DIY Skimmer

[Busy B]

Thought I saw Bonnieof In with one..and maybe Ian...Anyone else?

I need to set something up...the pollen and the cottonwoods will soon be making a mess..thinking of something temporary until I know what I'm doing with the pond.

Any ideas?

[BonnieIN]

Busy our isn't the best looking but it works!
We've actually got 3 of them. 2 gravity fed and 1 which goes to the sequence pump.

Take a flexible rubbermaid type tub - cut a hole across for the water to flow thru, preferably toward the upper part of the tub positioning just a bit under the water surface.
Next we cut a 2 inch hole in the opposite side for the PVC pipe to go thru, this is the outlet to the pump. This is positioned to be below the water surface.
Then added a plastic stackable type basket to catch the big stuff. Around that we have floor scrubber pads.

We leave the top open and have a large flat rock covering it.
Also you can add a bulkhead or uniseal to the round hole for the PVC to fit better, we just used silicone because ours was a tight fit.
Also some prefer to strengthen where the water enters but we didn't find that necessary.

The other 2 we used somewhat heavier and bigger plastic boxes which I believe were supposed to be a type of tool box w/ removable lid. We basically did the same thing but these are gravity fed then dump into our lower stream and waterfall.

Heck use your imagination. Anything will work as long as water flows in alittle below the surface and gets pumped back out......

[GregBickal]

I made mine out of a heavy duty utility sink. However, after my Square 55 gallon barrel technique, these days, I could make a skimmer out of a 55 gallon barrel, with a nice flat front. Wal mart sells a nice laundry bag with a oval shaped plastic ring that would work great as a leaf basket.

Also, another way to make a skimmer is with a standpipe that went right to a settling chamber (like that floating skimmer).

[Dave in Innisfil]

After visiting the John's, I envisioned a little shallow pool using one of my dead cloverleafs. The problem is my water level is never constant, up and down as much as 6 inches (I'm working on the problem). I've thought about using a hd laundry tub with a cut out at the front, but any idea's on how I could deal with the rising and falling water levels ?

[BonnieIN]

Yes Greg we purchased an started to make one out of the laundry sink but it was just too big where we needed them to go.

Hey I'll have to check out Walmart, those might work better and eliminate the floor pads.

[Ian]

Hey Busy, here's our skimmer. This would work well into your pond design, would mean draining down the pond water level to rework the liner in a spot but do-able.
http://www.backyardpuddle.com/build/2004/images/2004_53_jpg.jpg
I used the corner of the liner and made a trench to a small pool and added a small submersible pump to return the water back to the pond. Really acts like a reverse river, collects leaves and other stuff off the surface very well.

For a quicky you could use a rubbermaid container, cut out a rectangle opening just below where the water line would be(couple inches), throw a submersible pump inside to return the water to the pond. You could use filter matting,or foam as your prefilter/strainer over/around the pump. Would have to sit in the pond obviously, but for short term who cares... :grin:

[Busy B]

Awesome!! Ideas!! Last year I bought a gerbil tray that was to be used for a bathroom for it I believe *oh I'm so embarrassed* :grin: thought of putting a small pump in it with something to filter out the pollen...I knew it would be a pain and would need constant watching as it would probably clog quickly...

Now I have more options...great ideas! Thanks!

[BonnieIN]

Good luck with it Busy !
Be sure to take pix to share though.

[OttawaPonder]

Busy B, I was going to post my DIY in pond skimmer, however it already looks as if you got it covered.

Good Luck and please keep us posted. Pictures are a must! :grin:

[Busy B]

More ideas are always helpful Tony...especially if I've got something already hanging around the house :wink: Your idea just may help someone else.

[ozzyrockman]

Busy, I have an atlantic p4500 skimmer and if I had put some design thought into it theres no way I would have bought it. I am forever pulling debris from the pre filter on the pump and to pay that kind off money for a tray, matting, door, lid and box to hold a pump seems silly for me now that I look back. If you don't get hit with high cross winds I would buy some seam tape, do what Ian did, add a section of liner to the existing pond and deck it out with plants. If I remember Cinn and Rem bought a Savio and I am interested in finding out if they get debris in the pre filter at the pump. From what I have seen those units are probably the nicest prefab skimmers available because they have a tight seal from the trap to the pump. I will see what I have lying around and what I can come up with for a box style skimmer with a submersible pump to add to the side of a pond. Below is one I would consider for an external pump and costs about $40.00 from reds pool and spa. Allen

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ozzyrockman/Skimmer89391.jpg

[OttawaPonder]

Beacuse I did not have a place for a skimmer on the outter edge of my pond and I did not want to dig up my new sidewalk or driveway; I came up with a design of an in pond skimmer that works well for me.

