Ok ladies and gents... for summer 2013 the fish room is undergoing some changes/upgrades. Here is Part 1... new protein skimmer!
No more cones, no more needle wheels, no more new fads, no more hassles!
d2mini is going old skewl with the tried, true and relatively unchanged LifeReef SVS3-30 venturi skimmer. Just got it a few days ago and first impressions are good! I'm coming from a Vertex Alpha 250 so that is my comparison. I can say that this LifeReef skimmer is built very well, easy to assemble, and it so simple... just one knob to adjust! All you do is set the water height inside the skimmer body using the gate valve and walk away. This is the only thing that ever needs adjustment. No more balancing acts. Even the water height in the sump is not part of the equation. Just make sure it's below the output of the skimmer. It took just over 12 hours for the skimmer to start producing foam in the neck... quicker than expected. Within 24 hours I already had a solid 1/4" of dark skim in the 8" diameter collection cup.
I also had the ozone kit added (another Summer of 2013 upgrade coming soon). Two great things about using ozone with this skimmer.
For one, the contact time in this skimmer is longer than most other skimmers.
Second, any unused ozone is reintroduced back into the skimmer. None of it escapes out of the collection cup.
So far my new LifeReef skimmer has been making skim for less than 36 hours.
So more comments to come as I get to know it better. But so far I am impressed, not only with the skimmer but the man behind it. Jeff was real easy to work with both on the phone and through emails and seems to make a real quality product and backs it up with great customer service.
Meanwhile, here are some pics.
Out of the box, hooked up and running, first foam in the neck and finally a shot of that dark black poo.
