Protein Skimmer Selection
- Thread starter madball13
- Start date
DOesn't really matter much. Penn state conducted research 11 years ago and not only didn't find much difference they also noted the skimmer manufacturers didn't have any metric to quantify their claims. Here's a quote from thier paper.
"but no skimmer manufacturer has offered any quantitative support for their claims, in part because no useful metric for skimmer performance exists. In this article, we introduce two different measures for skimmer performance; (1) how fast the skimmer removes organic matter from salt water, and (2) how much of the existing organic material actually is removed" Feldman et al
I think it's telling skimmer manufacterers still have not embraced any method to quantify what their skimmers do. Here's videos of some of my skimmerless systems:
90 Gallon Mixed Reef
https://youtu.be/4t8IjelZwUk
500 gallon
https://youtu.be/_Uf5IyXvajg
Mixed Reef started in 1997, 10-07-19
https://youtu.be/dh_nLhj1QXc
220 Rimless 450 view
https://youtu.be/aCRYfIZs8N8
"but no skimmer manufacturer has offered any quantitative support for their claims, in part because no useful metric for skimmer performance exists. In this article, we introduce two different measures for skimmer performance; (1) how fast the skimmer removes organic matter from salt water, and (2) how much of the existing organic material actually is removed" Feldman et al
I think it's telling skimmer manufacterers still have not embraced any method to quantify what their skimmers do. Here's videos of some of my skimmerless systems:
90 Gallon Mixed Reef
https://youtu.be/4t8IjelZwUk
500 gallon
https://youtu.be/_Uf5IyXvajg
Mixed Reef started in 1997, 10-07-19
https://youtu.be/dh_nLhj1QXc
220 Rimless 450 view
https://youtu.be/aCRYfIZs8N8
clevername
New member
read and research some more or be more intelligent about your questions. Size of tank is just little what we need to know. What fish are you keeping (hopfully no tangs BUT if so they are pigs), live rock, dosing phyto plankton, what foods you feeding (frozen/nori/flakes/pellets), not the most important BUT a huge factor.... what area do you have to fit a skimmer. You also never mentioned any budget so ill assume anything is fine.
to answer your question: a recirculating skimmer is the best skimmer period!
source to back up my opinion
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/content/post/brstv-investigates-single-pump-dc-protein-skimmers
SnowManSnow
Member
Just one to check out... I recently bought the Maxpect Duo Skimmer... I really like it.
moondoggy4
Team RC
It is easy to over skim a 50 gallon tank, so I would get the smaller skimmer like an AquMAxx FC80 I think they call it.
