what is a protein skimmer?

[sid2003]

protein skimmer? what is it? and when should you have one?

 

[steven the fish]

skimmers basicley clean out amonia befoe it becoms harmful to the tank.

 

[killafins]

i thought it was nitrates...

 

[steven the fish]

Mine says it cleans out small particals of things like food or other amonia causing things.

 

[sid2003]

with my 25gal hex do i really need one? if so how much are they? isnt a protein skimmer the thing you put beneath everything at the bottom of your tank?

 

[steven the fish]

You wont need one till at least 5 months after the tank is set up, about the gravel part i dunno, mine is attached to the filther.

 

[starfishjackedme]

It pulls out dissolved organic nutrients out of the water column before it can enter the nitrogen cycle.

 

[starfishjackedme]

There are in sump models and hang on the back models, shop around on the net or search the archives on different models. There have been a lot of good threads in the past on many brands and models.

 

[steven the fish]

Have you had any experince with the Skilter 250?

 

[stumpdog]

Sid-
It depends, what are you wanting to keep in the tank? Do you plan on having LR? When you say the thing that you put beneath everything at the bottom of the tank, are you talking about an undergravel filter? Just trying to clarify.
Jeremy

 

[rbmount]

DON'T fool with the skilter,spend a little xtra and get better. A friend gave me one and when the plug was out to add air to skim,the thing sounded like a tractor. I just bought a cpr and it is very quiet and does a great job.

 

[steven the fish]

Mine is pretty loud but i got it for free, it was brand new, not even opend yet.

 

[sinner's girl]

We've never used one. We have had 10gl, 20gl, 55gl and 75gl tanks.
Though imo the 75gl may need one. I thought they kept the slimey film or whatever from acumulating (sp) on the top of the water. water movement may also do this (but I "borrowed" one of the filters from the 75gl and put it on my 55gl, so with less water movement a film has devopled on the top of the water in the 75gl - but since it's empty I don' t care).
also, we have no corals and keep only clowns, damsels and inverts. we've never had a problem with high nirtrates.

 

[eric4usa]

Basic theory of a skimmer is:
Protien sticks to the water surface.
Bubbles under water allow protien to grab on.
The more time the bubble remains in the water, the more protien gets stuck to the bubbles.
The taller the skimmer, the more time the bubble has to collect protien.
The more bubbles the better.
The protien stiffens the surface of the water, creating stiff, protien covered bubbles that the skimmer overflows into a collection dish.
So... get a skimmer that's as tall as possible for maximum reaction time, or get one that produces massive amounts of bubbles (air injected with water BEFORE going thru the pump)
This whole process was actually invented by Waste water engineers for use at your local sewage treatment site.