[Skim]

I know this post is a few months old but I thought I would put my 2 cents in as I am looking for a skimmer again. I went back and gave a quick read through Advanced Aquarist test on skimmers and found it to be quite eye opening when it comes to skimmers.
Feature Article: Further Studies on Protein Skimmer Performance

To put it a nut shell NO MATTER WHAT SKIMMERS TESTED only 25 to 30% of TOC was removed, From BK's to RO NBW 150 it came down to how fast the TOC where removed. So the myth on 1 size up I think just went out the window and no matter how big or how many recirculating pumps it will not remove more. So with that said I think we should reverse are thinking and look at getting a skimmer rating that the lite bio-load falls into the size of the tank volume and is reliable ( good quiet pump and good needle wheel if it has one ) and use GAC to remove more of the bio-load ( TOC ) as it removes 65% to 90% of the TOC in the system. This is because only certain Organics will stick to air bubbles.
It does make you wonder about the that question that keeps crawling up are we over skimming, in the sense that we are throwing money out the window for skimmers that look more like pieces of art. I believe the skimmer that removed the TOC was a Air driven PM skimmer.
Anyhow just wanted to post this to give people something to think about and next time you see a post that says " my skimmer will out skim any skimmer " you can say no it will skim what all the others will 25% to 30% it just may do it faster.
Something to think about.

All the best.

Mike