Protein Skimmer

[kewskills]

I was considering getting a Protein Skimmer for my brakish tank, has anyone got/used one in a brakish tank? any advice etc?
types availble etc. basically any info would be appreciated

Thanks
Karl

 

[kanzaris]

Hi

I have a protein skimmer on my tank, but my salinity is 1.010 +, and my tank is 150 gal.
Most people say that you don’t really need a protein skimmer, but I find that since I have been using it the water quality has defiantly improved. But it is a big expense.

Thanks

Sabby

 

[nmonks]

Nothing much to add to what Sabby says.

Skimmers don't really work well below SG 1.010 (though some designs might do better than others). So if you're keeping a low-end tank at SG 1.003 or 1.005, then you will probably not find a skimmer useful.

Skimmers can be expensive. But the other way of looking at them is this: because they remove organic materials directly, before those materials are converted into nitrate, you can keep nitrate levels lower with fewer water changes. So this can be one way to reduce the cost of your tank in the long term.

They probably make more of a difference with high metabolism fish (like scats, monos and puffers) than they do with fish that mostly sit about doing nothing, like morays, gobies and scorpionfish.

Cheers, Neale

 

[kewskills]

Thanks for the replies guys, at the moment with mollies and gobies at 1.006 i guess i will put off a protein skimmer for now