Help with skimmer

[paws]

Hello all, New bee here!!! Here's the deal, I have a 55 tank with with 1 clow, 3 damsel, 1 brit sea star, 1 horseshoe crab, 1 anome, and 30 blue and red leg crabs and many types of snails. I decided to build a sw tank on a budget.. with a new tank and everthing else including fish wich I lost 3 @ total of $90.00< I am still at the $5.00 per gal price, pics to follow, OK, SKimmers, hears the mistake I think I made is not buying a NEW in box skimmer, I cut costs like this. I bought a Sea clone 100? skimmer from a reef store for $10 W/O a pump or overflow tube. So, I am a pretty good jack of all trades kinda guy, I found the specs of the pump and found on from a in water filter (Tetra like a filter from a turtle tank submersible type) stuck it in the water like a power head would be, hooked a hose up and after a hour or two I was blessed with all kinds of yellowish junk ( IT WORK'S@ 10 BUCK)...Ok now I have never seen a skimmer working on a actual tank except on you tube ,ect. I put a air stone (wood) on the entrance of the pump which is at the top 4 inches of the tank, and This thing has a mind of its own ........It works for 3 weeks straight and gives 1 cup of junk every other day until it quits no changes made, It will start skimming after 1 hour of emptying col cup, Because of all the mods. made to it I really don't know how it's supose to really work....Is any one using this brand and does yours just not work at times or? After reading reviews they say its a very poor skimmer . Any diy builders or user of this skimmmer have any helpfull info (except don't be cheap and buy a good skimmer) Thanks Paul

 

[bang guy]

Take a look at the DIY section. There are some really good skimmers that you can make at home. Typically you'll have enough parts to make two after picking up all the supplies. Go ahead and make two of them and sell one to offset the costs of materials.
From my perspective you're making a lot of common mistakes. You really need to slow down and do a lot more research before continuing. Keep asking good questions like this and...
Welcome to the board!!

 

[morgan175]

My two cents do a ATS its cheap to make and they say it works instead of a skimmer. I said it before snake. ha

 

[snakeblitz33]

lol @ Morgan. ATS isn't for everyone.
PAws, Slow down, check out the DIY forum as Bang Guy suggested.
Wooden airstones clog really easily after 3-4 weeks of continuous operation, you're absolutely right. So, therefore, the wooden airstones have to be replaced once every 3-4 weeks. If it's working for you, continue to use it. Just remember that those airstones have got to be replaced every 3-4 weeks or else they get clogged really badly, and will not work properly.
I'm interested in seeing pics of your DIY setup.

 

[paws]

Hey thanks for the info!!! However, please throw a nickel in..... ATS???. And Smake I did look into DIY skimmer and built one out of pvc ( MAN LEGO'S) and did und up with enough fittings to plumb a house, but don't have a big enough pump for it. it ran for about 3 hours and the tub coming up to the collection cup did have a residu(sp) on it. So funds holding that up for now. I have been going slow at this I thought BUT PLEASE tell me any mistakes u my feel I'm making. The tank has been up for nearly 9 months now and have seen some mistakes I have made, One was not buying 2 new return pumps and usung on on the skimmer, I built the sump from a 15 gal tank and that was 20 bucks to make. I hooked the seaclone to the return from the sump and it hangs on back, but when emptying the cup it takes days or a week to start skimming, really guess thats the deal< The time it takes to start working again-any Ideas here? Thanks

 

[paws]

I did notice that with the wood stones I bought a pac of three and switch them out...do u think I should try a differnt kind and if so what kind ,, thanks

 

[snakeblitz33]

Algal turf scrubber...
Look at my Snake's Method's threads for information and DIY instructions. Use the search function...