Skimz is a Singaporean aquarium product company that has been uniquely focused on innovative devices and niche applications, especially the use of zeolite in reef tanks. The Skimz Zeolite Auto Reactor is the latest model in this space which brings with it some features that have been just waiting to be developed through the use of a controllable DC pump.
Besides brands like Ecotech Marine, Reef Octopus and MaxSpect, very few companies have made a customize controlled for their DC pumps, opting instead to use OEM electronics that all have the same basic pared down functionality. There’s been a few custom controllers for protein skimmer applications but as far as we know Skimz is the first company to develop a controller specifically for a zeolite reactor.
Zeolite reactors are a highly specialized tool to promote the growth of bacteria on zeolite media to foster an environment of very low nutrients to achieve certain coloration, especially in SPS corals. The main ‘chore’ of a zeolite reactor is the daily or twice daily tumbling of the zeolite to dislodge bacterial film and expose new surfaces of the media for recolonization.
The new Automatic Zeolite Reactor from Skimz includes a DC pump which is wired to their new custom controller which allows for user-programmable tumbling of the media, simply through increased flow rate of the circulation pump. The flushing mode of Skimz’s new auto zeolite reactor is similar to a pulsing of a pump in wavemaker mode and you can clearly see in the video how the heavy media is lifted and dropped repeatedly to thoroughly tumble the zeolites.
This new function and automatic setting of the Skimz reactor ought to be a very welcome new addition to the world of zeloite users, and especially those who rely on this type of biological filtration to reach truly oligotrophic levels of nutrients. [Skimz]
