what kind of in-sump skimmer should i get?
- Thread starter alix2.0
- Start date
alix2.0
Active Member
wow, thanks! i looked it up on google, and it looks great! all or the reviews are excellent, also. i have a question, though. in the product description, it says:
Octopus DNW-150 Recirculating Skimmer by CoralVue.
Specifications:
- 5.85" Diameter
- 26.52" Tall
- Equiped with with needle wheel impeller recirculating pump
- - Requires additional feed pump with gph rating at approx. 1.5 times volume of your system.
- Recommended for aquariums up to 185 gallons
- Footprint 7" x 15"
would this be something like a return pump? i would like to look that these too, since this is looking like the best skimmer ive come across so far for the $. thanks =)
Octopus DNW-150 Recirculating Skimmer by CoralVue.
Specifications:
- 5.85" Diameter
- 26.52" Tall
- Equiped with with needle wheel impeller recirculating pump
- - Requires additional feed pump with gph rating at approx. 1.5 times volume of your system.
- Recommended for aquariums up to 185 gallons
- Footprint 7" x 15"
would this be something like a return pump? i would like to look that these too, since this is looking like the best skimmer ive come across so far for the $. thanks =)
scsinet
Active Member
Originally Posted by alix2.0
http:///forum/post/2875714
ok, talked to some people from my reef club and decided that a maxijet 900 was the way to go as far as a pump goes.
Yes since it's a recirculating skimmer, it has it's own pump to handle the acutal skimming functions, but you still need to feed it water.
I usually "T" off my return pump with a small ball valve to feed recirculating skimmers. A small powerhead like the MJ would also work well.
If you haven't had a recirculator before, beware... they are actually much more expensive than you think if you have more than one tank. You'll love them so much that you'll start replacing any other skimmers you have with them, so you have to take all those other skimmers into account in your cost research.
http:///forum/post/2875714
ok, talked to some people from my reef club and decided that a maxijet 900 was the way to go as far as a pump goes.
Yes since it's a recirculating skimmer, it has it's own pump to handle the acutal skimming functions, but you still need to feed it water.
I usually "T" off my return pump with a small ball valve to feed recirculating skimmers. A small powerhead like the MJ would also work well.
If you haven't had a recirculator before, beware... they are actually much more expensive than you think if you have more than one tank. You'll love them so much that you'll start replacing any other skimmers you have with them, so you have to take all those other skimmers into account in your cost research.
scsinet
Active Member
Regular skimmers of pretty much every other technology (downdraft, beckett, induction, venturi, etc etc) all use the pump that is feeding them with water to create the fractionation (foam/bubbles). This means that the pump feeding the skimmer usually has to be pretty big, and only operates at one flow rate - maximum.
A recirculating skimmer has a feed and a drain. Water gets introduced towards the top of the body, and gets drained out way down at the bottom. While all this is happening, another, seperate pump pulls water from the body, introduces air to produce the foam, usually with a needle wheel or mesh wheel, and rams it back into the skimmer body, usually directed to introduce a vortex current in the chamber. The centrifugal force of the vortex pushes the filth laden foam towards the outside of the chamber, where it rises easily to the top and is dumped off.
IMO it's a superior design in efficiency and it offers much greater control. The dedicated pump is tasked to produce tons of foam, it's not also trying to move water through the skimmer. It's usually external, reducing heat. The use of a separate feedwater pump allows you to set exactly the flow rate through the skimmer that you want.
My big reef has a huge Deltec AP851 running on it... this is a big skimmer, about 3' tall. All of the other skimmers in this range I researched had to have pumps so big that they pulled several hundred watts to run. The Deltec? 45 watts.
A recirculating skimmer has a feed and a drain. Water gets introduced towards the top of the body, and gets drained out way down at the bottom. While all this is happening, another, seperate pump pulls water from the body, introduces air to produce the foam, usually with a needle wheel or mesh wheel, and rams it back into the skimmer body, usually directed to introduce a vortex current in the chamber. The centrifugal force of the vortex pushes the filth laden foam towards the outside of the chamber, where it rises easily to the top and is dumped off.
IMO it's a superior design in efficiency and it offers much greater control. The dedicated pump is tasked to produce tons of foam, it's not also trying to move water through the skimmer. It's usually external, reducing heat. The use of a separate feedwater pump allows you to set exactly the flow rate through the skimmer that you want.
My big reef has a huge Deltec AP851 running on it... this is a big skimmer, about 3' tall. All of the other skimmers in this range I researched had to have pumps so big that they pulled several hundred watts to run. The Deltec? 45 watts.