I hope you can see this picture. This old skimmer was originally about 3 ft tall, and sat beside a 29 gallon reef tank. I cut it down and repaired it recently to fit inside of this cabinet (it had developed a leak at the base after several household moves). I use a wooden airstone in this skimmer, although it has been out fitted with a venturi in the past.
The input and output are through bulkheads, which are tough but a little expensive. Hose is attached via hose barbs. The white PE container behind the skimmer is a trickle filter and sump, so the skimmer is plumbed to drain into this container (an odd arrangement, but very cheap to build)
I originally biult the skimmer to run ozone, so the top of the cup is sealed with an o-ring to vent excess ozone through a carbon trap. I don't run ozone in my skimmer any more, so the trap is gone. The cup drains into a plastic cup for disposal. You might see some brown gunk acumulated near the top of the foam. It is difficult to clean because of the small space inside of the cabinet and the fact the top is not removable. As you know, accumulations in the skimmer body reduce skimming efficacy so skimmers should be easy to clean.
Good luck with your project, and feel free to email me if you have any more questions.
P.S I used to live in Olathe.
