Newbie question about protein skimmers.

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dafishman

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Aug 3, 2010
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So. After much deliberation, reviewing threads, and spamming google, I'm probably just tired and making no sense of perfectly simple things.

So here's what I -think- I understand. Please correct my errors.

Take a tube. Fill it nearly full of water. Pump very tiny bubbles into tube. Bubbles rise to the top, becoming more numerous and more dense as they rise but do not immediately burst, producing foam. Foam overflows top of tube, where bubbles burst, carrying the contaminants in their film with them.

Something like taking a can of soda and pouring it into a tall, narrow glass, and the carbonation produces foam which spills over the edge, carrying a small degree of soda with it?

Yes, no? Help me out here, I feel totally lost.
 
Well kind of....

There are several type of skimmers, and yes they do work by making tiny bubbles that bind to the protein and bring them up the tube.

But some work better by making smaller bubbles and making sure the bubbles have the correct amount of contact time with the water, thus binding more protein to them and pulling more out in one pass.

A very inefficient protein skimmer will either pull out very little gunk, or pull out a lot of water with the gunk.

But yeah, your basic understanding is correct.
 
Everything you wanted to know about protein skimmers. ;)

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/1/aafeature

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature

They all are about the same as far as efficiency.. or better put, inefficiency. Bubbles are not a very good way at removing stuff from the water.. then the little stuff it does pull out is stuff you want in your tank for the most part. This is why I removed my protein skimmer from my tank and the colors on my corals have regained their color and became more vibrant than they ever have.
 
Ace - how long have you been skimmerless?
 
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