Continued from page 4
Whereas I stress the use of venturi type skimmers run with the correct and powerful enough pumps, I do not mean to diminish the value of down draft skimming which appears to be making in roads as well. More historical data needs to accumulate, in my opinion, on their efficiency. I wish to point out that as time goes on, evidence is coming in that larger models with enough of a down draft column perform at least as well as other skimmers and in some cases better.
There does not yet appear to be enough evidence available to say for a fact which one of the two is more efficient. As time goes on, and as more hobbyists report their experiences this section will be updated to reflect whatever is found.
In my personal opinion, having used both types, when properly configured and set up and ran, both skimmers come close to each other in performance. The only difference I have seen is that in heavily loaded tanks, venturi skimmers appear to perform more efficiently for longer periods of time.
The emphasis on increased skimming is nothing new. The quest to improve the amount of pollutants and other matter that needs to be removed from the aquarium's water, has been the subject of much debate and has led to the appearance of several new skimmers here in the USA. This is especially so in the last two years.
An example: One company even markets units with the sticker "Developed for Berlin Method filtration systems". This, I thought, was quite a claim to make. I decided to test the unit by acquiring one retail so the manufacturer would not be aware of the test. I must admit that I was truly impressed and that the unit lived up to its expectations. It removed more pollutants in a shorter period of time than I have seen in any other skimmer on the market.
Skimmers that are required to remove so many more pollutants from the aquarium water obviously need to be run with pumps that can take the extra labor required of them to do so. Indeed, such pumps are subjected to far greater back pressures than is the case in more conventional skimming. If you plan to install a powerful venturi skimmer on your aquarium, choose a pump of high quality that can take the high back pressures developed.
Typically these will be "pressure" pumps and not "circulation" ones. Ask your dealer for such pumps, specifying you do not want a plain vanilla circulation pump. You need a "workhorse", not a regular aquarium pump.
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