Skimmer, TALL skimmer vs short under cabinet type ?

[427HISS]

I started reefing in the late 1990's, but found myself in & out of this beautiful hobby's with others. So, now I'm planning on building a 125g in-wall backing up to a reef room. On that same wall and back room, I had my first reef, a 75g. I built most of the lighting and filtration system myself including my skimmer. I went to the hardware store and bought a 6" diameter x 5' tall. I reduced it down to 4" clear acrylic tube x 6" reaction chamber to see the bubbles. A company that has a lot of acrylics sold me 10'' diameter x 10" tall piece to use as the collection cup. I bought a 2" x 10" piece of lime wood which produces tiny bubbles, perfect for air driven skimmers. It's a hardwood that can live up to 1,000 years. I would cut them 2" x 10" lengths and once per month I would remove it to clean the slimy scum off and replace, then put a new one in every 3 months. With a large air pump I would get 12" of froth of the worst smelly crap in the collection cup. I finely made a lid and a carbon filter to help. lol

Question is, I still have that skimmer under my deck from 2004. lol
Anyway, should I make another or use the Vertex 150 I bought at a auction ?

Prove me wrong, but I feel that there's a lot of great company's making good skimmers, but their niche is short under the cabinet skimmers, which is great, but I feel the loose the dwell time,... that's needed to brake down the fatty acids, protein's etc. which we want to remove before returning the water back to the DT. My 75g was loader with corals and fish and very well fed, with not much in nitrates.

 

[Dan_P]

I started reefing in the late 1990's, but found myself in & out of this beautiful hobby's with others. So, now I'm planning on building a 125g in-wall backing up to a reef room. On that same wall and back room, I had my first reef, a 75g. I built most of the lighting and filtration system myself including my skimmer. I went to the hardware store and bought a 6" diameter x 5' tall. I reduced it down to 4" clear acrylic tube x 6" reaction chamber to see the bubbles. A company that has a lot of acrylics sold me 10'' diameter x 10" tall piece to use as the collection cup. I bought a 2" x 10" piece of lime wood which produces tiny bubbles, perfect for air driven skimmers. It's a hardwood that can live up to 1,000 years. I would cut them 2" x 10" lengths and once per month I would remove it to clean the slimy scum off and replace, then put a new one in every 3 months. With a large air pump I would get 12" of froth of the worst smelly crap in the collection cup. I finely made a lid and a carbon filter to help. lol

Question is, I still have that skimmer under my deck from 2004. lol
Anyway, should I make another or use the Vertex 150 I bought at a auction ?

Prove me wrong, but I feel that there's a lot of great company's making good skimmers, but their niche is short under the cabinet skimmers, which is great, but I feel the loose the dwell time,... that's needed to brake down the fatty acids, protein's etc. which we want to remove before returning the water back to the DT. My 75g was loader with corals and fish and very well fed, with not much in nitrates.

If you like the ability to adjust air flow, water flow and water height independently of each ofher, go with your DIY model.

 

[427HISS]

Yes I do. I'm a tinker and really like building my own equipment and watching it work. What do you think between the short vs tall skimmer and their dwell times making it a better skimmer, etc. ?

 

[Dan_P]

Yes I do. I'm a tinker and really like building my own equipment and watching it work. What do you think between the short vs tall skimmer and their dwell times making it a better skimmer, etc. ?

Increasing the bubble’s time in water should improve performance. I don’t have sense for the size of the effect nor whether it matters. A reef aquarium might not need a skimmer at all.

My preference is for DIY and its independent controls.