skimmer / filter question

[thanew]

i am a little lost on this skimmer thing...

this is my first real sw tank (had a nano, no real skimmer there just water changes) and I'm a little lost on this.

what exactly does a skimmer do... how does it do it? and why?
oh yeah, I do have a skimmer seaclone 100 (yes its not the best) but I have it set up... bubbles come up, but it seems to build up pretty quickly (which I assume is its too fast)

I am a little lost when it comes to what is the efficient way to use a skimmer, quick or slow or what...

also someone said in another post that filters were usless with skimmers, they were referring to HOB and all that...


so please give me the basics of what a skimmer should do, how it does it and is fast / slow better ?

 

[RMPD109]

the skimmer removes organic waste from the water. have you ever been to the beach and seen the brown foam on the shoreline? that is mother natures skimmer. my seaclone skimmed way to much when first installed and was due to water conditioners I was adding. conditioners make all skimmers foam like crazy. Get as much skimmate as possible for effective removal but it should be a dark color not clear. good luck.

 

[lando]

A skimmer removes DOC from the water. I will give you an example and hopefully someone here can chime in on a more scientific level. Think about the ocean. As waves come in to the shore they "break" over rocks and along the shore. Basically, this creates oxygen to be "whipped" into the water. Have you seen that nasty brown foam gunk along the shore and on rocks? that is natural protein skimming. In the tank, a skimmer mixes air with the water and produces a foam that ends up in the collection cup. HTH...Lando

 

[thanew]

ah thanks... its jsut been filling up with clear water :| so i guess itll take awhile ?

 

[zacdl]

I need to know this too...

 

[RMPD109]

if you are using any kind of water conditioner it will make the skimmer foam and remove little waste. Give it a day or two and it should work itself out on its own.

 

[malkore]

If it's just clear water, you probably have the collection cup set too low, and without any livestock, you won't really have any DOC's to skim out.