Is this Skimmer good for anything?!

vwbortoni

vwbortoni

Member
Hi, I bought a complete setup from someone leaving the hobby and it included a WD filter that has a "protein skimmer." I use quotes 'cuase that piece of junk has not collected anything in the cup and it has been running for days.
The black pump on the side is a Rio 600. I'm new to the hobby but I don't think it's working correctly as all it does is create a mini tornado in the chamber that spins the water.
Does anyone have any experience with this stuff?
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Not a very highly regarded skimmer in my opinion...there are numerous other types that will out perform the one you have.Bottom line skimmers are seaclones...sea swirls...skilters...yours may be a sea clone...I'm not very familiar with the specifics on them...but I do know the vast majority of hobbyists that have them wish they didn't.
 
vwbortoni

vwbortoni

Member

Originally posted by YellowTail
does it say a brand name on the side of it?
Nope, no name. Oh wait... it's a AQUACLEAR AQUATICS PRO 75 WET/DRY skimmer combo.
Anyone have this?
 
hurricanedrift

hurricanedrift

New Member
I had the very same filter. I changed over to a sump/refugium system and added a Euro Reef skimmer. NO comparison between the sea clear skimmer and euro reef. No harm in running it until you upgrade however.
 
C

crm13

Guest
I've heard a lot of people trash the seaclone skimmer, but I have to tell ya; I have one of those and it's been nothing but good to me. I mean, my tank seems very healthy and when I test my water, it tests consistently. And, much to my surprise, my nitrates are near zero almost everytime. I never expected that to be the case since I never had that kind of luck in my other tank. I mean, sounds like it's doing what it's supposed to, right? What is it about the seaclone that makes it such a bad skimmer? If I bought a better skimmer, would my nitrates drop below zero?:rolleyes: Just looking for some feedback.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Agreed.
Chances are you have other things going on that are contributing to your reduction in nitrates. Maybe you have more LR than was in your old tank...
 
C

crm13

Guest
I think that I disagree with the nitrate thing. I thought that was actually it's primary goal, indirectly. If a skimmer's primary job is supposed to remove dissolved organic waste from the tank, then I would think that nitrifying bacteria would have less organic material to feed off of, reducing nitrite and the eventual cycle to nitrate. More decaying organic material, more nh3/4, eventually more nitrites, yields more nitrates. Isn't that how it goes? In fact, I would most definitely have to put some money down on the fact that if the skimmer were to be removed from your system, your nitrate level would escalate more quickly, given you have a healthy cycled tank and everything else equal (same amount of anaerobic bio support if that is to be factored in) .
 
C

crm13

Guest
"More decaying organic material, more nh3/4, eventually more nitrites, yields more nitrates."
Just to clarify this (read it afterwards:) ), obviously the ammonia and nitrite readings would be stable (0) because we are assuming a fully cycled tank with a healthy population of aerobic nitrifying bacteria.
 
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