Anybody try their hand at a DIY Protein Skimmer/Foam Fractionator?

[raganwald]

I'm thinking this would be a good winter project to try.

There's lots of stuff on the Internet, but almost every post goes on and on about fiddling with it to get the settings right, so if you have some personal experience to share, that would be much appreciated.

[Terri]

Wish I did but I don't have any personal experience with this set-up.. I know Ian has been kickin' around the idea in his head for a little while now... maybe he'll add this thoughts or ideas...?

[raganwald]

Besides the mechanics of the fractionator, I'm also kicking around a few ideas about how to incorporate it into my setup. I currently have two independent systems, one from the bottom drain to the waterfall and one from a skimmer to jets.

Instead of splicing it into one of the existing systems, I'm toying with the idea of putting it in a third, independent system on its own pump. Madness! But yet, once I swallow the idea of a third pump, I can then do things like play with it without having to shut down an existing system or build a fancy bypass.

If I put it into the main system, I would almost certainly do one of the designs incorporating an air stone. But if it has its own pump, I can use a venturi without worrying that the loss of flow would reduce my bio filtration.

It all seems like a bit much for a small pond, but I imagine that's quite normal when an XY chromosome pair gets into the hobby.

[Ian]

Seems it takes either salt or a lot of organics to get the foam out of water. I believe you want the organics gone or down lower than what a foam fractioner(protien skimmer) would work at. XY has to start at the source and build from there...

[raganwald]

Seems it takes either salt

I'm running .1% right now. Do you mean much more salt, such as the level found in a salt-water aquarium?

start at the source and build from there...

Of course, large water changes ought to do it. Although that is very inconvenient with my present set up (I don't have an easy way to drain water from the pond), I could figure out a way if I was motivated.

Right now my water changing is limited to replacing what is lost when I do a partial drain of the vortex.The pond level only goes down an inch or two when I do a clean, so I'm thinking it isn't even close to a 10% change.

Are there any other ways to get after the organics in the water? What are your thoughts on keeping the water crystal-clear?

[Ian]

A salt water aquarium is where a foam fractioner works it's best. Removing waste from a vortex or passive settlement is the best solution with water changes being very important in smaller ponds.

[raganwald]

Removing waste from a vortex or passive settlement is the best solution with water changes being very important in smaller ponds.

Whoa. Well, now I have two problems. The first is that the drain on my vortex runs into a standard 55(?) gallon barrel buried at the same depth as the vortex. The barrle has hoels drileld into it so that it slowly drains into the soil.

This doesn't let me drain the vortex, because (a) the barrel is a smaller volume than the vortex, and (b) since it is at the same depth as the vortex, when I open up the drain, the water flows out of the vortex until it equalizes.

Some waste is invariably left in the vortex, it doesn't all rush out into the barrel. It sounds like I need to re-engineer this disposal so that I can eliminate everything from the bottom of the vortex.

The second problem is water changes. I can drain water into this barrel, but 55 gallons in a 2,000 gallon pond is only 2.75 percent. A ten percent change would require filling the barrel, waiting for it to drain, and repeating the process at least five times.

I do have a surface jet on one side of the pond, I am toying with the idea of buying a long length of large-diameter hose and fitting it over the jet so that the skimmer pump can drain some of the water. If course, this won't let me drain the water any lower than the bottom of the weir, unless I simultaneously fill the pond.

But even if I do that, where exactly do you put 200 gallons of water a week? I'm in an urban setting, I suspect my neighbors would not care for me flooding their properties :-)

How do people get water out of their ponds? Where do you put the stuff?