diy simmer

[delatha]

Hi all, need help with a diy skimmer ,I have a 5000gallon pond.having problems kepting the water clean from all that stuff that floating in the water,yes I do the water changes once a week. can you help.

 

[DoDad]

There are a few you can use.
Those attached to the liner are the best.
Then there are the in pond skimmers.

 

[DoDad]

I'm sorry I didn't notice diy.

 

[koikeepr]

use youtube to search this. I've seen designs there where folks even make 'em outta the buckets that cat litter comes in.

 

[Squidhead]

I bought a pool skimmer from ebay. It was only $26 with shipping.

 

[koikeepr]

that is certainly another possibility. Skimmers are one of the few pieces of pool equipment that can successfully be used on a pond.

 

[stevewide]

Has anyone made a homemade skimmer they can explain how here? In a 4,000 gallon pond I'm planning, I am considering a skimmer feeding into a filter box containing a bottom filter intake, a pre-filter net and one Matala filter; finally the filter box will contain my approximately 3,200 gph pump that pumps to my 175 DIY stock trough bio filter as described in this forum.

I don't want homemade looking stuff but someone may have a great looking DIY skimmer design.

If all else fails I will consider a cheap skimmer/filter box to handle the above tasks.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[stevewide]

Has anyone made a homemade skimmer they can explain how here? In a 4,000 gallon pond I'm planning, I am considering a skimmer feeding into a filter box containing a bottom filter intake, a pre-filter net and one Matala filter; finally the filter box will contain my approximately 3,200 gph pump that pumps to my 175 DIY stock trough bio filter as described in this forum.

I don't want homemade looking stuff but someone may have a great looking DIY skimmer design.

If all else fails I will consider a cheap skimmer/filter box to handle the above tasks.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[350mike]

i made a skimmer out of a laundry tub that attaches out side the pond to the liner. i blocked the original drain with a 2" fitting,drilled a 4" hole in the back near the bottom and used a toilet flange.4" pipe runs underground to my first 55 gallon filter.on the front ""the pond side"I pulled the liner up and over the tub and used a piece of 1/8" plastic and silicone to sandwhich the liner to the tub.i filled the pond for the first time and marked high waterlevel,drained 12" and cut the hole in the front.this has worked great for me except when i feed the fish.you have to feed them well away from the skimmer or the food is gone.

 

[stevewide]

i made a skimmer out of a laundry tub that attaches out side the pond to the liner. i blocked the original drain with a 2" fitting,drilled a 4" hole in the back near the bottom and used a toilet flange.4" pipe runs underground to my first 55 gallon filter.on the front ""the pond side"I pulled the liner up and over the tub and used a piece of 1/8" plastic and silicone to sandwhich the liner to the tub.i filled the pond for the first time and marked high waterlevel,drained 12" and cut the hole in the front.this has worked great for me except when i feed the fish.you have to feed them well away from the skimmer or the food is gone.

Thanks Mike for telling us how you made your own skimmer. would you take a picture or make a brief drawing? Did you make a swinging door like most commercial skimmers do?
Thanks again. Steve

 

[350mike]

hears some pics.I have never found a need for a door as it is gravity feed 15' to a filter.even when i shut off the pump there is now backwash of water into the pond.the biggest problem is i did not put in a bottom drain so when i feed the fish i cannot turn off the skimmer and still keep the pump running.i fed in one area only it gives the fish enough time to eat before it is sucked into the skimmer.I am going to use black plastic and stainless nuts and bolts this fall as a bigger pond is on the way when the fish are moved inside for the winter.

 

[350mike]

GAWD !!!just looked at the pics and did not see the mess.We have worked this summer on changing all the pipes to 2",adding more filtration and gettting ready for the big dig.the rope is going to the new pond,bog and stream.pond 11x28x3.5,bog 10x14x1.5

 

[stevewide]

hears some pics.I have never found a need for a door as it is gravity feed 15' to a filter.even when i shut off the pump there is now backwash of water into the pond.the biggest problem is i did not put in a bottom drain so when i feed the fish i cannot turn off the skimmer and still keep the pump running.i fed in one area only it gives the fish enough time to eat before it is sucked into the skimmer.I am going to use black plastic and stainless nuts and bolts this fall as a bigger pond is on the way when the fish are moved inside for the winter.

Brilliant Mike....great idea.....I see what a laundry tub is now and its perfect to make as big a skimmer as you want. And for their large size they are cheap too. Wonder if a bottom skimmer drain would be helpful to clean it out? However, my commercial skimmer never gets that dirty and the pump sucks it out to the waterfall.

Beautiful pond setup. You've done a great job!

I use a 1/2 inch flexible tubing connected together with a male to male coupling and anchor it in the pond to place food so skimmer can't get it. Fish love it too; they hit the food so hard it knocks some of it out of the ring I made.

Do I see cheerios in the skimmer?

I'd like to have a door on the skimmer but after your comments maybe I don't need it.

Thanks again.

Steve
Peachtree City, GA USA

 

[Pondmaster]

Here is a simple DIY in pond skimmer that I made and it works like a dream in a 16x11 foot pond. I removed my Laguna 2900 from its cage and hooked right up. It Uses a No-Niche skimmer available in black for pond use about $60.

 

[350mike]

Thanks Steve. Great idea. I never thought of hooking up a bottom drain into the skimmer, instead of capping off the original 2" drain. I could just inlarge it to 3" or 4" and plum the bottom drain right into it. The basket in the pics I bought from the dollar store, and it just hangs on the side of the tub.It catches all the big stuff . Once a week I take it out and dump it, and I never clean out any of the rest of the tub. I just read about feeder rings and will have one built saturday. OHHHH YEEAAAH, THE FISH LOOOVE CHERIOS!!!