va2kgt
New Member
No one every really does product reviews, but i think it would be a good idea to have a section for them. Anyways id just like to tell you guys what i think about my via aqua multi skimmer deluxe. When i first got it open, i thought, oh crap, what have i bought now, as it looked strange sitting in a bunch of pieces. When i finally got it assembled (which took longer than it should have beceasue the directions were poor and didnt have diagrams) it set neatly on the back of my tank, and the clear intake tube was almost invisible against my colorful background, a design feature that i like much better than the flat black marineland and other tubes. The unit is described as a "fully adjustable" venturi skimmer, producing more bubbles than any other skimmer in its class. When i plugged it in, i expected it to start right up, but you have to manually prime it with a little primer thingy on top. It took a few attampts to get the water flowing because i didnt know what i was doing, but now i can start it faster than my penguin 330 takes to start itself. The skimmer also comes with a 5 watt sterilizer and a chemical filtration slot. The sterilizer seems to be a bit underpowered for my tank, and the flow rate (they say 200 gph) is probably too fast to kill many protazoans, but i must say that before i got it my tank always had some sort of disease and since then there has been none. But as for product performance of the skimmer, i couldnt be happier with the crud it pulls out. and the foam always bubbles out dry and collects in the top to form a nice dark green sludge that i am happy to pour out about every 3 days. The skimmer started pulling stuff out INSTANTLY, no waiting, and filled the cup in almost no time. The biggest downsides to this skimmer though are 1st, the noise, and second, the tiny bubbles. The noise from the bubbles and powerhead were easyl baffled by using some standard toilet paper (i found charmin ultra to do the job quite well...yes that was a joke). i stuffed it into the chamber that the powerhead was in and it cut the noise tremendously. Second, i taped over the vents in the side and now i can barely hear it. It is now much quieter than some seaclones and others i have heard after a little makeshift silencing. Before the silencing though, it sounded like someone was mowing the lawn in my room, now the noise gets drowned out by my ceiling fan on low. As for the bubbles, since the skimmer is a hang on tank deign, if the water conditions ever change a small amount of bubbles are present and are not usually noticed. I made the mistake of using melafix with the skimmer on and that wasnt good. The bubbles usually disaapear withen a few hours of any water changes or chemicals added and are never very distracting at their worst (i have seen MUCH worse coming from cpr backpacks all the time, while the via aqua produces only some from time to time). The bubbles are also easily baffled by placing foam or the carbon cartrige into the chemical filtration slot. For all the features of the product, it does a good all around job, but no job is dont extremely well or without some sort of drawback.
Pros - Great skimmer, starts skimming instantly, UV sterilizer seems to control disease and algae, includes room for chemical and bio filtration as well, clear plastic is easy to monitor performance from the outside and intake tube is nearly invisible from the inside, relatively inexpensive (compared to buying all items seperately), VERY EASY TO ADJUST for super dry to super wet foam depending on your tank conditions. easy to empty collection cup, attractive design. no problems as of yet.
Cons- Noisy out of the box, homemade baffling GREATLY reduces noise to a quiet almost unnoticeable "buzz" (basically just the sound of the bubbles dissolving in the venturi). Sterilizer could be more watts for the application (up to 80 gallons but i wouldt only use it on a 55 and below for best results). Poor directions and can be tricky to learn how to prime at first. replacement cartriges probably wont be available at your lfs. sometimes microbubbles are present when water conditions change.
i would rate this product a 4/5 mainly for its versatility and all around good performance. If all you need is a skimmer than there may be a more efficient product, but if you need a decent skimmer and would like a few extras with the hang on tank design this ones for you. im extremely pleased as it fits my application well. From mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration, while tackling skimming and sterilizing, this skimmer does it all. With only a few minimal drawbacks, the pros by far way out the small cons.
hope this helps anyone interested, feel free to ask any questions
