kent venturi vs beckett 1408 foam head

[nigel]

Which one works best on a skimmer, for foam production?
Those who have seen both in action which one would you choose?

[rbaker]

^

[FMarini]

Hi
Best is subjective, however w/ all thing considered equal, the beckett 1408 will incorporate more air into a set volume of water then a traditional venturi.
I'm not sure how much pump power you'll need to drive a traditional venturi, but i suspect it may be less than what is required to efficiently use a beckett

Heres two articles on skimmer technology you mightfind them interesting
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/fm/index.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/fm/feature/index.htm

frank

[Florida]

Beckett injectors work great but for a short period of time.

Mine became clogged with debries, small snails, ect. It had to be disassembled and clean it often. As it became clogged I also had to adjust the water level in the skimmer. The injectors are more trouble than they are worth.

Venturi Injectors can typicall be cleaned just by dipping the air intake hose in to a small glass of water.:rollface:

[dendronepthya]

My biggest complaint of the Beckett injector was its maintainability. There are designs now that make them more accessable for cleaning. That said, I prefer a regular venturi on a larger skimmer.

I've used a smaller MTC Beckett style skimmer and a larger Lifereef using a Mazzei venturi. There is little doubt in my mind that the Lifereef is the better skimmer.

[DJ88©]

I have found that both run great. But that depends entirely on the pump driving and the venturi size and pump sizes.

Run a beckett with the proper sized pump and they will strip the hair off of a hermit crab. ;) Well not that bad but you get the idea.

With a venturi running correctly as well it does just as good a job. IME.

I have run both on the same tank with identical feedings and bioloads and saw no difference in skimmate production. No drastic one that is.

The thing I disliked about the beckett was as mentioned. Cleaning. What a PITA!. I had the old style PM beckett enclosure. Annoying to say the least. Having to clean it as much as I did added to the frustration.

All in all I likeed them both. But as an idea of where I am going with it. I am currently building a new venturi skimmer. You don't need as large of a pump to do the same job. MAG9.5 vs MAK4/Iwaki 55.