by Robert Loren | Jun 7, 2013 | Corals, DIY, Equipment, Fish, Science, Tanks
The majority of us know at least one fellow reefer who swears by dosing his/her reef aquarium with vodka. This seemingly counterintuitive act is often believed to have beneficial effects on the overall health and appearance of one’s reef aquarium.… by AquaNerd | May 29, 2013 | Equipment, Industry
There might be a new fad up and coming in the protein skimmer world, and that’s the use of oval shaped bodies, as opposed to circular ones. Skimz, a popular skimmer maker out of Singapore, has just announced their new Oval Conical skimmer, which morphs the regularly circular shape into, well, an oval. While the design might appear to be a grab for something new and shiny with which to catch the attention of aquarium hobbyists, we actually love the design for many reasons. And the cherry on top of this new design is the very dependable open volute DC controllable pinwheel pump that can also be found on several other brands of skimmers. So what do we like about the oval shape? Look at it this way. If you take a 7″ diameter protein skimmer and squeeze two sides opposite each other a little more closely together, you still have roughly the same volume available, it’s just redistributed differently. So, you’re 7″ diameter body now maybe only takes up 6″ in one direction, but there will be some displacement and the skimmer will become a little wider the other direction. This is convenient for space saving considerations, and Skimz claims a 25% reduction in their skimmers’ overall footprints. The immediate benefit is that crowded sumps can have some relief, allowing for a little more wiggle room in those normally tight spaces. Adding to the allure of this oval skimmer is the use of the open volute concept, by which a pinwheel pump is placed inside the skimmer, facing downward. The skimmer’s base place serves as the pump’s volute, and the impeller is in plain sight underneath the bubble diffusing plate. This design has been gaining in popularity over the past several months, and by looking at videos posted on the Skimz YouTube channel, there’s little mystery why. These pump configurations work, and seem to work very well. The Skimz Oval protein skimmers will be available in three sizes. The smallest model, called the SV203, is rated for aquariums up to 315 gallons (1,200L). It draws in 1200 LPH of air at 19w. The second largest model in the line, the SV223, pushes its capacity over 520 gallons (2,000L) with an air intake of 1800 LPH at a maximum of 35w. The big boy in the lineup, the SV253, really pushes the envelope with its 790 gallon (3,000L) tank rating. It chews up 2400 LPH of air while using up 69w of energy. The Skimz Oval protein skimmer will debut at Aquarama 2013 in Singapore, alongside an updated range DC pump powered products like the new Leopard and Monzter skimmers. Also making its debut is the new OVAL biopellet reactor. Technical feature: Oval conical shape Semi-pipeless design Double cone Integrated volute bubble plate Micro-Adjustable valve Footprint reduced by up to 25% DC pinwheel pump with six preset RPMs and food shutoff timer by Michael Rice | Jan 21, 2013 | Equipment
Recently, Innovative Marine released a new offering in the nano reef aquarium protein skimmer market that they dubbed the Skimmate which comes with a design that’s very familiar, until now, only with larger... by Michael Rice | Jun 4, 2011 | Opinion
Refugiums and skimmers were once the very idea that was breaking the mold, but in the last few years they have become the mold that we all so comfortably fall into. Its when we all start falling into this standard that we should begin trying to push things a little...
