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20K views 71 replies 10 participants last post by  Salty Tom 
#1 ·
LOOKING FOR SOME INFO ON A Environmental Tower Skimmer

HAS ANYONE EVER USED ONE?

ARE THEY ANY GOOD?

IWAKI 70RLT GOOD OR BAD??

I AM LOOKING AT A 5 OR 6 FOOT ONE MY BUDDYS GOT FOR SALE BUT I WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THEM BEFORE I DISH OUT THE CASH

O AND YA HOW MUCH SHOULD I PAY FOR ONE IN GOOD SHAPE?
 
#5 ·
I have several running. They skim like crazy if you have the right pump, must be pressure rated unless you're talking a reef devil. I don't know how you are going to plumb it.... On a larger sys, I run the ETSS 900 with a Blue Line 55. If you were going to go with the 1000, which is the 6' downdraft column, you may be good with the 70. If you have any questions, just call Gary at AE Tech, he knows his stuff and is the patent holder/owner.... Great skimmer, can't say anything bad about them other than due to the air they suck in, they can be on the loud side of things.

FWIW, I also am breaking in a dual beckett on the same system with the same pump. I've got both becketts wide open, and while close, the ETSS is pulling in more air. Let me know if this answered your questions or PM me for more info.
 
#7 ·
Honestly I had an ETSS skimmer and I would not touch another. For one I am not partial to the constant adjustments that a beckett skimmer requires as well as the constant cleaning. The are loud and fairly inefficient as well as inconsistent (as any other beckett.) What size tank are you looking to put it on? You are more than likely going to be better off with some type of recirc skimmer unless you are doing a VERY large tank.
 
#8 ·
ETSS are not becketts, they're downdrafts style so I'm not sure what you're trying to say. ETSS are very efficient, I'm getting 50-60 SCFM through mine. I've never had to tinker with it. I also run Becketts and do not have to tinker with them, and am getting about 25 SCFM through each Beckett. As far as inconsistent, I've found the opposite. The ETSS loses it's foam when feeding an oily food. My Becketts do as well, so would any skimmer, oil disrupts the surface tension. I do find that becketts, relative to downdrafts, start foaming again a little faster.
 
#9 ·
The one I had was a downdraft with a beckett injector... I guess I do not what their hole product line consists of by downdraft by itself is pretty lousy in my opinion. I took out the beckett injector on mine and it just blew... I will not debate beckett vs. recirc if you have owned both I am sure you will never own a beckett again.
 
#10 ·
You didn't have an ETSS then, they do not put becketts on their skimmers. I know there's a thread about putting a beckett on a downdraft skimmer on RC. If you took out the beckett, did you have the bio balls in the tower? If not, then you weren't doing anything. I will only use downdrafts or becketts, if it's a needlewheel then I'd go BK.
 
#12 ·
It was an ETSS... almost any downdraft can be and should modded with a beckett injector. I tried with and without the bioballs. I tried a various number of balls. It ran best with about half of the normal amount of bio-balls when the beckett injector in. Without the beckett it pretty much just blew in comparison, no matter how many bio-balls I used.
 
#11 ·
How much your gonna pay for it is probably the biggest pro or con. If cheap enough you could easily justify the large pump and electiricity to drive it. However, if it isn't much more to get a needle-wheel style skimmer that is appropriately sized well, I'd likely choose that option.
 
#14 ·
ya i guess we would need to know what model he was looking at and how much it was. i missed the fact that it is a 5 or 6 foot model . that probably performs drastically different than the one i had and being that big it is obviously going in it's own room so the noise is a bit less of a concern.

if it was cheap enough I guess I'd toy with the idea but it would be hard to sway me away from the needle wheel skimmers .
 
#18 ·
Not sure what model it was exactly, I will try to find pics of it so I can see what model it was. It was quite some time ago. I tried using a Iwaki 55rlt, a Mak4, Mag12, & Mag9.5.... not a huge difference from one to the next but I ended up using the mag12 long term.

Have you ever owned a recirc skimmer???
 
#15 ·
I have and older 1000 about 5' tall and it rocks. I am using a sequence marlin to drive it, and am very happy with the performance. It did seem to take me about a month to get it tuned in, but now I like it just as much as my euro reef!!!!
 
#20 ·
I wouldn't use any Mag on a downdraft or beckett, they're not pressure rated. I can not speak for the Mak 4, never used it. Did you mod the ETSS to include the beckett, or did you buy it used? Not specifically knowing what the mod did, if not done well, that could be a huge impact.

I've used them with iwasaki's and they work well. The only 'mod' I've done with ETSS is added a flexible air hose with a gate value. Again, there are few skimmers that can pull in that kind of air and I experimented with adjusting/reducing the air. In the end, I left them wide open.
 
#25 ·
I wouldn't use any Mag on a downdraft or beckett, they're not pressure rated. I can not speak for the Mak 4, never used it. Did you mod the ETSS to include the beckett, or did you buy it used? Not specifically knowing what the mod did, if not done well, that could be a huge impact.
Well... There is only one place you can put a beckett and for the most part a beckett is a beckett is a beckett, so I think it is safe to say the mod was done right. I bought it used with the beckett mod already in place. As far as if the mod was done "well" or not is irrelevant because without it the skimmer simply was lousy and with the mod it was a little less lousy.:doh:
 
#21 ·
The pump does draw about 300 watts but compared to the 380watts that the iwaki that etss recommends it is not that bad. Yes these skimmers need big pumps to get good performance, but I think that they do a good job with very little maint. I know I would not want to clean 5-6 needle wheels on a regular basis.

I think it comes down to personal opinion.

Some people are convinced that recirculating needle wheel skimmers are the best their is. To those people I say great use your skimmers and love them. I Personally have both a needle wheel and a down draft and I like them equally. I can say that the maint on the etss is about an 1/8 of what it is on my euroreef.
 
#22 ·
The pump does draw about 300 watts but compared to the 380watts that the iwaki that etss recommends it is not that bad. Yes these skimmers need big pumps to get good performance, but I think that they do a good job with very little maint. I know I would not want to clean 5-6 needle wheels on a regular basis.

I think it comes down to personal opinion.

Some people are convinced that recirculating needle wheel skimmers are the best their is. To those people I say great use your skimmers and love them. I Personally have both a needle wheel and a down draft and I like them equally. I can say that the maint on the etss is about an 1/8 of what it is on my euroreef.
They are hungry aren't they?!? :) I've tried them all as well and will stick to the etss and becketts. Though I see a BK in my future....
 
#27 ·
It is the air intake that needs cleaning. I have to clean the passage about once a month. The needle wheel I clean about every 6 months just to ensure good performance.

A true etss is not a becket skimmer, so their should be no cleaning of a becket.

I am wondering what model you had? If the performance was lousy I can only think that you had to small of a pump driving it. What size pump were you using?
 
#28 ·
It is the air intake that needs cleaning. I have to clean the passage about once a month. The needle wheel I clean about every 6 months just to ensure good performance.

A true etss is not a becket skimmer, so their should be no cleaning of a becket.

I am wondering what model you had? If the performance was lousy I can only think that you had to small of a pump driving it. What size pump were you using?
see previous posts but I tried using a Iwaki 55RLT, Mak4, Mag9.5, & Mag12... THe difference between them was VERY minimal. In the end I just used the mag12. The Iwaki produced the same as the mag12 with or without the Beckett, no matter how many bioballs I used in either instance. Again totally irrelevant since the bottom line is the skimmer was lousy unless I put the Beckett on it and then it was a just a little less lousy.
 
#30 ·
Ok, just for clarification I was pointing out that ETSS are not beckett skimmers for the thread originator not for you trodder. I do relize that yours had a beckett. You never did tell me what model it was, do you know the model? Maybee how tall it was? All that aside, At first I was not happy with mine either, then after about a month whalaaaaa It works and man it stinks up the house. So that said I think mine performs very well.
 
#32 ·
It is a venturi type thing that was original created for ponds but used with a pressure pump it was found to be generate lots of fine bubbles. It has real narrow passage looks like an arrow shaped thing inside with a ball the gets easily clogged with the slightest size rock or snails.

As far as skimmer evolution goes, first there were airstone, then venturi, then downdraft, then beckett, and now needlewheels pretty much dominate new skimmer market.
 
#38 ·
As far as skimmer evolution goes, first there were airstone, then venturi, then downdraft, then beckett, and now needlewheels pretty much dominate new skimmer market.
Rather than evolution, sequence of commercialization may be a better term. Which market would you say that they dominate? By using evolution, some may take it that you mean 'effectiveness'. Most large commercial systems, use counter-currents or venturi. I wouldn't say they dominate the individual reefer market either. I know as many non-NW owners, as NW owners.

Each has their own pros and cons.
 
#39 ·
for the average hobbyist price, noise, size, heat and electrical use are some of the biggest concerns . A combination of these can out weight efficiency of removing waste for many of us. I only owned their cheapest model so I'm not sure how the other ETSS skimmers compare against the competition on these concerns.

as far as evolution goes . I would say that the needle wheel skimmers do a good job at filling most of these needs and to a quality job at removing waste.
 
#43 ·
Yes, there is another company that makes them other than AE Tech. AE Tech holds a patent for the downdraft principle, I don't know how the other company got around this though. I think the product is called predator. I think this also limited why the skimmers aren't use more, there's one (two if you count the other, smaller company) place to get them. It's kind of like VHS-Betamax, older Apple vs Wintel, but that's just my opinion (like everything else:) )
 
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