Hey from New Mexico,
Well as much as I love to keep surface movement to a minimum to conserve
CO2 I also don't like the surface scum that results. It's too close to
Christmas for Daddy to "buy anything for himself." I've got a skimmer
coming, but it's to be wrapped and opened in front of the little ones
that "bought it for me."
Today was one of those rare days off that I didn't do a whole lot
around the house that had to be done so I got out my junk box and
started tinkering. I had a plastic tube used for sorting quarters that
had a small hole in the bottom that some airline would squeeze through
with an electrical crimp tube around it. There was also a slit in the
side of the sorting tube at the top to slide out the extra quarters. I
ran the air tube through the crimp fitting and pressed it through the
hole in the bottom of the tube. I fed the other end into the strainer
for my power filter. I marked the water level on the filter's intake
tube and used electrical tape to bind the new skimmer to the intake tube
right where the slit would just be at the water line. There are a few
pictures at http://justintravis.blogspot.com/
After a little tinkering with the skimmer's position I got it right
to the point that the water flowing in would never fill the tube more
than 1/4 full. This seems to provide enough falloff to keep the water
flowing in, but the filter never sucks air. While it's not very pretty
it sure seems to work! Good thing the plants are growing "like weeds" as
my wife likes to teasingly tell me.
Justin Travis,
Lovington, NM.