protein skimmer

[tiger terror]

Was at my lfs&they recommended a protien skimmer for my 75g planted tank on account of my hornwort was filling up with debris..need some opinions on this as I thought they were solely used for saltwater..Thx

 

[rkilling1]

Was at my lfs&they recommended a protien skimmer for my 75g planted tank on account of my hornwort was filling up with debris..need some opinions on this as I thought they were solely used for saltwater..Thx

Sounds like they will tell you anything to sell you something. Do not purchase a protein skimmer! Will it work? Maybe, but why not just perform a PWC?

 

[aqua_chem]

You have to get specially designed protein skimmers to even have a change of working in freshwater, and even then they kinda suck. The water water doesn't have the specific gravity/salinity for it to function.

 

[fort384]

Agreed! Protein skimmers don't work well at all in a FW tank from everything I have read. When I decided to get into SW after years of running planted tanks, I read a lot about it... it seemed to me like it would be a great way to remove organics in my planted tank... but it just doesn't work because of the SG of FW vs. SW. The skimmate never makes it to the top of the collection cup unless you crank up the adjustment, and then the cup fills too quickly to really remove much of anything from the water.