GPH for a Becket Skimmer?

[Bcollins111900]

I am looking at purchasing a GEO becket skimmer for my 220 but have a few questions. What sort of pump would work best for this skimmer? The skimmer will be out of sump. The skimmer is rated for a 400 gallon tank. Also how does air enter the skimmer? I have a GEO re-circ skimmer now that is gravity fed which is a nice set it and forget it skimmer. Any help would be great.

[RGibson]

You will need a Iwaki MD55RLT pump

[Bcollins111900]

am i looking for pump with high pressure, high GPH?

[RGibson]

Iwaki is a high pressure high flow pump ,best pump to run a beckett.

[RokleM]

No offense, but there's no way for RGibson to make a call on pump size (let alone a specific model) without knowing the size of the skimmer (unless you're buying the skimmer from him). That's like me recommending 400w halides on your tank without any further details, then finding out you have a nano It also depends if you're going for the more water less air, or more air less water strategy. GEO has numerous sizes from little guys to massive units. I have a GEO Beckett I'm testing that likely will work well with a 50 to 100 PX from panworld. Some of the guys run 200-250PS pumps. If George is making it new, see what his recommendation is. If it's used, see what the previous owner recommends.

The black mini chamber on the right is where air is sucked in.

[tkeracer619]

A general rule of thumb is 800gph minimum at the operating head pressure and most companies that offer beckett skimmers recommend the 55rlt or a pump similar in flow to a Iwaki 55RLT. The smaller skimmers use the same beckett but sometimes recommend a smaller pump. You can easily use the bigger pump on the smaller skimmer and will get better results. You can get a beckett to work with a smaller pump, it just won't operate to capacity.

[RokleM]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

A general rule of thumb is 800gph minimum at the operating head pressure and most companies that offer beckett skimmers recommend the 55rlt or a pump similar in flow to a Iwaki 55RLT. The smaller skimmers use the same beckett but sometimes recommend a smaller pump. You can easily use the bigger pump on the smaller skimmer and will get better results. You can get a beckett to work with a smaller pump, it just won't operate to capacity.

[rant on] (please don't take it personally)

I see where you're going, but always listening to the companies isn't the best way to go As well, there's something to be said for wasted wattage going with an inefficient use of a large pump throttled back.

I've seen becketts that are <24", and I've seen them 5-10 feet. Any clue what the one Bcollins111900's is purchasing is? Do you think the exact same pump is applicable to both situations? No, I don't think so, yet recommendations are made without basic info.

I don't claim to be an expert, as a matter of fact I'm a newbie in the area. Honestly, that's a good thing, because as I was researching beckett's, there is SO MUCH "it has to be this way" with no justification or reasoning. Many of years of needlwheel use (from 10" skimmers to skimmers larger than many people's tanks) has forced me to adapt and find the best way to get the most out of skimmers. I'm starting the same thing with becketts and am quickly not finding justification for many of the somewhat good ole boy "required" setup, and a number of things that just outright make no sense at all.

A good example that I've found so far is exactly what you've stated. 800gph minimum. That implies that under 800gph, the beckett nozzle is somehow impaired to the point it no longer operates efficiently or just outright shuts off. That is also ironic as many pumps have a drastically different power/head/gph curve. Truth be told, I've brought mine down to 50% flow (~400gph) with only a 10% decrease in power and 10-20% decrease in SCFH. I'm also testing the thought process behind wet/dry skimming, amount of water and processing speed, etc.

So before I got on my rant... my real point is we as a reefkeeping community (and this happens across all aspects from lighting to skimmers) need to stop just blatantly throwing out answers without justification or even the most basic background information (which isn't present in this case). Sometimes we need to step back, and realize "what we know" may just be the default answer because people keep spewing out what they've read in the past and might actually be outright wrong, outdated, or just plain stupid No disrespect intended, honestly, just my thoughts (and hope to encourage others to think independently as well).

[rant off]