit

 

[House of Laughter]

My .02

Round is sound - that means it's less points of contact and failure for joints etc. The flow of water in and out is moot since the water in comes in via pipe and the exit could equally be plumbed with a pipe making the flow unrestricted. I don't think a box would restrick the flow.

It seems that a box skimmer would be more labor intensiive to make and that adds to the cost whereas the tubes are expensive but you glue one bottom and one top. Less points of failure and less labor.

E's point, though, is rather than buying one, why not make one, say, with the Sedra 9000 with a needlewheel into a box and it could cost you next to nothing. A whole sheet of 1/4 acrylic (4x8') is like $95 and you can make alot of skimmer out of that.

Just an opinion, but it makes sense.

House

 

[MightyMike]

I can't find it at the moment, but there are a few guys on RC who have the square skimmer collection cups and more. Wonder what they have to say about it... :scratch:

 

[Deanos]

there are a few guys on RC who have the square skimmer collection cups and more.

The shape of the collection cup wouldn't affect the skimmer's performance.

 

[TimberTDI]

My skimmer from sapphire aquatics.

 

[masterswimmer]

It doesn't look like there is much volume in that collection cup. How often do you have to empty it? Seems like it would need daily cleaning.

swimmer

 

[TimberTDI]

The pic is a little misleading. The size of the skimmer is 2.25"x4"x12". The tank has nothing in it but some rock from the big tank and a bunch of pods that were on the rock. I get some nice green water out of it. I imagine once it's stocked it will be a daily chore to empty the cup.

 

[masterswimmer]

The pic is a little misleading. The size of the skimmer is 2.25"x4"x12". The tank has nothing in it but some rock from the big tank and a bunch of pods that were on the rock. I get some nice green water out of it. I imagine once it's stocked it will be a daily chore to empty the cup.

That only makes the collection cup even smaller in my eyes......approx. 2.25" x 2" ........that's tiny.

R

 

[cali_reef]

Round tubes reduce some of the turbulence that would form when water is forced to make 90 degree turns in a square box. The circulate motion is needed to increase the water and air contact time.

Gluing acrylic panels together is cheaper than buying a formed tube, some people have try to make large skimmer in this method and found the turbulence created is not worth the saving. Collection cup can be made to any shape, there is no water being circulated in it.

The smaller HOB skimmers are mostly square since they are "forced" air injection and not much water needed to circulate. It is much cheaper to build and implement to hang on the tank.

 

[cali_reef]

That only makes the collection cup even smaller in my eyes......approx. 2.25" x 2" ........that's tiny.

R

:lol2: Thats about the size for the CPR skimmers too, AquaC Urchin and Remora is not much bigger. Perfect for smaller tanks since they produce proportionally smaller amount of skimmet.