Cone Skimmer*now with video*
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: DIY
Forum Description: Do it Yourself
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=44058
Printed Date: February 22 2026 at 4:50am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Cone Skimmer*now with video*
Posted By: tcfab
Subject: Cone Skimmer*now with video*
Date Posted: October 16 2010 at 6:44pm
Well I decided to build a smaller cone skimmer for my frag tank system. I am not quite done with it, I still need to build the neck and collection cup. This skimmer is quite a bit smaller then the last one I built but it will still skim a good 200 gallon tank It has a 4" neck, 8" base and stands 21" tall. I am using the new Sicce PSK-1000 skimmer pump they just came out with. I will keep you updated with how it goes Here are some crappy cell phone pics.   ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Replies:
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: October 16 2010 at 9:08pm
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If any of the DIY'ers want a cone body let me know. ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: October 16 2010 at 9:50pm
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Again man awesome work! My skimmer is till running like a champ! ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: October 16 2010 at 10:35pm
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Thanks Steve. I am excited to get my big one up and running for good. I have only tested it for like a week in my bros sump. ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: November 13 2010 at 6:53pm
Got a little more done on my cone today. I have been slowly making progress inbetween everybody else projects I just need to order a 7" acrylic tube for the collection cup and the pump and I am in business. I will keep updating as I go.  ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: fishoutawater
Date Posted: November 13 2010 at 9:11pm
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Sweet build! What is the footprint on that design? Does the hole in the center of the bubble plate go all the way down to the exhaust? ------------- Some day, when I grow up,... |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: November 13 2010 at 9:58pm
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Footprint is 10.5" x 14" The hole in the middle of the bubble plate just lets water go down to the lower portion of the skimmer. I got the idea from Warner Marine and thought I would try it out. Jon Warners theory of this style of bubble plate is that in a typical skimmer body the skimmer pump is pushing water into the body out of the bubble plate and up to the neck where the bubbles pop and then all that water comes down the sides of the skimmer body creating turbulence. With his design it allows most of the water to go up and flow down through the center of the body rather then down the sides creating a more stable head of foam and reducing turbulence inside the skimmer body. I thought I would give it a try and see how it works out. I have read reviews on Warner Marines K2 cone that uses this type of bubble plate and people said it actually works quite well and they did notice a difference in turbulence compaired to the more typical bubble plate design you see in alot of newer skimmers.
------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: kellerexpress
Date Posted: November 14 2010 at 1:57am
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youve got some sweet fab skills!
------------- IM 30L Kessil A160we x2 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: November 14 2010 at 11:04am
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Thanks. ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: jpndave
Date Posted: December 30 2010 at 9:29pm
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tcfab wrote:Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: December 30 2010 at 11:08pm
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I have two molds currently. I have a mold for a 10.5" base with a 5.5" neck and the cone body itself stands 15" tall. I also have a mold for the cone in this thread which has a 8" base and 4" neck and the cone body itself stands 12" tall. ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: jpndave
Date Posted: December 31 2010 at 10:00am
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I would probably want the bigger one. I have a 180 that will be heavily stocked, mixed reef SPS dominated with fish. What is your recommendation on that? I am looking at the Bubble Blaster pumps http://coralvue.com/bubbleblaster/ - http://coralvue.com/bubbleblaster/ BB5000s 45watts gph=600
Depending on the price, I might be interested in more of the parts or a complete skimmer less plumbing/pump.
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Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: December 31 2010 at 12:03pm
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jpndave, I sent you an e-mail. ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: December 31 2010 at 12:04pm
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Also I forgot, yes I would use the larger skimmer it will work well on your 180. The Bubble Blaster 5000 works very well on this size skimmer from what I have heard. ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: Josh95
Date Posted: December 31 2010 at 4:48pm
| how large of one would i need for a 95g w/ 20g sump? |
Posted By: Chad
Date Posted: December 31 2010 at 4:53pm
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HAHA, do you think you could build a cone skimmer small enough to be perfect on my 30 gallon frag tanks? ------------- What?! You pooped in the refrigerator, and ate the entire wheel of cheese?! I'm not even mad.... That's actually amazing! |
Posted By: Chad
Date Posted: December 31 2010 at 4:54pm
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Like the size of a mini G asm ------------- What?! You pooped in the refrigerator, and ate the entire wheel of cheese?! I'm not even mad.... That's actually amazing! |
Posted By: jpndave
Date Posted: December 31 2010 at 5:00pm
| I'm very interested, for sure a cone at least. |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: December 31 2010 at 8:18pm
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Josh95, the smaller skimmer in this thread would be a good size for your tank. Chad, the smallest I currently make is the one pictured in this thread, this skimmer would be to much for a 30 gallon frag system. Maybe in the future I will make a smaller skimmer, it wouldn't be a cone though, the one in this thread is hard enough to mold as is Jpndave, pm sent ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: January 01 2011 at 1:41am
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These skimmers really rock. I have one of the big ones on my tank, and as tcfab already mentioned it's almost too much for my system, even with bacterial system. Pulls so much air it looks like the acrylic is white instead of clear. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 3:13pm
I need to update this page This skimmer has been on the backburner for a little while but I just recently started using it. I have been playing with a few different venturi's for it and I finally have a winner. It looks like this skimmer is going to be a beast in a small package Here are some pictures with the new venturi on it just after startup.
      ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 3:19pm
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I will try and get some nog shots in a few days. ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: FlooringGuy
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 3:36pm
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Is this the skimmer that we have been talking about? ------------- Call me for Carpet, Tile, or Hardwood. (801) 263-9600 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 3:48pm
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No, this is the smaller one. The bigger one looks very similar, just bigger ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: Josh95
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 7:00pm
| how much will it cost? |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 7:38pm
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$300 ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: Josh95
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 8:22pm
| with or without pump? |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 9:14pm
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With Sicce PSK-1000 ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: jcom
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 10:09pm
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Sick man!....just sick!
So cool to see it in action...will look forward to see what it's pulling out.
Congrats on the new addition to the family too!
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Posted By: Josh95
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 10:43pm
| How many gallons? |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 01 2011 at 10:45pm
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I would say good up to 150 gallon. ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 02 2011 at 3:14pm
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Thanks Jake, my wife and I are really excited to have her ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 06 2011 at 4:34pm
Here is about 72 hours worth, still a little wet I need to build a stand to raise it up about 1" and it will skim a lot dryer. I have it in about 9" of water right now and I think it would do best in 8" so I will empty the cup and raise it and let it go and see what I get. I have this on my 40 gallon frag system and it doesn't have a big bioload at all. I wish I could see what this guy would do on a 120+ gallon heavy stocked system
 ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: jonafriendj
Date Posted: March 07 2011 at 2:40pm
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I am jealous of your DIY skills! You make some sweet lookin stuff! ------------- Pleasant Grove |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 07 2011 at 11:24pm
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Thanks man ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: saltlaketank
Date Posted: March 08 2011 at 8:54pm
| Bro, that's really pretty cool. I'm building my sump/refugium and once I get everything set up. I'm going to look into building my own skimmer. Good work. |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 15 2011 at 8:00pm
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------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 26 2011 at 9:31pm
More cones?
 ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: March 26 2011 at 10:06pm
I know I love mine (even if it is HUGE) ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: Laird
Date Posted: April 05 2011 at 10:24pm
With the built in pump!
 ------------- Indefinite hiatus from sw aquariums. Once I have my glorious return I'll set back up the following. 50 Gallon rimless cube. 180 Gallons mixed reef paradise |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: April 05 2011 at 10:40pm
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Looks great! I'm going to pick up another tcfab skimmer for my NPS reef. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: Josh95
Date Posted: April 05 2011 at 10:45pm
| What is NPS? |
Posted By: Nikolai
Date Posted: April 05 2011 at 11:13pm
| non photosynthetic... I assume. |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: April 05 2011 at 11:49pm
Non-Photosynthetic. All of the corals and inverts I'll be keeping will require a ton of feedings, so you need a big skimmer to help keep nitrates down. ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: camarolover
Date Posted: April 06 2011 at 12:22am
| I bought the first one I guess and it has only been a week since I have had mine running but I have to say it is awesome! Mine is dead quiet and it looks like milk in the cone! the only drawback is the footprint but the way it skims I will make room for it. tcfab's work is top-notch and he is a very fair person to deal with. I will be using him for all my acrylic work. My skimmer was dropped before I got it, and tc offered to fix it even though it wasn't his fault and then I dropped it again getting a fish out from under it and it still purrs along with no problems working or looking good. Thanks again! |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: April 06 2011 at 2:52pm
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Let's see some skimate shots ------------- Need custom acrylic work? give me a call, www.Elite-Aquatics.net (801)645-6386 |