Originally Posted by
davidkonicek
hey i was just wondering about protein skimmers for 14 gallon biocubes? my tank has a lot of brown and green algae but not the cool purple or red stuff....also, what exactly does a protein skimmer do? do i need one? if i added another pump would it solve the algae problem?...thx alot
oh lets see... first off if you do regular water changes, you dont need a protien skimmer. if you have a lot of money and need to spend it, overfiltration is always good in this hobby so go ahead and get one (although i dont know how it would fit on a nanocube. basicly a skimmer works by making a bunch of bubbles and then all the crap in the water sticks to the bubbles and the junk collects in a cup that you empty. as for the green and brown algae, the best fix for that is getting some snails to clean it up and lowering your posphates. you can get phosphate sponges and stuff, i have never used them though. unless you have brown and green algae overtaking your tank and the snails cant keep up with it, then you should be ok. as for the purple algae (coraline) it is more just a test of time. my coraline algae is finaly starting to grow after 5 months. also if you dont have a lot on your rock to begin with it will take longer to grow through out the tank.
question: how many pumps do you have in your tank (for future refrence, the pumps are commonly called powerheads)
