DIY Alpha Cone. -WE HAVE FOAM-
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: DIY
Forum Description: Do it Yourself
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38495
Printed Date: June 14 2026 at 2:43am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: DIY Alpha Cone. -WE HAVE FOAM-
Posted By: tcfab
Subject: DIY Alpha Cone. -WE HAVE FOAM-
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 2:34pm
I decided I would try my hand at building my own cone. I am not done quite yet I will post pics of it as I finish it and of it running It is built out of 3/8" cell cast white acrylic. 10" collection cup, 11" base, 5.5" neck and is 26" tall. Uses an Askoll 1500 pump.putting 45 degree bevels.  This is how I route a channel for the tube  Drilling holes  adding 45 degree tapers to the bottom of the bubble plate  here is the motor block   base of cone  neck  and here is kinda a mockup  |
Replies:
Posted By: Aquarium Creations
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 2:39pm
STUNNING!!!!! 
------------- Aquarium Maintenance,Consulting,Custom Built Glass Aquariums Rimless/Euro,24Hr Emergency Service 8015485201 Www.UtahAquariumDoctors.com [email protected] |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 2:42pm
Thank you
|
Posted By: downhill_biker
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 3:37pm
|
Nice, that is truly amazing. I am anxious to see this thing up and running!
------------- Make sure you post your best pictures every month in our POTM forum. |
Posted By: dew2loud1
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 3:46pm
| Looks great, is that the SWC cone? |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 4:50pm
| No all pieces are hand made by me other then the grey volute, which I wanted to make but I already had it so I just ended up using it. The cone was kind of a PITA to make, I had to make a female and male mold to get it to work. |
Posted By: sanddune600
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 4:53pm
|
now I am way impressed very nice work
------------- Andy Jorgensen My number is four three 5 7 six four 8 0 three four |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 5:28pm
|
Here is the neck when its on  and here it is open, I have not routed the channel for the o-ring just yet  Here is the lid  Size comparison of the cup, not sure how much it holds yet   and a full shot of the skimmer  |
Posted By: Nick801
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 5:41pm
|
that's insane... nice work man ------------- http://www.reefinsanity.com" rel="nofollow - www.ReefInsanity.com http://www.facebook.com/ReefInsanity" rel="nofollow - www.Facebook.com/ReefInsanity 801-680-4676 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 5:47pm
Thanks Nick.
|
Posted By: MadReefer
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 5:52pm
| Wow! Very impressive. |
Posted By: jbutler
Date Posted: February 06 2010 at 6:16pm
Sweet! Wish I had the tools and brains to pull that off. 
|
Posted By: Luckedout
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 1:10am
 That is one of the most impressive DIY projects I've seen. You must have a ton of experience working with acrylic. That's something else. If you don't mind me asking what's your cost of material vs. cost of a manufactured cone skimmer? I imagine it's quite a bit cheaper, but you pulled off something impressive here so I imagine you didn't scrimp on quality material. ------------- -Ben 90g Mixed reef www.body-balancechiropractic.com |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 4:32pm
|
Thanks for the compliments Everything is cell cast acrylic vs. extruded. I really don't have to much experience in acrylic actually, but I do in wood working and some of the principals are the same really. I am into this skimmer about $300-$340 done vs the real Alpha cone 250 at about $1,200
|
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 4:35pm
|
Hopefully I will have it done tomorrow night so I can test this beast
|
Posted By: thefu
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 7:57pm
CRAZY! 
|
Posted By: leafeater
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 7:58pm
| Wow! Incredible work. |
Posted By: Jeffs_little_ocean
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 8:59pm
|
Can I offer you $350 for it? Hey 10 bucks is 10 bucks... ------------- Life is good....right? |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 9:11pm
|
uummm, no
|
Posted By: jcoulter17
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 9:19pm
| how did you make the cone if you don't care to tell |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 9:45pm
|
It is kind of hard to explain, I made a female and male mold. I cut the acrylic to the shape needed, placed it under big heat lamps and after it got flexible I pushed it into the female mold and then put the male mold in after that sandwiching the acrylic between the two molds. It was kind of a PITA
|
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 9:47pm
| would there be interest in just the cone portion of the skimmer for the DIY people? |
Posted By: jcoulter17
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 9:58pm
| it's a cool project and I would be interested in making one. At the end saving money too. |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 10:22pm
|
I will have to look into it. I need to make a smaller one for another tank I am doing and am thinking of making some extra cones. The next one I would like to make would use a sicce pump. I am not sure exactly when I could get around to it, I have a few projects going on right now lol
|
Posted By: DanhNgo
Date Posted: February 07 2010 at 10:42pm
|
Wow. That is some awesome work! I can't even cut a piece of arcylic straight.
------------- 200 Gal Reef 25 Gal Nano Reef |
Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: February 08 2010 at 8:43am
|
Tyler -
If this works as good as it looks - and it looks AWESOME - you should seriously consider making a few more to sell...
