roidan

ok.... hope to track its progress with you guys... not track its way to heaven

somehow have this premonition that it's a goner

ok..thanks...will try your 2 also

must be patient i guess....mine has a large teardrop...one of the larger teardrops that i have seen in a long while... but then again...must see if can survive first or not...sigh... i putting ulva and gracillia near his hovering place....what are u going to tempt it with? let me know...let's work together trying to get them to eat see the white patch near the top of the lip? i think it may be a problem

steady leh.... our ATs can be god brothers..hehe but i come back see then notice the mouth portion abit white...dunno issit damage due to netting along the way or not...if so, really jialat... not really eating anything yet...yours?

sneak preview...more pics later in the night

when the time comes, i am sure it automatically deserves a place with the big boys by sheer size

yeah..... that's why even for deltec/H&S/euroreef that all uses needlewheel method, there are differences in impeller design as well as skimmer design... so alvy's impeller for the berlin is better than redsea's one even ah...wahh.... but glad you are happy with your redsea berlin now, there is nothing terribly wrong with it...but just dun compare it with the big boys it is good, small, cute and effective for normal low-med demand applications

bro..your post not mentioning redsea berlin liao, better PM me instead....we keep to talk about RSB here, whether good or bad

yeah..only the turbo upgrade has the needlewheel...definitely improves perfomance over the berlin classic.... at least it doesnt sux too badly now with the needlewheel pump and serves your tank well...you should be happy... definitely any skimmer can support a 6ft or larger tank, it's how the tank is stocked up and the final stock amount..... if you just stock corals with no fish, you can probably do without a skimmer even...in this case, weipro, macro,RSB, AquaC, euroreef or watever will be fine... but if you start increasing the amount of livestock in the 6ft, you will need a larger skimmer as you move up in the numbers of fishes especially... so if you just have a small skimmer in a 6ft, you may find yourself limiting the amount of livestock you can have, whereas those with larger skimmers can stock significantly more

ok...for H&S, their insump models include the needlewheel pump which actually draws the water as well, so u do not need to get another pump.... for their outsump models, the needlewheel pump will recirculate water in the chamber and draw air to chop but you need an external pump to feed it...in my case, i use a pump to push water through my UV sterilizer and then into the H&S for euro-reef, not too sure, but i am sure you can get information from PReef

that's why i said that abit unfair also to compare the small berlin to the larger skimmers.... but Acanthurus pyroferus still feels that the small berlin is probably even better than the other skimmers and refuse to accept the inherent disadvantage of the berlin due to its size.... eh...i not a very hands-on person...just an impatient reefer who needs larger skimmers to sustain my impatient style of reefing lots of DIY gurus here just not me

if redsea or DIYer ever make a triple pass skimmer based on the berlin as huge and tall as the other skimmers...then it will be up there with the big boys sharing the honours...no doubt... then there is no volume advantage from the other skimmers liao but to ignore volume advantage and say the berlin classic can process on par as the larger skimmers...i think it's just ignoring the truth

still very hard to conclude... ok...the RSB and other needlewheels probably can match each other in method since needlewheel vs needlewheel... but how about sheer volume in the skimmer? it's a matter of the triple pass vs the fat and tall deltecs/H&S/euroreefs for the same price range.... remember, the triple pass consists of inner tube, middle tube and outer tube for the triple pass...the total volume may still...not be able to match the single big volume of those single pass skimmers of the same price range

tat's why berlin does have its good points....if one feels that it is better than a weipro or macro skimmer....i can find myself agreeing... but if one feels that it can be up there with the big boys...then i really cannot agree...

