DIY G4 Skimmer ~$150

So I decided my first DIY SciSkimmer (made from a graduated cylinder and other leftover lab equipment, hence Sci /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/tongue.gif) wasn't doing enough protein sucking.  I was looking for acrylic tubes, but I realized that they are way expensive and I knew I was going to make some mistakes so I decided to go with 6" diameter PVC with an acrylic window.  It's not 360 degree visible, but it still lets you see inside.
Here's the build list:
10ft 6" diameter PVC ~$30 used 21 inches of it... (Ok, 60 inches of it after mistakes, but whose counting?!?)
5ft 1" dia PVC ~2ft used - $5
5ft 2" dia PVC ~6" used - $10
2X 1" dia pvc couplings - $1.50
6" PVC end cap - $6
4" to 2" reducer - $6
1" PVC ball valve - $4
8"x8" acrylic square - $2
2 tubes of black silicon - $20
tupperware collection cup
Sedra 5000 venturi pump - $110
fed by an old maxijet 400
Total including waste ~ $195
Without waste (If I didn't screw up...) ~ $150
So basically what I did is I measured the max available sump height.  Turned out to be 33", so I made the total skimmer height 31" to give me some wiggle room for removing the skimmer cup.  I had to trim down the 6" PVC end cap by an inch to make it fit snugly without having to silicon it on.  I cut a 4" dia hole in the endcap and silicone in the 4 to 2 reducer to make the skimmer to cup transition.  I then cut the 6" dia tube, dremeled out the window and recirculating pump holes, and test fit it all togehter. 
I made two mistakes when cutting the skimmer tube.  The first was that instead of making a window, I just cut a 2" wide strip out of the tube.  Not realizing that there was strain on the pipe, it collapsed by about half an inch after that strip was removed.  That meant that it wouldn't fit snugly in the endcap, so I cut another one and then made a real window, presevering 3" of pipe on the top and bottom to maintain the circular structure of the pipe.  The second mistake I made was I cut the recirculating coupling holes too big.  I wanted to make these fit snugly because I knew that cleaning the skimmer would require removal of the pump and I wanted to be sure the couplings weren't floating around in a silicon seal.  I ended up cutting the holes way smaller and the pounding the couplings in.  It made for a much more stable structure.  Haha, so it's a good thing I bought 10ft of the 6" dia pipe, I only have enough left to make one more skimmer body!
Anyway, here are the pics.  If you want more details or my leftover scraps, reply in this forum so we can discuss it outloud for others to see.