------------- - My Current Tank: 50g Starfire Cube Reef * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 09 2010 at 1:10am
|
Thanks Bob, I am considering it but not sure yet. They are a ton of work maybe in the future, we will see I didn't get around to working on it tonight I had to much going on. I will post pics of it done tomorrow and then on to testing
|
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 09 2010 at 11:13pm
 It works but leaks a little bit of water out, its not bad enough I am going to do anything with it I don't think but if I build more I will make a twist lock flange. I need to test it in an actual system now but not quite sure it will fit in my brothers sump we will have to see I am without a tank for awhile, just getting parts gathered up for my new system.    |
Posted By: fishoutawater
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 12:19am
|
The suspense is killing me, I wanna see bubbles! Do you have a dwyer and killawatt to see what the pump is doing? ------------- Some day, when I grow up,... |
Posted By: dew2loud1
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 7:06am
| If you were running it in fresh water the water level was probably much higher, the only thing you're going to have up in the neck transition area with that pump is dryer rising bubbles. With as good as those o rings look i really doubt you're going to have a problem once its installed in salt water and you lower the water level. |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 8:01am
|
Thats kinda what I was thinking, it will probably be okay. I don't have a killawatt meter or a dwyer yet, but I am going to get one so I can see how its doing for sure. Does anyone know where you can get them locally? I can tell you one thing, these Askoll pumps are VERY powerful
|
Posted By: dew2loud1
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 6:32pm
|
You should be getting 70-100 scfh, at about 65-80 watts with that pump They are pretty wicked, |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 7:57pm
| Yeah, the volute I used is the old SWC volute they used to machine "before they came out with the molded" which I have read tends to be higher scfh more around 90ish. |
Posted By: fishoutawater
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 10:53pm
|
Mine only goes to 50scfh or I would bring it over and check out that beastly skimmer. ------------- Some day, when I grow up,... |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 10 2010 at 10:56pm
| Is it an Askoll? What volute? |
Posted By: fishoutawater
Date Posted: February 11 2010 at 12:02am
|
Sorry, I meant my dwyer meter only goes to 50
------------- Some day, when I grow up,... |
Posted By: CapnMorgan
Date Posted: February 11 2010 at 1:14am
|
Awesome skimmer! Let me know if you ever decide to build another one you'd part with! ------------- Steve http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40637&PID=356246" rel="nofollow - My Old 180G Mixed Reef Currently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8 |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 13 2010 at 10:48pm
Okay so I had a chance to test the skimmer a bit. I had to do it in my spare bathtub I used 30 gallons of used tank water from a water change. After it ran for a half hour or so I added a little bit of skimate from another skimmer and the cone responded very quickly. The water inside the cone looks like milk when it is on     |
Posted By: Nick801
Date Posted: February 13 2010 at 10:57pm
|
dang that looks sweet
------------- http://www.reefinsanity.com" rel="nofollow - www.ReefInsanity.com http://www.facebook.com/ReefInsanity" rel="nofollow - www.Facebook.com/ReefInsanity 801-680-4676 |
Posted By: Luckedout
Date Posted: February 13 2010 at 11:00pm
|
------------- -Ben 90g Mixed reef www.body-balancechiropractic.com |
Posted By: dca22anderson
Date Posted: February 18 2010 at 7:43pm
 ------------- Dave Anderson Saratoga Springs, UT |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 18 2010 at 7:50pm
|
Thanks
|
Posted By: fishoutawater
Date Posted: February 18 2010 at 11:29pm
|
Sweet project! When does it go on a tank? ------------- Some day, when I grow up,... |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 19 2010 at 12:08am
|
I am hoping within 2 months. I am taking my time building this tank, plus saving up for all the parts I want takes a little time Vortechs aren't cheap
|
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 20 2010 at 6:11pm
Just built new molds for the cone body. This is what they look like, I might sell a few cone bodies if anyone is interested still, let me know.  |
Posted By: bfessler
Date Posted: February 20 2010 at 8:04pm
So you form the acrylic with the mold and then weld the joint together with weldon, is that correct? That's excellent work, from the pictures I couldn't tell there was a seam in the cone. ------------- Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected] |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 20 2010 at 8:11pm
| Yes it starts as one flat sheet and gets rolled into a cone. I weld the joint after it is molded. |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 21 2010 at 1:11pm
Here is a fresh cone from the new mold, it works awesome |
Posted By: fishoutawater
Date Posted: February 21 2010 at 1:46pm
|
How did you make the mold? Would it be hard to do a different size? How much would it cost to have you make one? ------------- Some day, when I grow up,... |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 21 2010 at 3:30pm
|
Yeah the mold is harder to make then the cone that comes out of it I may make another mold to make smaller cones but that wouldn't be until probably the middle of summer. Are you wanting a cone or a mold? I don't think I would be interested in building a mold to sale, sorry.
|
Posted By: fishoutawater
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 9:41pm
|
I was curious about the process to make a mold. Depending on the size you make this summer I might be interested. Plan on setting up a 75 gal soon. ------------- Some day, when I grow up,... |
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: February 22 2010 at 10:34pm
|
The next one would be a 7-8 inch base and 3-3.5 neck powered by Tunze pump. That probably won't be till May or June
|
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 9:56pm
new twist lock flange.
 |
Posted By: thefu
Date Posted: March 01 2010 at 11:39pm
|
Unreal. I would just like to document on video how you do this...not because I think any one else could do it, just to share the enjoyment of seeing how it is done with others. This fabrication is unbelievable.
|
Posted By: tcfab
Date Posted: March 02 2010 at 8:11am
|
well thank you very much
|