Why cant I use a piece of PVC instead of the skimmer box? Cleaning the top of the tank is not a concern for me
why a skimmer box
- Thread starter Rwhite8278
- Start date
Are you talking for a wet/dry system?
One thing nice about the skimmer is that if the pump in the wet/dry fails or you have a power outage your aquarium water will not empty into your room.
One thing nice about the skimmer is that if the pump in the wet/dry fails or you have a power outage your aquarium water will not empty into your room.
How would you start the syphon on such a setup? You would want a strainer also, right? An inch of water could still be a fair amount of water on your floor unless your wet/dry is a big container. Even if that's the case, your bio system would be ruined if it filled with water for any amount of time. The skimmer does not require you to start a syphon which is an advantage.
There is one other thing you could try and it is what we did 15 years ago when building custom wet/dry systems. We would hang a plastic box on the back of the aquarium that had a PVC pipe coming through the bottom. The top of the PVC pipe was at water level and still acting as a skimmer. But a syphon tube from the tank fed into the plastic box. This allowed us to have a skimmer without drilling or taking up space in the tank.
There is one other thing you could try and it is what we did 15 years ago when building custom wet/dry systems. We would hang a plastic box on the back of the aquarium that had a PVC pipe coming through the bottom. The top of the PVC pipe was at water level and still acting as a skimmer. But a syphon tube from the tank fed into the plastic box. This allowed us to have a skimmer without drilling or taking up space in the tank.
In regards to the "how to start it"--Just suck on the hose like doing a water change.
I am not opposed to the idea of the skimmer box. It would obviously be much easier. I am merely opposed to the $60 price tag for one at my lps. I dont know too much about working with the acrylic, so building one is out of the question. Do you have any suggestions on where to get one used?
What exactly did you mean by hanging a box over the back. Are those any cheaper or are they something you have to make?
My tank is 55g. It has several large (and getting larger) cichlids in it. My reason for the wet dry is to improve the declining water quality.
I was going to use a 10 or 20 gal tank as the sump. Preferably the 20. I think either would suffice. Do you agree?
I am not opposed to the idea of the skimmer box. It would obviously be much easier. I am merely opposed to the $60 price tag for one at my lps. I dont know too much about working with the acrylic, so building one is out of the question. Do you have any suggestions on where to get one used?
What exactly did you mean by hanging a box over the back. Are those any cheaper or are they something you have to make?
My tank is 55g. It has several large (and getting larger) cichlids in it. My reason for the wet dry is to improve the declining water quality.
I was going to use a 10 or 20 gal tank as the sump. Preferably the 20. I think either would suffice. Do you agree?
i just have holes drilled into the back of the tank and its pvc plumbed to the wet dry. i dont like how the skimmer/overflow boxes are set up. if you do it right it wont spill all over mine did a few times but thats because i like to overfill my tank, solved that by putting a spout on my sump and it just overflows into an empty 10 gallon.
