Skimmer Questions

[CleveYank]

Jakano, my clogging is salt creep. And the other two skimmers were comercial units, while the other is a DIY that would = a Precision Marine Bullet 3.7 (it pulls pretty good) if they made one. Problem is I'm running up to the 800 gallon mark soon...anyway. I run my venturis practically wide open since it's a fish basement and not a wing on the upstairs so noise be dammed and I find the 4 holes on the beckett get clogged. Maybe running HER wide open is the issue but I needs my olive green skimmate water. And since I'm running VSV and heavy I need the skimmer pulling the most air it can.

 

[Mantis]

Both types of skimmers work well and it's hard to say which is better because there are so many variables. I used to run 2 six inch diameter becket skimmers on my system, now I run one monster Needlewheel.

Beckets process more water, higher turnover rate, use more electricity and have a shorter bubble contact time.

Needlewheel, much lower electrical use, longer contact time but don't process as much water.

I think my Beckets were easier to set-up initially but my Needlewheel skimmer requires less maintenance.

My electrical consumption went from 700 watts for the dual beckets to 150 watts for the needlwheel.

Here is my current skimmer

 

[jh2pizza]

None of the becketts clog as much as the stones and mazzi's, but clog with salt at the air input site nonetheless.

With what, rock salt? This thing has a 1/2" hole with no valves. running 2 years and never had to " Flush" anything on the air intake.

 

[hollback]

With what, rock salt? This thing has a 1/2" hole with no valves. running 2 years and never had to " Flush" anything on the air intake.

I have never had to clean mine either.

 

[CleveYank]

With what, rock salt? This thing has a 1/2" hole with no valves. running 2 years and never had to " Flush" anything on the air intake.

2 Years???
May as well be rock salt. If I don't flush it my air input can drop almost a 1/4. (Guessing there just from lower bubble input). And this results in lower skimmate output. I wonder if the input into the beckett is not the issue so much as the ozone interacting with the water at the beckett injection site and causing the salt ceep? Or the valve and elbow combo at the injection site. Hmmm, Well enough thread hijacking, gonna have to tinker.

 

[jakano]

Well back to BC's original question. I think Ken pretty well summed it up and his recommendation of the msx is spot on. Every new needle wheel skimmer on the market is powered by an askoll 1500 and some kind of custom volute. The pump is what's important the body is kind of just a bubble holder. As long as the neck is big enough to handle all the air those pumps make it's a good skimmer. So for the price the MSX can't really be beat as far as a needle wheel goes. I still feel a Beckett works better but if this is going under a stand then I would go with a needle wheel for sure. A Beckett is very loud since they suck so much air. Canarygirl my skimmer is a Geo needlewheel skimmer that I had him build for me and after a while I converted it to a Beckett skimmer. I don't have any pics of it though. If that tells you anything, I ran this skimmer with an Askoll 1500 with a custom volute and I switched it to a Beckett.

 

[sammie]

I've had that problem with my needle wheel skimmer. I would have to run a drill bit in the venturi about every couple of weeks to keep it from being restricted. The beckett runs wide open and dosen't need flushed. I wonder if your intake is to small or has some fitting in it that is restricting the flow. Thew only issue I have like that is having amplopod shells getting stuck in the beckett.

 

[RokleM]

Skimmer design has a huge factor on that though Bill. For example, a 1/2" barb is the smallest spot in my venturi. Little to no room to get clogged at all.

None the less, one of those things that should be checked every once in a while.