hi chris,
i havent built the monster skimmer yet...but the internal water level should be no different than that of adjusting a beckett.
i was in the planning stage of it...have all the part no's when this monster i acquired two weeks ago has since been occupying my spare time...getting it cleaned up etc...
the level of my beckett fluctuates a little if my sump volume fluctuates (for various reasons)...i am going to solve this by placing a pvc pipe that keeps the water level exactly the same height regardless of sump water height.
but once the water height in the column is etablished...i dont see why there would be more maintenance than any other skimmer. the new ceramic airstones that drive the whole skimmer are reputed to be far, far superior in longevity than the wooden airstones of past!
the biggest pita would be getting the right amount of air into the skimmer. too much..and your foam is way too wet (how many people do you hear complaining about that) and too little air...well, that doesnt do jack.
why have i fallen back into total favor of counter currents? because the one thing that has eluded control with most beckett, venturi, needlewheel etc skimmers is that you can not increase air input if you wanted...even if you injected air from a large airpump...you will upset the orignal design balance and 'freak' out the skimmer.
in addition, the 'dwell' time that the water to be skimmed can hang in the skimmer for a very, very long time. for example, the 10'x8" skimmer would have a pump that feeds about 700gph to it. for a kimmer of this size, combine it with a constant source of fine bubbles form the airstones...what other better scenario can possible be imagined?
of course, the biggest disadvantage of counter currents is that they really need to be tall to be effective. not everyone has the luxury of having their equipment remotely placed with a 20 foot high or so garage ceiling to place a skimmer in.
have a great saturday!!!
