The CS2 ‘Black Pearl’ protein skimmer is a new high performance foam fractionator from Avast Marine Works that shows off the direction of their new high end ‘Captain’s Reserve’ line. Not only does the CS2 Black Pearl have all the bells and whistles a protein skimmer can have, it’s also a rare breed of recirculating cone protein skimmer which can be used externally.
The base price of the CS2 Black Pearl cone skimmer is $699 which gets you the smoked black acrylic cone skimmer body, a Sicce PSK-1000, an air silencer and lots of schedule 80 union valves to get you easy access and servicing of all skimmer parts. The Sicce PSK 1000 is plumbed to recirculate with the skimmer body and the Avast-made venturi is tuned to help the needle wheel pump draw 1100 lph of air while consuming just 26 watts. Another $100 gets you a Swabbie neck cleaner and one more benjamin also gets you the Davy Jone’s locker skimmate collector with automatic shutoff.
Basically, $900 spent on a fully loaded Black Pearl CS2 gets you a recirculating cone protein skimmer which is not affected by sump water height, automatic neck cleaner and a waste collector with shut off built in. Nothing spurs us to write more than the fusion of pride in craftsmanship and passion for performance, and it’s about time we saw this kind of merger in a protein skimmer like the CS2 Black Pearl that is made in the USA and actually priced within reach.
