Homemade Protein Skimmer

Aquarium owners know how annoying and dangerous protein build up can be. Fish produce organic compounds that create harmful nitrogenous waste. You can easily clear away this unwanted material from your tank by building a protein skimmer out of acrylic pipes and some other basic materials. The dirty water is sucked into the pump, run through a lime wood air stone and passed back into the fish tank. The protein that is skimmed out rises and exits the filter via an air chamber at the top.

Things You'll Need

  • 2-inch diameter acrylic pipe, 3 inches long
  • 3-inch square of acrylic, 1/4-inch thick
  • Methyline chloride
  • Lime wood air stone
  • Silicone
  • 3-inch diameter acrylic pipe, 20 inches long
  • Power drill
  • File
  • 1/2-inch diameter acrylic pipe, 3 inches long
  • 1/2-inch diameter acrylic pipe, 12 inches long
  • 1/2-inch wide pipe inlet, 2 inches long
  • 3-inch round plates, 1/4-inch thick, 3 pieces
  • 2-inch diameter acrylic pipe, 2 inches long
  • 3-inch diameter acrylic pipe, 5 inches long
  • 2-inch diameter acrylic pipe, 3 inches long
  • 3/8-inch diameter acrylic pipe, 1 inch long
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Instructions

    • 1

      Attach the 2-inch diameter, 3-inch tall pipe to the center of a 3-inch acrylic square. Use methyline chloride to glue the pipe to the square.

    • 2

      Insert a lime wood air stone down the center of the pipe.

    • 3

      Seal the pipe with silicone to ensure the bond is airtight. This assembly is the base plate of your protein skimmer.

    • 4

      Drill a 1/2-inch hole 5 inches from one end of the 20-inch tall pipe with a power drill. Make another hole in the same place, on the same end, but on the opposite side.

    • 5

      Glue and seal the 20-inch pipe to the base plate. The small pipe on the plate should be facing up, inside the pipe and the drilled holes should be at the top, away from the base plate.

    • 6

      File one end of a 1/2-inch wide, 3-inch long pipe until it has a 45 degree angle. Do the same to the 12-inch long pipe.

    • 7

      Insert the 3-inch pipe into one of the holes you drilled through the large pipe glued to the base plate. The filed end should be inside the large pipe.

    • 8

      Place the 12-inch filed pipe down the pipe glued to the base plate with the filed end facing up. Line the two filed edges so the pipes form an "L" shape.

    • 9

      Glue the "L" shape together and pull the extended bit of pipe through the hole until the vertical pipe is against the inside wall.

    • 10

      Seal the drilled hole around the small pipe with silicone. This is the outlet pipe that will connect to the pump.

    • 11

      Insert a 2-inch long, 1/2-inch wide pipe inlet and seal it with silicone. This will attach to the inlet hose of the pump.

    • 12

      Drill a 2-inch wide hole through the center of both 3-inch plates.

    • 13

      Attach one of the drilled plates to the top of the large vertical pipe with the methyline chloride.

    • 14

      Glue a 2-inch wide piece of pipe to the hole in the drilled plate. The pipe should be two inches long. This assembly is the main part of your protein skimmer.

    • 15

      Build the top, air compartment of the skimmer by drilling a 3/8-inch hole into the side of a 5-inch long, 3-inch wide piece of pipe. The hole should be one inch from the end of the tube.

    • 16

      Glue the second drilled plate to the end of the 5-inch long pipe. The plate should be attached to the end closer to the drilled hole.

    • 17

      Glue a 3-inch long piece of 2-inch wide pipe to the inside of the larger pipe. The smaller pipe should be glued around the hole drilled in the plate on the bottom.

    • 18

      Insert a 1-inch long piece of pipe into the drilled hole in the 5-inch pipe. The small piece of pipe should 3/8-inch wide.

    • 19

      Seal the small pipe in the hole with silicone.

    • 20

      Drill a 1/16-inch hole through a 3-inch plate.

    • 21

      Glue the plate to the open end of the 5-inch pipe. This is the top compartment of the skimmer.