ok..to bring it back to our home aquarium.... eg.. a small skimmer that can produce 10/10 on skimming quality but outputs 5units of skimmed water per unit time.....a larger skimmer can produce 10/10 on skimming quality but outputs 10 units of skimmed water per unit time.. if the home tank outputs less than 5 units of organic saturated water per unit time, then the small skimmer can cope since it can produce 5 units of quality skimmed water per unit time also...thus home tank in control but if the home tank outputs more than 5 units of organic saturated water per unit time due to dieoffs or simply natural metabolic wastes due to heavy stocking, then it is easy to see why the larger skimmer is up to the job....and the smaller skimmer simply cannot cope so if you have a small skimmer, you should not overstock or stock too fast...coz the smaller skimmer just can't process fast enough water to cleanse the system that is producing more units of dirty water... just maths and those tall skimmers will simply put the triple pass technology of the RSB behind them...as triple pass just means...the water travels about 3 times the height of the RSB skimmer....but some skimmers are already more than 3 times the height or for the matter, width of the RSB skimmer.... the advantage of the triple pass just means that you can almost have a skimmer 3 times as tall...but actually it is just 1/3 the height coz of the triple pass... but for reefers who has space for larger, taller skimmers, triple pass already lose to their single pass skimmer

the insump version uses 1 pump to draw in water as well as air and chop...just like the berlin turbo version...the basic berlin classic does not have this needlewheel pump included...it is available separately as a turbo upgrade yeah..quality of contact may be as good...especially with the larger berlin XL version with turbo upgrade.....but the sheer volume of bubbles in those large fatter chambers of deltecs/H&S/Euroreef needlewheel skimmers exceeds the volume of bubbles in the berlin.. in other words, perhaps the same quality of work done, but berlin will produce less quantity of the same quality work, by losing out on volume but if the deltecs/H&S/Euroreef style skimmers are of the exact same dimensions as the berlin classic....the initiative will no doubt be handed over to the berlin classic otherwise, why dun underwater world or public aquariums just use a few small skimmers? simply because the quantity of quality work done by small skimmers simply cannot match the quantity of quality work done by bigger skimmers eg.... a small skimmer that can produce 10/10 on skimming quality but outputs 5units of skimmed water per unit time.....a larger skimmer can produce 10/10 on skimming quality but outputs 10 units of skimmed water per unit time.. if the system outputs less than 5 units of organic saturated water per unit time, then the small skimmer can cope since it can produce 5 units of quality skimmed water...thus system in control but if the system outputs more than 5 units of organic saturated water per unit time due to dieoffs or simply natural metabolic wastes, then it is easy to see why the larger skimmer is up to the job.... in this case, size.....does matter

but you waste alot of time....time is precious u know... yeah..and i will be the first one to have a redsea turbo XL

tat's an important requisite for success in this hobby...not reefers like me, who always want results in the shortest time... but seriously, do you think if you upgrade to the berlin XL with the turbo upgrade kit, it will be even better for your system? if berlin classic can support up to 6ft...then the XL turbo probably can handle a 10ft or 12ft with ease hor

yeah...watever we want to say, already said.... so just wait lor.....wait....wait.....wait and wait seriously, we can ask bro robe who have moved on from berlin to embrace it again, bro morgan, our boss AT, all those who have too much money to spend on electricity now to get a RSB classic in....due time when you stock finish and all of them gives a wow.... aiyo...by then i think RSB berlin will increase price since demand went up......better go get one now knowing me...dun put off buying something knowing that can buy it today [er...isnt it dun put off doing something knowing that you can do it today? ooops ] REDSEA BERLIN!!! HERE I COME!!!!!

yeah...i think the RSB works just fine for Acanthurus pyroferus coz of the patience of stocking as well as the non desire to have a large number of fish, like i said, by the time the tank matures for a year and stocked lightly, the choice of skimmers might be inconsequencial already....one can probably use a weipro instead of a RSB and save more money and skim kopi-O also....but if i can wait till that long, seriously i would go the no-skimmer method....using algae turf as natural nutrient exporters.... I agree that the redseaberlin is good for Acanthurus pyroferus's patient method and suits the slow stocking method perfectly fine.... but when it comes to the crunch...ie. performance under stressful conditions in other applications, the RSB may not be able to take it... eg. throw 50 or more fishes in 2 control tanks, one with RSB, one with any of the other larger skimmers mentioned before.... seriously, i can know which one can handle such simulated *stress* better in just a finger snap... that's why we are not saying the RSB is useless, just that it has considerable limitations esp when it comes to impatient reefers or reefers who stock patiently but want to stock alot.... sad to say, many reefers are not that patient to wait a year or so before stocking up....thus i feel that for the money they pay for a RSB, they might as well buy another skimmer or even pay slightly more for a skimmer that can give them more flexiblity in stocking rate as well as stocking limit...knowing that the skimmer has more capability to meet the stocking demands but of coz i can agree with Acanthurus pyroferus that RSB works like a dream in the patient method of reefing *thumbs up*

