Now is a good time as any to start breaking down the micro areas of running a barebottom tank.
And to lead us off, everybody's favorite (and coincidentally the most expensive) skimming.
Over the years I have owned quite a few skimmers, all of them except the last few were a waste of my money.
It ticks me off.
No real point there, just ranting.
My current skimmer and the last one I retired, before getting the current one, have by far been my favorites.
My last skimmer was a MyReef MR-2 Dual Beckett injector powered by an Iwaki 70.
It was a beast.
Before drilling my sump and powering it with the external Iwaki, I had it fed by a Mag-24, at that time I thought I was really skimming.
But there is nothing like a pressure rated pump to push Becketts.
Shortly after making the pump switch I realized why the
pressure rated pumps are suggested.
Mind you that the Mag-24 puts out 2,000 gph @ 4' of head and the Iwaki 70 puts out 1,500 gph @ 4' head. See how numbers can be misleading.
With the Iwaki on I had to open my gate valve almost all the way, with the Mag 24 it was half way shut.
Anyway, I digress.
Unless you are using one of those massive CC skimmers, my personal belief is that the two best skimmers for the job are a pressure rated pump pushed Beckett or a Re-circulating needlewheel.
I have used both and cureently use a Deltec recirculating needlewheel.
Both of these skimmers have their Pro's and Con's.
These Pro's and Con's are from my personal experiences and I acknowledge that our experiences may differ.
The Pro's of the Becketts are their raw power.
In this area needlewheels don't compete yet.
With this power comes unparalleled ability to lift larger, solid, particles up the riser tube into the skimmer cup.
This Pro is also a Con of Becketts. With such power, they tend to coat the necks of themselves in sludge rather quickly, meaning a great deal of time cleaning them, unless you are a slacker.
The second Con of Becketts is their neediness. As the neck gets coated, even minorly, their production (bubble height) falls off rapidly.
So messing with air input and water output becomes a daily chore.
The final Con on my list is cost. You can purchase a good Beckett skimmer with a top quality pressure rated pump for about $800. Plus or minus depending on brands. And in our world, that ain't too bad.
The cost problem comes in with the cost of operating the skimmer.
You got to have that pump, there is no feeding a Beckett through an overflow. And though the cost of the pump isn't all that bad, the cost of running them is.
To properly power a
dual Beckett skimmer in my area ($.09/kW) would cost $264.96 per year where a large needle wheel skimmer with two recirculating pumps costs $109.32 per year, a $155.64 per year savings on juice.
It isn't that simple though.
The number one Con of a good needlewheel skimmer is upfront costs.
Deltecs, Euroreefs, Bubblekings etc. can easily reach, and often exceed $1,000. One of the most popular Deltec models, the AP-702 costs $1,763.00. So to make up the difference between upfront costs and electrical usage would take between 5-6 years in this scenario.
One thing to remember about needlewheel skimmers is that they are not all created equally.
Type of acrylic used (cast -v extruded), type of recirculating pumps used, type and design of needlewheels used, air intake valves, output flow valves and more make up not only the ease of use, customability but also the performance of the skimmer.
I currently own a Deltec and I love it. Not for the name but for its skimming ability and its tweak-ability.
I have owned a Euro-reef in the past, and though satisfied, it is not in the league of my current skimmer by far.
Much like the Mag-24/Iwaki scenario.
The newer generation of needlewheels easily allow you to adjust bubble size giving the user a close to comparable ability to remove larger particulate matter like Beckett skimmers.
The one major area where needlewheels outshine Becketts is their plug-n-play, set-n-forget ability.
After breaking the skimmer in, setting, and tweaking it to your input flow, how wet/dry you want to skim etc., the only thing you need to do is empty the cup (or bucket if you get one with a drain) and clean the cup on ocassions.
There is no need to tweak outflow, air intake etc.
Where they may not be as powerful, it is nice to kick back and look at the tank sometimes instead of fiddling with it always.
Next, we will talk about skimmate.
