# Other Aquarium Forums > Equipment and Accessories > DIY Projects >  Minimum cost DIY surface skimmer

## wfc31

My 17"x8"x9" planted tank facing the oily film surface, when I come across with surface skimmer sell by LFS, they are a bit big and not suitable for my small tank.

Have gone through many article regarding DIY surface skimmer, but some of them really tough to DIY. Finally came out my own simple surface skimmer that use un-used and balance material from previous rain bar and EHEIM 2213 canister.

1. Look for the old un-used plastic rain bar with seal cap, cut about 6cm long.

2. Cut about 4cm long balance flexible hose from canister.

3. Get a small plastic tube to be used to connect the rain bar and the flexible hose.

4. Drill a hole at the plastic rain bar and flexible hose, connect the small plastic tube and seal with super glue and wait to dry, then follow by silicon glue.

5. Second part will be the skimmer, cut the EHEIM plastic pipe about 5cm long, i use this because the diameter size of the EHEIM plastic pipe just fine to insert into the rain bar plastic pipe with very minimum allowance but with very free up-down movement.

6. Look for any small plastic cap that suitable to be the skimmer strainer, cut it become strainer form, then seal it on top of the EHEIM plastic pipe.

7. Third part will the floating part. It was scratching my head to think for the floating material as it need proper floating weight in order the skimmer can float and not to sink down when canister running. Lastly i get the idea to use the polyform cube.

8. Use two long sewing needles, if can't find long needle, can join two needle become 1 long needle. So, u need of 4 needles.

9. Tight them using sewing string side by side of the skimmer, then cut the polyform cube in cube form and secure it with the needle.

10. U have your skimmer ready. Test it for many times to let the skimmer float properly. In order not to let the skimmer suck in air and cause the canister air-lock, so carefully reduce/increase the size of the polyform cube, this will throttle the float capability of the skimmer.

Have fun.

----------


## Johnc

Hmm... nice detailed design. I thought of doing something like this too. But gave up when I realise that it would take quite a bit of time to rig it up. Went to buy a TOM skimmer. But found it not very effective as it keeps getting clogged with floating plants. Finally resorted to red mollies and presto! No more oily scum since. 

/John

----------


## wfc31

Had looking for the Tom's skimmer, very big size, not suitable for small tank.
Initially i got 4 Guppies in my tank, the water surface is clean and clear of oily film, but since when i bring in Cherry Shrimps, i scare Guppies will attack my Cherries, so have to take them out and keep separately. The result of taken them out is oily surface on water surface.
Let's why i scratching my head to DIY the skimmer, did it within 2 hrs, it is effectively remove the oily film now. :Jump for joy:

----------


## raglan

nice idea, wfc31. 
wonder if for a tank without canister, this same kind of design would work by using air...a ''u'' shaped tube, skimmer on one end, end 'A', and outlet on the other,end 'B', with air line bubbling the water up in 'B', sucking the water down through 'A' and then up 'B ', through a small filter...and so back out into the tank....in other words, a small sponge filter that skims.

----------


## Xianghao

> nice idea, wfc31. 
> wonder if for a tank without canister, this same kind of design would work by using air...a ''u'' shaped tube, skimmer on one end, end 'A', and outlet on the other,end 'B', with air line bubbling the water up in 'B', sucking the water down through 'A' and then up 'B ', through a small filter...and so back out into the tank....in other words, a small sponge filter that skims.


worth trying, but i imagine the 'sucking power' to be much weaker than a canister filter

----------


## Fuzzy

A possible problem with this design is that you cannot adjust the amount skimmed off the surface, and the amount drawn from the strainer below.

Your tubing sizes need to be experimentally matched to the flow rate of your canister.

That said I think I like the eheim version of the surface skimmer the best, Switch to enable surface skimming, then switch it off manually when the surface is clear.

I have tried the other most commonly available ones (black body, clear plastic skimmer head) the exact same skimmer is being sold under 3 brands. I haven't been thrilled with their performance in the least.

The floating skimmer portion tends to get stuck down, and end up relocating my shrimp to the canister. Also the adjustment on this skimmer is very fiddly and it needs to be readjusted very often to maintain surface skimming at a point that it doesn't suck the entire skimmer head below the water surface.

Maybe my canister flow rate was too strong for the skimmer, but i doubt it.

----------


## Shadow

same thought, what I did for small tank beside adding moly/guppy/endler is by cuting those black color surface skimmer to whatever size that fit. You need to cut both the clear floating part and the black color part. There is a limit on how short you can make. You just need to make sure enough space between hose conector part and the top part.

----------


## essabee

Surface scum - no problem at all as it will go away with time but why tolerate it at all? So I ended up designing and building this gadget. A piece of pipe with one end cut to look like a crown of thorns, intended to keep the flotsam out. A floating cylindrical hollow valve which would control the incoming water to be from as high as possible to ensure that the surface scum flows in. This cylindrical valve floats inside the crown pipe cutting of the groves of the thorn and only coming down when the water is drawn from the pipe - so it maintains a height regulated by the water flow. A minor weak power-head to draw the surface water and move it under water fitted to the bottom of the crown pipe which is vertically placed with the crown at water surface.

----------


## Blue Whale

wfc31, 

1. the small arm coming out bottom with the seal cap, you could shorten it to L shape so that nothing sinks to the cap. You do not want residue in there.
2. By creating the L shape, it should technically also increase the efficiency of the skimmer.
3. For sucking power, you could limit the stainer portion. The actual design is that this portion is actually adjustable with a screw bottom up. If you are unsure, just look at one of the people who is selling the skimmer in marketplace and you will know what I am saying.

Very well done, just need to take care of your rainbow fins during washing, that is the most fragile portion of all skimmers. Of course _esbee_ is exception, his one look like you can do cigarette bud collection.  :Grin:  Is that a smoking point for the fish? ha ha..(In my imagination, a crocodile standing beside Esbee's design one hand on the side, standing two legs smoking with another hand)

----------

