A new industrial/commercial scale protein skimmer has just been unveiled by the acrylicsmiths over at My Reef Creations. Although we snuck a peak at some of these skimmers during our southern aquarium tour, MRC has finalized the design and construction of their commercial and industrial scale protein skimmer line to the point where they are now showing off their MRC IS-2492-W industrial/commercial protein skimmer. For the low, low price of $7200 you too can have a 7.5′ tall powerhouse foam fractionator which is driven by a mix of air injection technologies: the 24″ diameter skimmer body is clouded primarily by a custom designed 1/3 horse power needle wheel water pump with a Reeflo ancestry and the secondary air input and ozone intake is driven by a more traditional, adjustable venturi bypass mechanism with a heart made from a mazzei venturi valve. The market for industrial grade and commercial scale protein skimmers has been near monopolized by RK2 for nearly two decades, at least in the US although Sander Aquarientechnik of Germany has a similar stranglehold on the same market in Europe. These two companies still build and sell a ton of their protein skimmers to aquaculture and public aquariums but all of their designs still rely on paleolithic venturi injection technology which is reliable at producing large quantities of fine air bubbles but it is a gas guzzler compared to the efficiency of needle wheel injection techonology. We’ve heard some back of the envelope calculations claim that the energy savings from using large MRC needle wheel skimmer over an RK2 can pay for the cost of the upgrade within 3-5 years (depending on local energy costs and other factors). We look forward to seeing more industrial grade needle wheel skimmers entering the market where they will hopefully advance needle wheel technology and trickle down that technology to skimmers for use in home aquariums. Inquiries about MRC’s plans to develop an 8ft tall industrial cone skimmer have yet to be answered. Follow the link for more pics of this beast.
