skimmers

bernie lyons · 03/02/2007, 09:01 PM

I've owned several very high end skimmers in 15 years and the two very best were the H&S 450 external ( 5x eheim pumps /pinwheel) and the MTC HSA-3000 dual beckett.
As far as bubble size the H&S does produce a smaller bubble but the water turnover rate per hour was certainly not as high as the MTC dual beckett . To compare which is better , well let me put some perspective on this : The Very large H&S 450 skimmer has 5 eheim pumps that run at 65watts per pump which equals 325 watts total . The MTC HSA-3000 dual beckett ran on an Iwaki 70 RLT pump which produced 275 watts total . So the beckett ran a little bit more effiecently in terms of hydro . Each skimmer was rated to handle over a 1000 gallon systems that are heavily loaded . In terms of effective skimming well , I once replaced the MTC dual beckett with an 4ft air driven ( 3 -air diffusers ) skimmer for experimental reasons to see whether or not the super fine bubbles from the air driven skimmer would provide a better skim . The system at the time was 260 gallons in total .
Well after two weeks of running my 4ft air driven skimmer on my system it was obviously apparent that it could not keep the tank anywhere as clean and healthy as the big dual beckett skimmer. So off came the air driven skimmer and I set up the MTC beckett back up again !!! Now if bubble size was the only criteria in judging what is considered a more efficient skimmer or a better performing skimmer than we are overlooking other aspects of what makes a skimmer perform well . There is NO dispute as to the FACT that air driven skimmers produce the SMALLEST BUBBLE size of ANY skimmer . including ALL types of pinwheel designs out there (bubble king included) !!! So why did my dual beckett outperfrom my air driven skimmer ? Well , water turnover rate , turbulence at the seperation point at the neck where the foam fractionization takes place , and construction all have a say in building an efficient skimmer design .
So the question is : which is a better skimmer, a deltec or a beckett ? Depends on the overall design and every manufacter has some good designs in their line up and some dogs !
Personally from my experience I would consider the large H&S pinwheel or the dual beckett from MTC !
Cheers
bernie lyons

bernie lyons · 03/02/2007, 09:04 PM

Stupid mistake on my part again !!! This was a response to a htread already opened up - Sorry

03/02/2007, 09:01 PM	#1
bernie lyons Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: mississauga,ontario,can. Posts: 670	skimmers I've owned several very high end skimmers in 15 years and the two very best were the H&S 450 external ( 5x eheim pumps /pinwheel) and the MTC HSA-3000 dual beckett. As far as bubble size the H&S does produce a smaller bubble but the water turnover rate per hour was certainly not as high as the MTC dual beckett . To compare which is better , well let me put some perspective on this : The Very large H&S 450 skimmer has 5 eheim pumps that run at 65watts per pump which equals 325 watts total . The MTC HSA-3000 dual beckett ran on an Iwaki 70 RLT pump which produced 275 watts total . So the beckett ran a little bit more effiecently in terms of hydro . Each skimmer was rated to handle over a 1000 gallon systems that are heavily loaded . In terms of effective skimming well , I once replaced the MTC dual beckett with an 4ft air driven ( 3 -air diffusers ) skimmer for experimental reasons to see whether or not the super fine bubbles from the air driven skimmer would provide a better skim . The system at the time was 260 gallons in total . Well after two weeks of running my 4ft air driven skimmer on my system it was obviously apparent that it could not keep the tank anywhere as clean and healthy as the big dual beckett skimmer. So off came the air driven skimmer and I set up the MTC beckett back up again !!! Now if bubble size was the only criteria in judging what is considered a more efficient skimmer or a better performing skimmer than we are overlooking other aspects of what makes a skimmer perform well . There is NO dispute as to the FACT that air driven skimmers produce the SMALLEST BUBBLE size of ANY skimmer . including ALL types of pinwheel designs out there (bubble king included) !!! So why did my dual beckett outperfrom my air driven skimmer ? Well , water turnover rate , turbulence at the seperation point at the neck where the foam fractionization takes place , and construction all have a say in building an efficient skimmer design . So the question is : which is a better skimmer, a deltec or a beckett ? Depends on the overall design and every manufacter has some good designs in their line up and some dogs ! Personally from my experience I would consider the large H&S pinwheel or the dual beckett from MTC ! Cheers bernie lyons

03/02/2007, 09:04 PM	#2
bernie lyons Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: mississauga,ontario,can. Posts: 670	bump Stupid mistake on my part again !!! This was a response to a htread already opened up - Sorry