How important is bubble plate?

[buffalo123]

Notice most if not all new skimmers have bubble plates for those who added bubble plates how much improved was your skimmer?
Although bubble plates are becoming standard, by reading old threads online its difficult to say skimmer notice drastic improvement imo.
Bubble plate suppose to reduce turbulence and allow longer dwell time give bubbles more time to pickup contaminates.
So what your results?

 

[ska d]

Can't even run my bubble magus curve 7 without it. Just overflows.

 

[mcgyvr]

You will find little if any "true/proven" answers.. Most of any industry is the "oohh.. I'm not buying that because it doesn't have the bubble plate like brand X does.. it must not be as good" So every manufacturer adds that to keep the sales..


And obviously if you remove portions of your skimmer its not operating as it was designed and adjustments will be required.. but that doesn't mean that bubble plate specifically is making any positive improvements..

 

[buffalo123]

Can't even run my bubble magus curve 7 without it. Just overflows.

The height of skimmers are fairly low already add the pump directly under the skimmer and a 200-300 gph pump and i could see why they would need a bubble plate.

 

[buffalo123]

The height of skimmers are fairly low already add the pump directly under the skimmer and a 200-300 gph pump and i could see why they would need a bubble plate.

You will find little if any "true/proven" answers.. Most of any industry is the "oohh.. I'm not buying that because it doesn't have the bubble plate like brand X does.. it must not be as good" So every manufacturer adds that to keep the sales..


And obviously if you remove portions of your skimmer its not operating as it was designed and adjustments will be required.. but that doesn't mean that bubble plate specifically is making any positive improvements..

When i read threads on the subjects thats seem to be the consensus. Many did gate valve and bubble plate . Most seem to say the gate valve was worthwhile diy and werent sure the bubble plate made much difference.
Most skimmers then were a little bigger than the newer ones coming out now,

 

[Gorgok]

All i can think of with bubble plates is that it blocks/channels your bubbles and, to me, that means that some of the bubbles will merge into larger ones instead of the really fine ones coming out of the pump.

 

[ziggy_dappa]

Have a look at the below vids, he explains a lot about skimmers and bubble plates.

Just move on to the other parts of this video, its 8 parts.


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tXuEebGU9zA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[buffalo123]

Lots of very good info on skimmers I found parts 2 ,4 &5 interesting. He does mention bubble plate in those section. Interesting opinion on the cone shape skimmers. Part 2 talks about the bubble plate.
It appears they don't use bubble plates .
Be nice to see a side by side comparison of the same skimmer one with bubble plate and one without; All other things being equal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v-vCri7Xk4

 

[ca1ore]

Bubble plates just seem like a good way to put head pressure on your pump so that you need to run a bigger pump. No thanks! Only 'mod' or innovation that I have ever found to be really worthwhile is a head cleaner.

 

[uncleof6]

Royal Exclusiv invented the bubble plate to reduce turbulence in short wide bodied skimmers. In these skimmers, turbulence was a large issue, and the bubble plate was put to good use, and these skimmers out performed the competition by a wide margin.

Marketing professional in one loud voice said: "ME TOO!!" and bubble plates became a "must have" upgrade for ALL skimmers. Unfortunately, there was no R & D results to back up the upgrade, rather it was all about: "You need to buy this skimmer," or a NEW skimmer with a bubble plate. Nothing more than a marketing ploy to take advantage of the general ignorance in the mainstream "reefing" hobby.

Of course, the bubble plates did nothing to improve performance of an otherwise well designed skimmer. The manufacturers tried to ride the skirts of Royal Exclusiv in hopes of increasing profits by selling equipment people did not need, and added no benefit. Just another of the many marketing hoaxes within the aquarium hobby.

If you are wondering what a "short bodied wide skimmer" is, here is a Royal Exclusiv example:

Puleezze, lets not make "bubble plates" a huge technical topic, they are useless in the average skimmer for home use. Gate valve YES, bubble plate, don't bother. They are nothing but "me too" technology.

 

[buffalo123]

Thank you Uncle6 for the comment and the picture. Royal Exclusiv bubble plate takes up about 80% of the width and sit very near on the botton. I certainly can see the usefulness of a bubble plate on that skimmer.