Protein & Surface skimmer for aquariums

thingiverse

*A double-chambered surface- and protein skimmer for inside your aquarium, enabling water purification without needing external equipment.* **A bit of back story:** This is - for the time being - the last version of a project I've had going for over a year now, trying to make the optimal skimmer for my own aquarium. I've spent more than one hundred hours figuring out Fusion360 (and making other models along the way as I learned new bits and bobs, such as the inlays for Altoid Tin boxes), and used 12! spools of filament so far in prototype print. Some were useable and have been tested in my aquarium for a period, where I observed and made notes for the next print. (As a side note I have stored away all waste material for the day when I can recycle it onto new spools, which is a project for MUCh later). In my prototypes, I've been using a wood airstone and two Red Sea SP-980 pumps I had laying around. After testing my latest version, I decided it performed well enough to be a 'version 1' make and decided to share it with those of you who might have use of it. If you do, I'd love to see how it worked out for you, and also love a comment or a like :-) **Now on to more important stuff:** Use the included pictures as a guide on how to install it, or the image with the measurements to see if it will fit your aquarium or other pumps you might have. Note that the entire setup - both fitting the pumps and the airstone - is very tight on purpose and will require some patience when installing. *A few key points:* My Red Sea pumps came with a 'long' inlet tube, which I had to make my own version of so that they would not take up too much space in the surface-skimmer box(part). I also made a couple of variations of the screw-on nozzle since 2x550 ltr. streams in the same direction can be a bit much. The one I made will divide each stream into two, and if you screw them on a bit differently, they should spread the water flow nicely into your aquarium. If you only choose to use one pump, I've included a plug to fit the hole in the unused spot. There is also place for two dividers in that case so can have multiple sponges/filters in the chamber. I've also included two versions of the lower protein skimmer part so that you can choose the one that fits your need. I made a clip to hang the entire thing over the edge of the aquarium - and the overhang itself has three positions you can use to fit it to your setup. Although this works, I myself found it made a vibrating noise and ended up gluing a magnet (the one I usually use to clean the glass) to the back instead. It also offered me more flexibility in positioning it better in my aquarium. Also, when printing I suggest you use the 0.20mm setting. When printing courser than that (0,28+) I found the screws to be difficult to fit. Lastly, I suggest you print the collector in a light color if you have one. I used orange, which enabled me to see how much waste got collected without having to take the lid off and look inside. That's about it. Enjoy, and let me know if you liked it.