The Redline Hot1v2 hang-on protein skimmer would be any other HOB device except for the simple fact that the fractionation is driven by pressurized air. With so many manufacturers and DIYers trying to find new and crazy ways to improve on venturis, aspirators and the needle wheel, most have lost sight of one of the first (and by some accounts the best) way to produce bubbles in a protein skimmer: an air-driven wooden airstone.
Veteran aquarium product manufacturer Precision Marine decided to revisit the roots of protein skimming with the first air-driven HOB skimmer to hit the reef scene in a really long time. The only real reason that wooden airstone skimmers fell out of favor is due to the difficulty of changing out the wood, and to this end PM offers up a very simple solution. The Redline Hot1v2 has a drain valve to empty the skimmer, at which point you can easily unscrew the fitting from which the wooden airstone is attached and voila! We’d also like to point out that once removed you can easily shave off the soggy outer wood of the wooden airstone and reuse a few times until it no longer produces the fine air bubbles that we are looking for.
The Redline Hot1v2 comes in a single size for hang-on applications and it has already begun shipping to retailers. $149 gets you the box, a Maxijet 400 feed pump and a couple wooden airstones but no air pump. To power the wooden airstone we suggest the venerable Luft Pump which powered its share of air-driven protein skimmers back in their heyday. The output adjustment of the Luft Pump will make it doubly easy to adjust the protein skimming performance of the Precision Marine Hot1v2 Hang-on protein skimmer.
