Singapore-based aquarium company Dymax has introduced a novel impellor design to its SLS range of protein skimmers. Named the Sawtooth Impellor, the standard (but highly effective,) pinwheel venturi impeller design with a multitude of short, thin vertical rods has been replaced for one with multiple jagged “sawtooth” shaped blades which Dymax claim “remain ridged during rotation, pushing more water and increasing contact time.”
The SLS range comprises four models for 800-1400 liter ( 211- 370 gallon,) tanks, ranging in height and diameter from 470mm tall and 120mm wide (18.5″x 5″) to 600mm tall and 150mm in diameter (24″x6″). The white and red colored acrylic skimmers feature a fairly standard internal bubble diffuser plate, air silencer, and standpipe style control valve yet Dymax has opted for externally mounted, 2500lph /660 gallon pumps to power them.
Design and Innovation is a wonderful thing, and the tiny, singular catalog photo of the new sawtooth impellor was enough to ignite our interest and make us want to see this unique impellor design in operation for ourselves in the future. The SLS skimmer range looks slimline with even the largest model only having a six-inch wide cone at its widest point. The combination of an externally mounted pump for greater reaction time and that different impellor however means that, if it works, it may just give this budget-priced skimmer range a performance advantage as well as a point of difference.
Information on the models featuring the sawteeth is still scant but we tracked down an SLS30 (the smallest, 800 liter/211-gallon model, on a Singaporean e-commerce site for just 196 Singapore dollars, or $140 USD.
