skimmer in FW tank??????

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tropicfishman

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has anyone used a proteion skimmer on a FW tank in conjunction with a canister filter?? I read in a " getting " started post thjat guy was doing this, seemed odd at first, but the more I think abou tit, it could actually have some benfits....what do you think?
 
This has been discussed before and the consensus is that it does not have any benefit to run a skimmer on a FW tank. I believe there was a topic a few weeks ago about this.
 
sorry I didn't know there was a topic about it, I thought it might help somewhat, but I guess not, thanks for answering my question though :)
 
I think it might help with a heavily planted tank. I often have floating debris (leaves/christmas moss/riccia) that either breaks off the plant or separates from the plant that will float around the surface and rot. I also get a protein film on the surface occasionally. A skimmer might help in this situation.

For most other cases though I don't think it would help.
 
A skimmer doesn't filter the water like a surface skimmer would. They are different things. Skimmers remove DOC's and inorganics from the water by blasting the water that flows through it with hundreds or thousands of fine bubbles. So in a heavily planted tank, if you add ferts, it'd take all the ferts out, if it worked in the first place. :)
 
Skimmers need the water composition with marine salt added to be able to hold the bubble structure that removes proteins from the tank.

Think of it this way. The ocean has a natural protein skimmer...waves and tides. That white foam on the beach and tops of waves is what a protein skimmer is attempting to reproduce. The crashing waves create massive amounts of bubbles under the surface of the water, churning it and aerating it, and the bubbles collect proteins in the water, gather together in big masses of fluff, float to the surface, and blow off onto the beaches. It is because of the unique structure of sea water that this is possible.

Freshwater bodies don't have the same chemical structure, the aeration is different (even on lake michigan you rarely see white caps and collected foam) and the surface area of the air and water bubbles is not strong enough to hold together and collect the protein.

Skimmers don't work on freshwater bodies because there is nothing to strenghthen the bond of the molecules....where as in the ocean and saltwater bodies, there is...salt.
 
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