Why is coralife not as efficient as an ASM skimmer?

[chris009]

My salt water fish dealer is telling me that the Coralife 220 removes all of the organic waste from his tank. He told me that getting a better model isn't required. I am going to be getting a 90 gallon reef tank with a 39 gallon sump/refugium. Do I need to go with the better brand? If so, can you explain why one model is better than the other?

 

[sly]

As far as I can tell, those skimmers look very similar. Both are venturi needle wheel skimmers about the same size... Usually efficiency has to do with reaction time. You want the bubbles to react with the water for as long as possible before they rise up to the collection cup. This increases the amount of proteins which attach each bubble which in turn increases the sludge that is pulled from your water.
The needle wheel is designed to aid the venturi by splitting the bubbles up into much smaller pieces. This increases the surface contact area. Seeing as how both skimmers are similarly built, I would assume that any increased efficiency that the ASM may have may be due to either a better pump design or needle wheel. A taller reaction chamber will also increase reaction time. If you already have the 220, I don't really see much reason to upgrade to an ASM...

 

[snakeblitz33]

Hehehe, if you are going to have approximately 129gal. of water and you might want to upgrade in the future, get yourself a nice berlin protein skimmer. (only ranked for 250gal. tanks and up) Doesn't hurt to get the best you possibly can now, so you won't have to worry about it later.
I don't have a skimmer on my 90gal. and only have a fuge. It's been working great for the last year or so, no problems. Just keeping up with water changes! Happy reefing!

 

[hammerhed7]

an ASM G3, or octopus needlewheel will kick the stuffing out of a coral life 220. I have a CSS on my 220 f/o (due to being told the same thing) I have an ASM Mini on my 46 reef that pulls more than the CSS. I find the CSS a pain, very sensitive to water level, and in need of constant adjustment, but for the price it is a decent skimmer. however this is only my opinion. I am replacing my skimmer soon with either an octopus or ASM.