What Do Skimmers Do?

[crackmonkey]

Or are they just for marine tanks?

 

[Teelie]

They remove excess protein from the water and some other stuff. IMO they're useless in a freshwater tank. Most don't even work in freshwater and those that do are quite expensive.

 

[Undawada]

I don't know much about protein skimmers, except that, in general, they require salt to work. It has to do with the SG of the water.

You could probably find one that works in freshwater, but it wouldn't be worth it.

Basically, they skim organic buildup off the top of the water. If you maintain your tank, this won't be a problem in freshwater anyway. If you have so much organic waste that it forms a film on top of the water, you have bigger problems than getting a skimmer.

HTH

 

[Undawada]

I did a seach in saltie hardware and got this thread.

a skimmer removes uneaten food, and waste products from the tank (Proteins)
Now these proteins will always be in your tank, due to the fact that there is live in teh tank that neeeds to feed & poop, if left unattended these proteins will become toxic and kill all you livestock, so to stop this you must Protein Skim your tank and the instument to do this is a Tube/Box with tank water where air is constantly pumped throught it, on the top of this is a collection cup that collects the waste from your water (and boy is there waste, it is quite unbeleivable how much gunge actually comes out of a tank in a week)

New Skimmers use a pump to pump water throught the bottom of the Tube/Box and through a VENTURI Inlet, this causes millions of bubble in the water and basically the proteins are trapped on the bubble surface and as the foam/bubbles build it overspills and is deposited in to the cup, the cup will hold the Skimmate and isneeds to be cleaned regualarly, the skimmate should be either dark green (or black) and will smell real bad

Keep in mind he's referring to saltwater, so the part about how it's neccessary for a healthy tank don't apply to fresh.

 

[rdd1952]

There are actually skimmers for FW tanks too. I am running them on my 75 gallon. They run in conjunction with canister filters and basically keep any film from forming on the water surface. While most of the water through the filter goes through the main intake, a small amount is skimmed from the top at the same time. If you have water that is prone to having a film on the top, they work great in removing it.

Edit: I just noticed that Teelie said that FW skimmers were quite expensive. Actually, they are very inexpensive at $9.99 here. My tap water is prone to surface film. I can leave a bucket sitting for 2 or 3 days and it woll form a film on it so it has nothing to do with any problems in the tank.

 

[Ed4567]

Skimmer is almost always used to refer to a device which pumps in a huge mass of bubbles through a column of water, collecting organics at the air water interface, rather than a device which removes the surface film.

 

[rdd1952]

Skimmer is almost always used to refer to a device which pumps in a huge mass of bubbles through a column of water, collecting organics at the air water interface, rather than a device which removes the surface film.

I understand that but just wanted to make a point that there is a skimmer for FW tanks and that they do serve a definite purpose. The Fluval one is the only one I have seen though and must run as part of a canister filtration system.

 

[maestro]

Remember not to confuse a surface skimmer with a protein skimmer

 

[rdd1952]

Remember not to confuse a surface skimmer with a protein skimmer

Correct. Protein skimmers are for SW and to the best of my knowledge have no practical purpose in a FW tank. I'm totally ignorant when it comes to marine tanks but think the remove the excess protein that would otherwise be toxic to the fish. The surface skimmer merely removes film from the water surface and I guess could be used in either FW or SW.

 

[andywg]

FW skimmers do have a use, the problem is getting them to work as effectively as in SW.

In SW the higher SG leads to smaller bubbles being formed (ever see a woodblock airstone in SW? It's impressive) which allow far more protein to be skimmed off.

The best thing in FW to take up the sort of gunk that skimmers deal with is to have live plants. Or if you fancy a more effective way, an algae turf scrubber, but that's for another thread

The surface skimmers are a bit pants in my opinion, just create more surface agitation with the outlet and you get the same result.

 

[Teelie]

Edit: I just noticed that Teelie said that FW skimmers were quite expensive. Actually, they are very inexpensive at $9.99 here. My tap water is prone to surface film. I can leave a bucket sitting for 2 or 3 days and it woll form a film on it so it has nothing to do with any problems in the tank.

Wow, the price has gone down. A few years ago I saw them selling for nearly $150.00

 

[Sky042]

I personally use a surface skimmer box on my wet/dry filter attached to my 54G corner bow.

It's effective at keeping that organic film from building up.

 

[CFC]

Once again make sure you are not confusing a SURFACE SKIMMER which is a device that takes water from the surface of the water in the tank into the filter and a PROTEIN SKIMMER which is a completely seperate piece of equipment which filters organic compounds from the water by air stripping.
Normal household aquariums stocked with small community fishes will get no benefit from a protein skimmer but large aquariums where 20% weekly water changes are not practical (imagine changing 200g a week on a 1000g tank) or in aquariums containing large predatory fish which produce masses of waste after feeding FW protein skimmers are invaluable as they remove organic compounds from the water before they can contribute to the nitrogen cycle. I was originally planning (and still am once i have some cash) to add a FW protein skimmer to my 200g and will definately be adding one to any bigger tanks i get in the future.

link to FW skimmer here http/www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/pond/schuran-jetskim.asp

 

[Sky042]

I'm def not consufing things.
But my skimmer box which flows to the overflow box then down the the drip tray of my wet/dry.

It does a good job getting organic film off the top and since I have 50 micron pads in my wet/dry the water comming out is polished crystal clear.