Help us develop the skimmer you want

[Lampshade]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

Mike with this all being said, I know that you are going to choose the right pump. Because in the end its the pump that makes the skimmer.... And the other things assist like easier cleaning ability, quiet, LPH of air, compact. Maybe when thinking about the skimmer we also need a pump that is able to handle the different levels of water in different sumps. IE with the SWC skimmer the 160 Cone a amazing little skimmer it runs at 7 -11" and there really isnt any difference in settings which is really good IME /and IMO.
But what if Mike, we think about not only compact but Girth with the ATI bubble master 250 the body is 8 " or 10 " and the neck is made to a whooping 6 " for easy wipping and a more fat area neck. Like the H&S skimmer.

This is causing the pump not to push the water harder but allowing the contact time to be in the body longer for which what we want and allowing the nutrients to make its way up the neck naturally instead of forcing the bubbles up causing less effectiveenss skimate.

I agree with this 100% I have the ATI 200 and the width of the head and short stocky design allow lots of flow through the skimmer while still allowing a great deal of water/air contact time. Very easy to clean, I can do the whole thing without touching the skimmer cup by sticking my faucet inside the neck and spinning.

Also brings the next issue, Pumps. The ATI uses the sicce 2500's, if the new sicce's have the same startup issues it would be very beneficial to spend a bit more on the better aquabee pump. I know in reefing "spend a little more for better" is common, but i'm a very cheap bastard who DIY's most stuff to save a penny, and I even agree it's better to spend the money on a better pump. My skimmer is now set to "lockout" after a power out, I don't even try to turn it on when everything comes back on. I only restart it manually because I know that it can not start by itself. It's beyond the "blow into the hose" not starting up, I have to take off the shroud and spin start it. It's been this way for a long time, very clean etc, the red devil pinwheel has made the startups go from 50/50 to imposssible, but made the skimmer far more effective.

[Aqua-Digital]

I have said this before a few times in this thread we are not using the sicce 2500 it is not even available.

[Lampshade]

I've heard their new line of pumps can have issues too, that's why I ask. Not a lot out there on them yet, but they seem to have fixed most issues. The PSK2500 was replaced with the PSK600 a year or 2 ago just to try to confuse people like me looking for replacement pumps, haha.

[Aqua-Digital]

If anyone can send me a link and post here with reported issues with the

600
1000
1200

Please do so.

[Lampshade]

http://glassbox-design.com/2010/sicce-psk1000-psk600/

These guys say that they have "fewer" startup issues. Most places say that they are much better now because they have the circuitry for directional startup. If that problem is gone that pump will be great, the 2500 I have is a beast for air draw, and other than start up's it's had no issues. So if they only improved the start-up in the new models I'd be impressed.

[Aqua-Digital]

Yep pretty much sums up why we have gone for it.

Good feedback all round on the new ones, although not so new they have been out for two years now with nothing showing up in terms of bad press, in fact the opposite.

[Twinn]

Due you have a targeted release date or time yet? I'm currently running an ER and will be looking to replace it in the near future.