The K-series protein skimmers are a new line of foam fractionators from Aqua Medic that were just announced at InterZoo 2016. The K-Series will take over and replace their predecessors, the Acone protein skimmers, with more than superficial improvements across the board.
At first glance the body of K-Series appears quite similar to the Acone skimmers but there is a noticeable uptick in build quality, and better attention to detail in the material and all of the joints. There’s is definitely a better, thicker acrylic used in the K-Series skimmers and perhaps a more streamlined curve to the body as well.
Of course the real changes to the K-Series skimmers is in the pumps that drive them, which will be the new line of X.1 DC Runner pumps we first spied at ReefStock in Denver Colorado. The new DC Runners are all endowed with a clear volute, which we foresaw as being a sign that they would be optimized for protein skimmer use.
In addition to the slight performance upgrade the DC Runners received with their X.1 iteration, the biggest improvement is in the new impeller design. The needle wheel responsible for the generation of all the foam inside the K-Series skimmers is now a ‘closed hybrid mesh needle wheel’ impeller.
The new closed impeller design allows the pumps to push just a little big more head pressure, and the mesh inside also chops up the air water mixture into very fine bubbles. Thankfully we got to see the K-Series protein skimmer running and we can tell you that these were creating a much more substantial cloud of foam in the skimmer bodies than we’re used to with the Acones.
Aqua Medic will be offering the K-Series skimmers in three sizes, the K1, K2 and K3 skimmers with full specifications, pricing and availability still to be determined.
