DIY - Carbon Filtering Skimmer Lid LOTS OF PICS
by
, 01-05-2011 at 10:20 PM (8325 Views)
Hello everyone, hope you've all had a happy new year!
I as I'm sure many others do have my tank setup in my bedroom, and sometimes the smell of the rotting goo in the protein skimmer collection cup creates quite a funk that has been getting quite noticeable in my room![]()
This clearly needed fixing, and after a bit of research I happened upon a few prebuilt skimmer lids with carbon chambers to filter the air and absorb the smell from the skimmate. But I couldn't justify spending nearly $100 on something that I could build myself.
So this was created:
And now for how I did it!
Supplies:
1.5" long section of 6" acrylic tubing - Avast Marine Works - $7
My Reef Octopus NWB 150 Stock Skimmer Lid - Already Owned
Weld-On #4 - Avast Marine Works - $3.50
Super Glue Gel - Any Local HD or Hardware Store - $2
Filter Pad - Already Owned
Activated Carbon - Already Owned
Custom Made 6" Skimmer Cup Top - Avast Marine Works - $12
Scissors
Weights
First step: Dry fit the finished lid to check for fit
Second step: Put weights on top of dry fitted assembly
Third step: Pour Weld-On #4 into applicator bottle and apply around seam, making sure to go around the entire circumference
Fourth Step: While allowing this time to dry, trim the filter pad to fit inside of the acrylic tubing you just glued on
Fifth step: After the Weld-On dries, you should end up with something that looks like this
Sixth step: Next I drilled an extra 6 1/4" holes around the pre existing holes in my skimmer lid for a total of 12 holes to allow for extra airflow
Seventh Step: I then put a bead of super glue gel around the inside of the acrylic tubing to attach the filter pad to
Eight Step: Then I put the filter pad in and pressed it into the superglue gel until it set, after all the filter pad was in, it looked like this
Ninth Step: The final step was to fill the top section with activated carbon, place the lid on and put the cup back on the skimmer
The smell is gone! And my skimmer is alot quieter which is an added bonus![]()
So there is my DIY guide to building your own skimmer carbon filtering lid for under $30! Enjoy!