Also during this time I was retro fitting my pond with two bottom drains, a settling/holding chamber, bog area, and my own design of this in pond skimmer.

You will need:
1) One plastic catch basin (I used a 12" by 12" and 13" deep solid basin. One with no plumbing holes at all. I found it at a place like Home Depot)
2) One 10" by 10" by 6" deep plastic pond plant basket
3) One 3" to 2" Reducer (must have no webbing)
4) One Inexpensive Adjustable holesaw or 3" holesaw (should you already have one)
5) One 3" Fitting, for exiting the skimmer and which will best fit the needs of your plumbing layout. (I used a two sided 3" female fitting for mine. But any (22, 45, or 90 deg) fitting will work as long as the plumbing lines up.)
6) Two small Patio pavers or bricks (these are placed inside the basin to keep it from floating)

I cut a hole in the middle of one side of the catch basin and as low as I could just big enough for the 3" custom fitting to slide through. I then cut about 1/2 to 1" off the back side of the 3" to 2" reducer. Doing this removed only the center part of the reducer, which was the 2" pipe size. It left me with a nice 3" pipe which had a lip on one end. I took what was left of the outter part of the reducer, now called my custom fitting, and slid it through the catch basin. The lip works great to keep it from pulling through. I then placed the 3" female fitting tightly over the custom fitting I had made from the reduce, which was now sticking out the back of my soon to be in pond skimmer box. I did not seal this, however some people might want to. I guess I like to test a lot of stuff and this way I know I am able ot take it apart at any time with no real problems. Plus it is not able to suck that much water by the fitting to make any kind of difference.

I then placed the catch basin or my soon to be in pond skimmer box inside my pond and used the two pavers/bricks to hold it on place. I saw where the pond water level was, I marked it, then topped off my pond. I also made note and marked where the water level was now the pond was full. I then removed the skimmer and found the center of one side where I wanted to place the wier. I then cut out only a 4" wide and 1-1/2" deep wier. I placed it back in the pond and hooked it up to my plumbing. I tested or watch the flow and decided to make the wier larger. I removed the skimmer box and made the wier 6" wide and a little over 2-1/2" deep. I found this to have a nice flow rate so I left it alone. I then placed the square plant basket on top of the two bricks which help keep the skimmer box (catch basin) from floating. Once the basket was in place I used a single rock to help keep it from floating also. Once I was sure I liked the results I then placed the large flat rock over the entire skimmer box and put plants around all sides but the front.

The only picture of a Catch Basin close to what I used that I could find at this time. Note: I do not use the grate on top.
http://backyardpuddle.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10006/Catch%20Basin.JPG

Picture during fall clean out of pond. You should be able to see my own design for an in pond skimmer to the left of this picture. The plastic catch basin has a flat rock on top of it as well.
http://backyardpuddle.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10006/Pipe%20for%20BD%20and%20Skimmer%20near%20water%20f all%206-10.jpg


In this picture the pond is full of plants and the skimmer is on the left again. It is under the only flat rock one can see, just behind the corkscrew plant.
http://backyardpuddle.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10006/Looking%20straight%20on%20to%20Waterfall%206-1.jpg


In this view the skimmer is in the lower and center part of the picture.
http://backyardpuddle.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10006/Pond%20season%20two%206-6.jpg

Also keep in mind the reason I like this kind of set up one can place the wier any where, or way, they want. You can make two smaller wiers. Placed like an L one on each side from the other, or because these catch basins are strong enough, you can remove the entire corner. Either way it will allow you to derrect the flow from two sides and not just one. I had fun playing around with the design and flow when I built these.

This has worked great for me and I hope it may be of some help to others.

[ozzyrockman]

I have this setup in our swimming pool that connects to the outlet to the pump and then out to a bough boy sand filter. This would be easy to mod and someone on ebay is starting them out at $10 plus ouch $12.50 s&h. By simply mounting it to a piece of filled 1 1/2" pvc pipe, capped and connecting it to a submersible then plumb it to your filter done. The only thing really to consider would be the weight to hold it in the water and plumbing reducers to fit the pipe work. This skimmer seems to do the job in our pool and they self adjust to the water level offering a variable water level of about 4-5".

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/ozzyrockman/Intex_skimmer_large1.jpg

[Busy B]

That one's like the no-niche? Another Alaskan recommended it cause you don't have to worry about frost heaves..

See Tony...your ideas are priceless :grin: