Resirc vs no resirc... what gives

[SeanCallan]

What about the SPAZZ Volcano Skimmer,

. It's sure not a deltec, bubble king, or the like but it puts them to shame. And the fiberglass skimmer is rather efficent and the skimmate is nice and creamy, efficeny isn't just about how well something works, but how well something works for the cost of the build, the power draw, and how much it can handle the job it is applied to.

 

Fantastic, you've provided a link to a video on the internet as proof of what exactly?

 

We don't know the size of the tank, the bioload, the cost to build the skimmer, the components, absolutely nothing. You've managed to show that a skimmer can create bubbles and can hold skimmage in the cup. Congrats!

 

For all you know that skimmer is hooked up to a septic tank.

[zygote2k]

I wasn't too impressed with that skimmer either. That's all it pulled out in 4 days? It's definitely bigger so proportionately it should pull out more stuff, but is it really better? I think that if I had to skim 4000 or so gallons, I might be tempted to use an array of smaller skimmers instead of a big beast. Redundancy.

[SeanCallan]

I wasn't too impressed with that skimmer either. That's all it pulled out in 4 days? It's definitely bigger so proportionately it should pull out more stuff, but is it really better? I think that if I had to skim 4000 or so gallons, I might be tempted to use an array of smaller skimmers instead of a big beast. Redundancy.

 

I've never seen that done, but that actually got me thinking. Do you think it would be successful? I don't see why it wouldn't work and it actually would dampen the effects should a skimmer go down for any particular reason.

 

Have you seen that kind of setup before on a commercial scale?

[zygote2k]

When AquaMedic hit the market, the T1000's were only available as part of a complete filter system featuring 2 skimmers. When I installed it on the 380, both skimmers would pull out equal amounts. It also enabled me to fine tune one skimmer against the other. I've seen many LFS's using arrays of skimmers instead of a single large one. Redundancy is better.

If you spend $1500 on a monster skimmer, I'll bet it won't work as well as 8) $200 skimmers on the same system.

[SeanCallan]

When AquaMedic hit the market, the T1000's were only available as part of a complete filter system featuring 2 skimmers. When I installed it on the 380, both skimmers would pull out equal amounts. It also enabled me to fine tune one skimmer against the other. I've seen many LFS's using arrays of skimmers instead of a single large one. Redundancy is better.

If you spend $1500 on a monster skimmer, I'll bet it won't work as well as 8) $200 skimmers on the same system.

 

Would you have the skimmers linked together so the water has to pass through 8 before it's back in the tank or would you have them so all 8 pulled directly from the tank?

[zygote2k]

I thought that if each skimmer emptied into the next, it would be great, but I believe there would be issues regarding feed volume of intake water. Therefore, I'm going with all 8 pulling from the same reservoir. This will allow you to tune each skimmer to its' optimum performance level by working one variable against another.

Edited November 25, 2008 by zygote2k

[ctenophore]

I wouldn't do multiple skimmers on a commercial system because I'd spend all day cleaning skimmers. 5 big ones is bad enough, I can't imagine 40 little ones.

[ctenophore]

I had a recirculating ASM G6 that didn't do nearly the job that the GSA Standard 12 does on my system - even minus one pump currently. I am not a fan of the ASMs after owning one. Not that it doesn't do a sufficient job, but it's not as effective as other skimmers. I think that ASM put out a cheap alternative that was fine for some systems, but it's not enough for my system as I run it. The GSA pulled out probably 8-10x the amount of skimmate as the ASM.

ASM skimmers aren't bad. My last tank (325) had a G4x that did a good job. I had a few big tangs in there too. When I set that tank up, ASM skimmers were the hot new thing, the cheap version of the euro-reef.

[davelin315]

Didn't say they were bad, said that since I've gotten a better skimmer I have seen the difference. The amount of skimmate pulled out and the consistency of it is way better after upgrading. The ASM did the trick, but it wasn't as effective. Also, I had several cheaper skimmers on my system before I upgraded and they didn't do the job that a higher quality skimmer did.