new skimmer

[wtrujillo]

i'm looking to purchase a new skimmer for my 150. I'm currently running a berlin turbo that came with the tank i bought. At some point i'm going to need a new tank so I'd like a skimmer that can handle a tank of 340 gallons.

Which skimmers have you had the best experiences with and which would you recommend?

[Ram_Puppy]

I hve been researching skimmers and skimmer designs like mad these last couple months. From my understanding, and of course I think there is going to be a bit of dissagreement on this (people like what they like) but in my research, it seems like the next wave in skimmers are those that use recirculation pumps.

You have the skimmers that are plain brute force, whether they are becket or or what not, you can identify them by the massive pumps they use to run large volumes of water through the skimmer per hour, these are typically great skimmers that will run the gammut from cheap to euro-reef and so on.

The Recirculation skimmers are newer, the only brands I have seen selling them so far are Deltec, Bubbleking, and I believe Euroreef may have a prototype or is just starting to sell them. These skimmers have a relatively low turn over rate, using smaller pumps to move less water through the skimmer over the course of an hour, they work in such a way that water is injected into the reaction chamber, where one or more circulation pumps (eheim pin wheels for deltec, sedra needle wheels for everyone else) pull the water from down lot in the chamber, and inject it along with air into the mid level of the chamber, with a downward direction. The pump uses a venturi and needle wheel assembly to produce a very fine foam, my understanding is that the deltec's eheim pumps produce finer bubbles than the sedra pumps do. Any how, the water in the reaction chamber is turned over many times before getting returned to the sump, increasing contact time and allowing 'longer chain protiens and amino acids' to bond to the bubbles, it's all about exposure time. (which is why many brute force skimmers have really tall chambers)

Any how, I am by no means a skimmer expert, I am sure fella's like Matt and Alex who build the things know all sorts of chemistry and principles beyond what i have researched, if you can get one of them to build you one, more power to ya. I am currently caught between the urgent desire to try and build one of my own deltec knock offs, finding some one who will do it for me, or giving birth to a wad of cash I don't have and buying a straight up deltec.

[dan]

i'm in need of a skimmer myself. i'm pluming a 350gal now and have no skimmer to run it. i just don't want to buy a skimmer that takes a pump that cost the same as the skimmer. there's got to be a better way.

[NaCl_H2O]

Ram, the Aquamedic Turbofloater 5K models work the way you explained, closed loops for bubble injection. I have had one running for about 4-5 months now and like it a lot. Time will tell if it holds up for years?

[MikeyBoy]

I have the Aquamedic Turbofloater just like NaCL and you should see how much stuff it pulls out of the water.
You can get them with one injection pump or two....
Its VERY impressive.

[Tim Marvin]

Pete is also building some if Alex can't keep up. Pete will build anything you want from acrylic and has years of carpentry background. He does precision work as does the others.

[alexwolf]

actually, pete taught me what i know! Ours are almost the same, he hs more time.

[Tim Marvin]

Well there you have it. Maybe Pete can build them and Alex can sell.

[brewercm]

Alex sell, Nahhhh. :lol

[::pete::]

he hs more time. :huh

I dont know about the more time part. Between work and the kids ... I just get it done. ;)

[don-n-sa]

This is the skimmer that I have for my 240...I swear by this thing it works awesome...not cheap though and it takes a high quality pump but man it works. It goes to show that you do not need a 10 foot tall skimmer to kkep a healthy reef.

http://www.superskimmer.com/etss_800.htm

[NaCl_H2O]

It goes to show that you do not need a 10 foot tall skimmer to kkep a healthy reef.

It is only 7 feet tall ;)

But it is really cool 8) to have a skimmer that doubles as a significant piece of furniture :D

[matt]

I don't really know much about the recirculating skimmers, but my (former) beckett skimmers had pretty good contact time, due to their size, and the design in which foamy water, more laden with organics, is pushed up in the tube with centrifigal force while the cleaner, less foamy, therefore heavier water would drain down and out the middle of the tube. I observed this on several occasions by hooking the skimer up to a sump, dumping in some food, and watching as the food particles would get attached to foam and keep swirling around rising in the tube, sometimes staying in there for a few minutes, even as cleaner water was draining out.

My initial foray into skimmer construction really led me to believe that size is a significant factor in skimmer design. The best ones I built were the taller ones; like 24" tube for single becketts and 36-48" for duals. I firmly believe that smaller tube dual becketts are not as effective, because you need ALOT of flow to properly operate 2 becketts, which then means your flow-through rate is high, and conctact time suffers. Regarding pump choice, on my skimmers, pressure rated pumps capable of sustaining even flow through changing pressure was critical. I have a strong feeling that no matter what the design, a pump designed to push the same flow rate regardless of pressure will work better. Unfortunately, this means strong pumps that are expensive and use more electricity.

[captexas]

Euroreef has had the recirculating skimmers for awhile now and they of course cost alittle more. These are the only ER skimmers that can be used outside of a sump. They actually just redid their design on them and I'm waiting for a new 12-2RC model to get here. It has two recirculating pumps and can be fed with any kind of pump you want to put on it depending on the turnover rate you want.

It is crazy trying to decide on a skimmer as there are so many manufacturers and models on the market these days. It is good to look around and talk to people about the different principals involved in each design, but asking which one is better is a loaded question. Everyone has their favorite and some will even fight to the death to defend theirs even though they have no actual experience with other models. If you search on ReefCentral in the equipment forum, evey manufacturer has a fan club. There are lots of helpful tips there for doing modifications to improve performance if you pick one of them.

[GaryP]

I dont know about the more time part. Between work and the kids ... I just get it done.

Ever thought about a child labor skimmer factory?

[::pete::]

I dont know about the more time part. Between work and the kids ... I just get it done.

Ever thought about a child labor skimmer factory?

Several times and then I think of the doctor bills :lol