Suspended Matter

[Scotb]

I have a 100gal display tank with a 50gal sump. My tank is stocked with 25 cichlids rangins from caeruleues, arratus and afras etc. other than my sump i have an internal filter hidden in the rock work of my display tank but cant quite get rid of all the susp matter. I have been told that skimmers do work in freshwater setups is this true.

 

[ostrow]

It is false. There are surface skimmers that work. Protein skimmers work only with high specific gravity of marine tanks.

 

[crazyelece]

They do work in freshwater setups, just not as efficiently as they would in saltwater. Typically in a freshwater setup the cost of the unit is not worth the little benefit. Sponges and carbon are better options for a freshwater system. The benefit of a skimmer in saltwater is that waste removal can take place without the removal of water. Since the cost of new saltwater far exceeds that of freshwater this is a great benefit. but in freshwater the cost to replace water is almost nothing and multiple water changes are more effective and less costly than a skimmer setup.