it's really a good habit to have patience in this hobby,no kidding ....i admit i dun, which is why i have pretty much ended stocking already...sigh, where's the fun now? yeah....some who have great patience like you, can afford to wait and see, others like me, dun want to wait and see, have already got going and moved on which is why i must emphasize, if one practise great patience, you can probably not grow out of the RSB. It is a great skimmer for patient reefers who dun overstock their tanks too fast

In short, the four main factors which govern a protein skimmer's effectiveness are… 1. Bubble size 2. Bubble quantity 3. Overall flow-thru rate 4. Quality of contact time bubble size, the needlewheels or becketts can produce finer bubbles than the RSB...becketts are actually venturis just like the RSB, but just that it takes a different structure that needs a powerful pump to suck in much more litres of air per unit time than the RSB venturi.. so bubble size, needlewheels/becketts win......but becketts consume terrible amounts of electricity....needlewheels and RSB venturis are much more efficient in electrical usage bubble quantity, the amount of bubbles in a beckett/needlewheel skimmer surpasses that of the RSB, due to the simple fact that the RSB is really too short and small a chamber....by comparing the sheer volume of bubbles produced, you can probably put the whole RSB classic into a beckett/needlewheel skimmer bubble chamber and see only the sheer bubbles and not see the RSB in the chamber....so bubble sheer quantity wins hands down.... overall flow through rate, the becketts have a very high overall flow thru rate using pumps of 6000l/hr or more pressure-rated whereas the needlewheels have a much more modest flow thru rate, say around 1000-2000l/hr ....the RSB uses a pump to push water through the skimmer....say around 2000-2500l/hr the higher the flow through rate, more water can be brought into the skimmer to be processed...but the faster the water leaves the chamber as well before it is processed thoroughly....there is no clear preference which method is the best so far....either you can process alot of water per unit time but not clean so thoroughly, or you can process less water per unit time but clean more thoroughly... Quality of contact time, the becketts have a problem of water flowing too fast, thus affecting quality of contact time in the chamber, thus the need for tangential swirling water output to maximise reaction time..... the RSB berlin uses a triple pass design to increase quality of reaction time...this design is good....but sad to say...it is too small a triple pass chamber to compete with the towering beckett skimmers.... the needlewheels on the other hand....use recirculation to increase contact time..... actually also unfair to pit the cutesy RSB classic against the big skimmers.....even the RSB XL will find it hard... but if the RSB was built to the height and diameter of the those becketts, keeping its triple pass method, definitely i will be happy to agree that it will be one of the best, right up there with the big boys.... but if one insists that the RSB classic is comparable or even as good as those towering becketts/needlewheels..sorry, i find it hard to swallow really can't help posting this pic again

er..i think i mentioned aquaC has some complaints with fine tuning for those who cannot get the foam right from the start and customer support earlier on... for H&S, seriously, no complains other than it is expensive, perhaps more expensive than what most reefers would like to pay for...and also the needlewheel is the achilles heel of the whole skimmer...but that's an inherent problem with all needlewheel skimmers....

discussions have been kept primarily about the RSB skimmer...Acanthurus pyroferus giving all the positives and some bros like me, robe, weileong here have been trying to spread the message that it has considerable limitations, perhaps more than some other skimmers.... just like all skimmers, there are goods and bads....as long as someone presents the good points and someone presents the bad points, then the picture is complete...and still relevant to the discussion what i do not want to see is just the positive sides being told and end up more bros spend their money on it to realise that the skimmer cannot keep up to their expectations..... comparisons have been made to it using other skimmers, or even on the topic of keeping sps...have been whether RSB is up to task of keeping sps/heavily stocked system or not....which i have duely concluded that if one practise good patience like Acanthurus pyroferus, a RSB can be a good skimmer ...just like a weipro but for those who cannot afford to wait too long till end of the year or more, perhaps one should look elsewhere for a better skimmer...