SeaSide Aquatics has a new DC-Powered protein skimmer on the block, the itty bitty DC-100 which uses the smallest DC water pump we’ve ever seen for aquarium use. While controllable DC pumps made a huge disruptive change to many of the medium and large protein skimmers in the last couple of years, this is the first we’ve seen of a DC pump powering the nano stand-alone protein skimmer category.
The SeaSide Aquatics DC-100 is powered by a tiny 13 watt DC pump with the same heritage as the larger DC pumps being used in fine skimmers from many different makers. One of the ways that SeaSide was able to employ this diminutive DC pump is by forgoing the controller, and therefore controllability of this pump, but who are we kidding, our controllable DC skimmer spends 99% of its time at full throttle anyway.
The high density of performance that the SeaSide Aquatics DC-100 gains by the use of the micro DC pump allows for a similarly small footprint. SeaSide rates its DC-100 for up to 150 gallons, and while the pump may have the specs to pull it off, there’s simply not enough skimmer body, or cup to collect the skimmate, to support that much aquarium.
We’re still a ways off from seeing this little darling fractionator in action, but at $299 and a roughly 7 x 7 inch footprint, this is probably just about the most skimming power you can squeeze into such a small package. [SeaSide Aquatics]
