Yeah, it just makes it easier. Less maintainence. I have to clean the cup weekly and I just fine that it is a disgusting job. I will still need to clean the cup, but the idea is with much less frequency. I hope the 2 liter bottle will be big enough to last me 2-3 weeks worth of skimmate.
Drilled my EuroReef 5-3 collection cup
3
Ok, I finally took the plunge and got the collection cup of my euroreef drilled.
I first went to Home Depot to buy the fittings. Bought a brass one that was straight up and down. Also got a plastic one that had a 45 degree elbow bend, but the end was a little too small I thought.
Next day, I went to a local hardware store that specialized in all sorts of fittings. I found 2 that I wanted to use. One was a 1/2 inch and the other was a 1/8 inch. Here's what the 1/2 inch one looks like
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I had absolutely NO intentions of drilling this myself as I believe this is about a $100 replacement part. So I took it to my local plastics workshop, Plastic Tech in Ann ARbor.
They charged me $10.00 to drill the hole.
I ended up having to use the smaller of the 2 fittings because of the limited width on the bottom of the collection cup. Still, this fitting has a larger diameter than the one I got from Home Depot so I was still pleased. Just a little bummed that I couldn't use the larger fitting. But that is why I bought 2, just in case.
If you had a bigger collection cup, I'm sure you could use the bigger sized fittings no problem. My reasoning for wanting the bigger fitting is so that there was less chance of the fitting clogging from the accumulation of goo. When I empty my cup for cleaning, there are literally chunks that come out in the skimmate. Very gross!
I had some Weldon 16 that I used to glue the fitting into place. It was tricky to get glue on the inside of the cup. I ended up taking the fitting, squirting a bunch of glue on the threads and pushing the fitting back into the hole. I let the glue ooze around the bottom on the outside of the cup. To that, I took a q-tip and swabbed around the perimeter of the screw threads.
Here's the finished product
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I have not as of this posting hooked up the unit. I am letting the glue set for 24 hours as per the instructions. I will be reassembling the skimmer this evening.
I first went to Home Depot to buy the fittings. Bought a brass one that was straight up and down. Also got a plastic one that had a 45 degree elbow bend, but the end was a little too small I thought.
Next day, I went to a local hardware store that specialized in all sorts of fittings. I found 2 that I wanted to use. One was a 1/2 inch and the other was a 1/8 inch. Here's what the 1/2 inch one looks like
I had absolutely NO intentions of drilling this myself as I believe this is about a $100 replacement part. So I took it to my local plastics workshop, Plastic Tech in Ann ARbor.
They charged me $10.00 to drill the hole.
I ended up having to use the smaller of the 2 fittings because of the limited width on the bottom of the collection cup. Still, this fitting has a larger diameter than the one I got from Home Depot so I was still pleased. Just a little bummed that I couldn't use the larger fitting. But that is why I bought 2, just in case.
If you had a bigger collection cup, I'm sure you could use the bigger sized fittings no problem. My reasoning for wanting the bigger fitting is so that there was less chance of the fitting clogging from the accumulation of goo. When I empty my cup for cleaning, there are literally chunks that come out in the skimmate. Very gross!
I had some Weldon 16 that I used to glue the fitting into place. It was tricky to get glue on the inside of the cup. I ended up taking the fitting, squirting a bunch of glue on the threads and pushing the fitting back into the hole. I let the glue ooze around the bottom on the outside of the cup. To that, I took a q-tip and swabbed around the perimeter of the screw threads.
Here's the finished product
I have not as of this posting hooked up the unit. I am letting the glue set for 24 hours as per the instructions. I will be reassembling the skimmer this evening.
