Fisher Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) Pull the flex hose off the the surface skimmers from Hagen, Tom or Fluval, and you have the essential construct for this mod.I drilled a hole in one segment of the Eheim Installation Set 1, using a 1/2" drill bit, and sanded the hole to its final ø ID (just enough to press fit the skimmer nipple). I used old segments to fiddle with; that's why the the ones in the photos look gray/white.These skimmers have a collector that floats with the water level. So I opted to locate the hole, a bit lower on the segment I intended to drill. Locate the skimmer too high, and the slotted collector will be too high to operate. I inserted the skimmer nipple, about 1/8", into the hole, and tacked the arrangement to my tank glass with suction cups.The water movement, generated by the canister, past the nipple will form a venturi, and pull water through the skimmer.You will get more draw through the skimmer by plumbing it according to instructions. Had this arrangement been ineffective, I would've used the tee configuration (which is what I was trying to avoid).edit: sp Edited April 14, 2013 by Fisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Looks pretty good, I had one of these skimmers and it worked ok but didn't seem to adjust very well, then when I finally had it adjusted nicely it fell off the suction cup bracket thing. This might have been the answer to my problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher Posted January 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Looks pretty good, I had one of these skimmers and it worked ok but didn't seem to adjust very well, then when I finally had it adjusted nicely it fell off the suction cup bracket thing. This might have been the answer to my problems The press fit is tight enough that the installation kit could suspend the skimmer on its own. So I sanded little, and checked the fit often. Originally, I was thinking about running a rigid pipe down to the elbow that comes with the Tom unit, similar to the Eheim skimmer 3535 arrangement, and attaching cups to the pipe. But the only pipe I had was... green. So this had more visual appeal to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher Posted April 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2013 You will get more draw through the skimmer by plumbing it according to instructions. Had this arrangement been ineffective, I would've used the tee configuration (which is what I was trying to avoid). 90day update: I started wrestling with this configuration 45days into installation. The venturi doesn't draw enough water through the skimmer to pull semi-solids through the throttle point. Eventually the skimmer cup floods, and no flow. So I wound up plumbing this using a tee after all. The Eheim Installation kits are a larger ID than the standard suction/siphon tube. Therefore the flow velocity through the Installation Kit is slower; too slow to sustain the flow required to keep the throttle point clear. On a positive note, I found a barbed tee @ TnT Hydroponics for that actually has a 1/2" OD for 75¢. The Eheim 494 tee connector is $8. Yay for small victories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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