protein skimmers few q's and a possible DIY project here

[evelyn80]

so after seeing a few more SW pics of clownfish, and a few inverts, sexy shrimp, turbo snails, blue legged hermit crabs i really really wanted to set-up a salt water tank and did some research. what i then relized was it was the cost of a protien skimmer that was preventing me from doing so(that plus the cost of bigger tank in my area is unbelieveable!) so i looked into DIY and found that skimmer require a fast flow of airbubbles through the water to remove the debris/organic materials. so i drew up a fast idea of one i could use in microsoft paint(pic below) basically have water sucked into a 5 gallon water bottle pushed through PVC pipe with a large airstone in a fast current to a dish which would collect the materials and divert to a return tube to the tank. Being my ever cheap self i wouldnt even use a true glass tank but a plastic storage container i saw a home depot that contained approx. 20-25 gallons. one other question how could divert the water so that the materials went into the cup and werent washed away by the water back to the tank? also how does this stock sound:
1 clown fish(come on man i couldnt do a SW set-up with out 1)
few turbo snails
5 sexy shrimp(could i do more?)
6-7 hermit crabs(could i do more)
few other misc. inverts that im not sure yet ill post when i find some i like

[Amphiprion]

Well, the theories on the design aren't exactly correct. Whether or not you want or need fast flow depends upon the type of skimmer you are using, but ideally you do want plenty of air. You'll have to play around with the flow rates to see what works well enough for the design. I can't really tell the specifics of your design, but as far as diverting skimmate products, you need to confine the bubbles to a column (baffles work well). You'll also need to narrow the neck to concentrate the bubbles and lower the % of water. This narrowed neck should terminate at the skimmer cup (using a deflector can help to get more foam into the cup). What I'd advise you to do is look at the designs of the better skimmers out there and try to imitate some of their innovations.

[evelyn80]

ya thx amph! i was just trying to figure out how to do it well the first time so i wouldnt have a problem later down the road. any suggestions im well open to!

[evelyn80]

looks ill have a glass tank after all! im selling all the fish in my 15 as there problems and i relized i wont have in there after words... only prob is i dont have a lif for it should i get one or will it be alright without or should DIY a hood? oh and a few peppermint shrimp to my stocklist

[evelyn80]

woohoo! got a lot of work done today! i found a spare 3 gallon(small but still i dont have to tear down 1 of my freshys:)) with a lighting system(had to fix as it wouldnt turn on but i did fix it) and started building the skimmer! i have a cup, tube on the inside a main container water return and suction tubes all i need now is aquarium silicon, LR, and some washed sand and im good to go! is a 3 gallon to small for sexy shrimp? and wat about turbo snails? and hermits? they were wat i wanted mainly for this experiment...

[Amphiprion]

The main issue would be maintaining water parameters in a tank that small. As far as the physical size, that is fine for sexy shrimp (but see above problem). I wouldn't put a Turbo spp. in there, but maybe one of their much smaller cousins, like a single Stomatella or the like. I'd forgo the hermit in this situation.

[evelyn80]

im thinkin sexy's only now actually there pretty neat little fellas.