Reef Life Support Systems kept their MACNA presence pretty low key this year, but their new line of DBi skimmers are anything but. With a radical new pipeless design and a slew of innovative features, the DBi protein skimmers are poised to put Waveline back on top of the skimmer game.
RLSS was the first company to offer large and well-built protein skimmers with powerful and controllable DC needle wheel pumps powering them. RLSS was also the first company to market a protein skimmer with an ‘integrated volute’ design which melds the needs of protein skimmer with a purpose-built DC needle wheel pump.
The new DBi skimmers come in three new sizes so far, the five inch DB5i, six inch DB6i, and the largest eight inch DB8i, although you don’t need a crystal ball to see that larger sizes are probably already well under development. The first thing you’ll notice about the new RLSS DBi skimmers is that they use the Apex Ready versions of the latest Waveline pumps, making them the first (affordable) Apex Ready protein skimmers after Royal Exclusiv’s Red Dragon Speedy 3 powered Bubble Kings.
However the most striking feature of the new RLSS DBi skimmers is their extremely spartan appearance, with no pipes or visible air silencer to take away from the simplified design. There is still an air silencer for the DBi skimmers but now it is built in as a ring right around the skimmer neck.
Also, the new pipeless design of the DBi skimmers is possible thanks to an ingenious geared-valve that is integrated into the base of the protein skimmer itself. Having the outflow of the skimmer so close to the intake imparts on them a built-in recirculating nature but this aspect will be manageable by the amount of flow and overall circulation that reefers use in the sump.
In addition to using controllable Gen 2 DC Waveline Pumps, which are also Apex Ready, the new DBi skimmers benefit from using a hybrid needle wheel impeller which uses both standard impeller blades and needle-pins to give the Waveline more pressure to fill up the skimmer body, while it is generating the froth necessary for efficient protein skimming.
Perhaps the best part of the new RLSS DBi protein skimmers is their cost. Starting at $329 for the DB5i, $399 for the DB6i and $575 for the DB8i, Reef Life Support Systems is offering their feature-packed next generation protein skimmers at a price that everyone can afford. We can’t wait to try out a DBi skimmer for ourselves and you can too since the three models are already shipping to dealers and distributors.
