Protein Skimmers
- Thread starter big pat
- Start date
sly
Active Member
It is possible to go without a protein skimmer but it is not recommended. It is VERY hard to keep a reef without one.
A protein skimmer is a device which cleans the water by passing thousands of air bubbles through it. Air bubbles have a property to them which makes dirt stick. Have you ever seen the waves crash at the ocean and wash up to the beach? Did you notice that there is a lot of foam there and often brown gunk will be caught in the foam. This is similar to what a skimmer does in that all the dirt and gunk in your water will get caught up in these bubbles and then be removed from your tank's water, leaving it much cleaner than filtering alone.
A skimmer is simply a hollow tube that is positioned vertically with water mixed with bubbles in it. At the top of the skimmer is a collection cup. As the bubbles rise up through the water in the tube they will spill over into the cup and stay there collecting until the cup is full of nasty junk that was in your tank. Then you remove the cup, empty it and put it back on.
IMO you need a skimmer on ANY saltwater tank. Not only do they filter the water extremely well but they also mix a lot of air in with the water which oxygenates it. So there is no need for bubbler tubes like those that you see in freshwater.
A protein skimmer is a device which cleans the water by passing thousands of air bubbles through it. Air bubbles have a property to them which makes dirt stick. Have you ever seen the waves crash at the ocean and wash up to the beach? Did you notice that there is a lot of foam there and often brown gunk will be caught in the foam. This is similar to what a skimmer does in that all the dirt and gunk in your water will get caught up in these bubbles and then be removed from your tank's water, leaving it much cleaner than filtering alone.
A skimmer is simply a hollow tube that is positioned vertically with water mixed with bubbles in it. At the top of the skimmer is a collection cup. As the bubbles rise up through the water in the tube they will spill over into the cup and stay there collecting until the cup is full of nasty junk that was in your tank. Then you remove the cup, empty it and put it back on.
IMO you need a skimmer on ANY saltwater tank. Not only do they filter the water extremely well but they also mix a lot of air in with the water which oxygenates it. So there is no need for bubbler tubes like those that you see in freshwater.
