Let's talk about skimmers

[MarkoD]

The big bashsea skimmer I has was by far the best I've ever used. Maybe check them out. They make various sizes

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

The big bashsea skimmer I has was by far the best I've ever used. Maybe check them out. They make various sizes

Looks like there stuff is all thumb screws, not very convenient.

[xenon]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I would consider Deltec, although the review I just watched has me rethinking

Research every brand and you will find bad reviews.

I can only go by my own personal experience and their performance is shocking.

I use the bigger Deltec skimmers on our 600g coral beds but I am planning to order the smaller models for some demo systems for our showroom.

[Aquattro]

I think the Deltec performance is great, but the pieces were falling off and breaking

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Dom, something that tall will outperform anything else around. If I had a sump room, I'd be using a 6' air driven skimmer.

Ah yesss, old skool, non? Somezing like zees? My tank is sans sump, zee pleasures of sumpless has avantage, oui? Not tall like 6', mais tall enough mes amis.... and veree quiet... low power...



Pardon, mes amis, I have perhaps enjoyed too much vin blanc avec mon diner??? S'il vous plait, continuer la discussion. Ach du lieber...

[Dez]

Ever since I got rid of my Beckett skimmer due to change of return pump, I've been running a skimz skimmer. I am happy with it. I set it and forget. I would say that I have a decent enough bio load. I believe it's a 250 model running on over 300 gals water volume. I basically sold my Beckett and added $50 to buy my skimz skimmer used. I hate maintenance, so it was a decent choice for me. I love the twist off top with only about 1/2" clearance needed to take the cup off.

[TimT]

Hi Brad,

I have never been a fan of pin wheel impellers and cavitating a pump. Cavitating a pump is inherently destructive and I think this is what we are seeing by the amount of pump motor failures. By cavitating a pump I am referring to injecting air into the inlet.

I have used mazzei injectors in the past on several skimmers and they work way better than a beckett etc. I presently use an ETSS downdraft skimmer with an external pump. No moving parts in the skimmer.... yay. Been running flawlessly for 8 years with ozone.

My recommendation is to mod one of the existing bodies you have to accept a 3/4 barb or female adapter, get a mag 6 to 9 pump and I think I still have a used 3/4" mazzei I can set you up with. Put a ball valve in between the pump and mazzei and your good to go.

Cheers,
Tim

[Skim]

I know this post is a few months old but I thought I would put my 2 cents in as I am looking for a skimmer again. I went back and gave a quick read through Advanced Aquarist test on skimmers and found it to be quite eye opening when it comes to skimmers.
Feature Article: Further Studies on Protein Skimmer Performance

To put it a nut shell NO MATTER WHAT SKIMMERS TESTED only 25 to 30% of TOC was removed, From BK's to RO NBW 150 it came down to how fast the TOC where removed. So the myth on 1 size up I think just went out the window and no matter how big or how many recirculating pumps it will not remove more. So with that said I think we should reverse are thinking and look at getting a skimmer rating that the lite bio-load falls into the size of the tank volume and is reliable ( good quiet pump and good needle wheel if it has one ) and use GAC to remove more of the bio-load ( TOC ) as it removes 65% to 90% of the TOC in the system. This is because only certain Organics will stick to air bubbles.
It does make you wonder about the that question that keeps crawling up are we over skimming, in the sense that we are throwing money out the window for skimmers that look more like pieces of art. I believe the skimmer that removed the TOC was a Air driven PM skimmer.
Anyhow just wanted to post this to give people something to think about and next time you see a post that says " my skimmer will out skim any skimmer " you can say no it will skim what all the others will 25% to 30% it just may do it faster.
Something to think about.

All the best.

Mike

[Aquattro]

Mike, I think the "faster" part is important. If I'm doing large water changes every x days, and skimmer A is faster at removing than skimmer B, then by the time I change water on day x, I end up with less TOC in the water column. No?

I also agree that a tall airstone driven skimmer will outperform any other under tank model available.

[RDNanoGuy]

Skimmer sizing is a huge debate. Most skimmers are rated by how much water can be processed in a given amount of time similar to turnover rates for sumps. Most manufacturers use 3 times the system volume per hour for normal or medium bioload.

As the article referenced above shows, over skimming a tank is a myth. When the total TOC's in the water column fall below a certain amount the skimmer simply stops being able to produce a foam head that can reach the collection cup. When the TOC's rise again the foam head will build again and be able to reach the top of the cup and be removed.

In my opinion a skimmer is properly sized when it reliably skims but periodically stops. If it is constantly foaming it's not keeping up with the TOC production in tank and should be upsized.