Tell me about protein skimmers

hiddenicon

hiddenicon

Member
i know what they do and i need to get one. I need to know if a skimmer hooks up to anything or if it just goes in the water. Pictures would help explain it alot to me. Just show me what you see in the tank and what it looks like outside of the tank.
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
Do you want one that hangs on the back of the tank? They just have a pump that plugs into a wall outlet that pumps water directly from the tank, mix it with air, and pushes it into the skimmer chamber. Then the extra water just gravity feeds back into the tank.
 
T

tizzo

Guest
OK, OK...
This is a little close, my flash is dying. Maybe I can do better tomorrow...lol
 
T

tizzo

Guest
This is a Hang On Back type, you already saw the front in my tank shots. What is inside of the tank is an optional add-on. It's a surface skimmer. Some people like it, some not. Oh yeah, it's an Aqua C Remora Pro. With the upgraded Mag 3 pump, thus explaining the HUGE skimmer box inside!
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
Here is a picture of my CPR bakpak, hangs right on the back of the tank, like the name implies. :) On the far side of the skimmer there is a small pipe which is attached to the pump. The water/air mixture is pumped into the skimmer and the air bubbles raises to the top and overflows into the black collection cup. Then the extra water exits through the larger pipe.
 
hiddenicon

hiddenicon

Member
in the ones i'v seen at my LFS there has been a little cyclinder(kinda like a filter) that's in the water. Whats this thing and there are little fine bubbles that come from it or something close to it in the water.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
That's an airstone and most of those skimmers at the lfs are crappy. They use an airpump to create the bubbles that clean up the water, only they don't do it very well. Better skimmers use a water pump and a venturi to draw air into the skimmer.
 
hiddenicon

hiddenicon

Member
whats the big filter lookin thing? It looks like the stuff you put in a hanging filter but its just in a cyclinder shape?
 
sly

sly

Active Member
If you have a sump, you can use a sump style skimmer and keep it out of your tank. This is the one I use.
 
sly

sly

Active Member

Originally posted by Hiddenicon
whats the big filter lookin thing? It looks like the stuff you put in a hanging filter but its just in a cyclinder shape?
If they looke like these, then they are airstones. Porus rocks that create air bubbles when you pump air through them.
 
hiddenicon

hiddenicon

Member
no there bigger, and they look more like a sponge, it looks like it might suck water up or something and it might catch dirta nd other bad stuff
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Here's Tizzo's skimmer. The arrow points to the return where the water spills back into the tank.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Tizzo, what's this in the botom of your tank? Is it a power head or the surface skimmer you mentioned?
Also, what's the thing on top of your tank? Is that a grounding rod?
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Nevermind. I see the add on now. It's that huge box that goes from your water surface down to almost the bottom of the tank.
 
T

tizzo

Guest

Originally posted by Sly
Tizzo, what's this in the botom of your tank? Is it a power head or the surface skimmer you mentioned?
Also, what's the thing on top of your tank? Is that a grounding rod?
That pic is just a powerhead.
What is on top of my tank is only a pair of tongs (to keep a recently added coral in partial shade til it can acclimate).
And the box doesn't go AAALLLLLL the way to the bottum. It's about 10 tall and my tank is 24". But it IS bigger than I had anticipated!!
 
hiddenicon

hiddenicon

Member
looked at a SeaClone 100 protein skimmer today for my 30 galleon tank. It was 150$ so i wanted to know if this was a good skimmer to save for:D
 
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