Protien skimmers, an essential piece of equipment

[aresgod]

ok here we go,

Protein skimming, also know as foam fractionation is a mechanical form of filtration. The idea behind protein skimming is fairly simply, many organic and inorganic substances(all that nasty stuff that collects in the collection cup) are naturally atracted to the interface between water and gas(air).
All a protein skimmer does is create a large interface area between air and water by producing all those little bubbles we see inside our skimmers when they are operating properly. The bubbles will rise naturally, with the atracted protiens attached to the microbubbles. The bubbles will rise to the top of the funnel and then burst releasing the liquid wastes into the collection cup. Some "studies have indicated that upto 80% of organics in an aquarium can be removed by an effiecient skimmer"(Dakin, 28). Skimmers can however have a negative effect when adding medacations to an aquarium because it will remove the majority of what is added to a tank.

KINDS OF PROTEIN SKIMMERS

There are three basic designs, the direct-current, counter-current and powered venturi skimmer. They all operate on the same ideas mentioned earlier, they just go about achieving the results differently. Some people believe one design is more effiecient than others, but that is something that I will adress later.
Direct Current- this is a basic skimmer design that involves and airstone placed inside a skimmer with the water from the aquarium passing over the bubbles in the same direction, this method however allows very little contact time for air bubbles and the water because the water and air bubbles are traveling in the same direction.
COUNTER-CURRENT- is similiar in design to the direct current except the water flows in the oposite direction of the airbubbles generated by the airstone, allowing a longer contact time, allowing more wastes to attach themselves.
Venturi Skimmer-
"Venturi air-injection was the next big technological development in the evolution of marine aquarium protein skimmers. A venturi is a specially designed piece of plumbing with a profile that resembles an inverted "T". Water is forced through at high velocity, which causes a low-pressure suction on the open stem (top) of the inverted T and draws air in. You may have noticed this feature on powerhead water pumps. In this application, venturis are used to inject air into their water stream to aid in oxygenation. In this application they are rather crude devices, but you get the picture. Protein skimmer venturi valves, however, are high precision instruments engineered to produce a very fine-sized air bubble. The better ones also come with a threaded needle control valve for fine-tuning the amount of air injected into the skimmer"(Steven Pro) I just used Steven's deffinition of Venturi, it was simple and illustrated the advantages of Venturi skimmer, and honestly I don't think I could do better.

Hopefully this helped with your understanding of what a skimmer is, how they work, and how essential they are to this hobby. I am also going to include a section in this post for people to post what skimmers they have used, and their experiences with them.
Brahm

oh yea and feel free to correct and add to these definitions

also we can start a poll to see what skimmers everyone uses, but i will do it later, im late for class

[wayne]

This link is a common review of some of the common offenders, written by a decent author...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i1...mpressions.htm

The author runs a service company and knows what he's talking about.

[aresgod]

nice article

[1979camaro]

yes, a useful collection of reviews indeed

[Jellybaby]

what skimmer would you guys suggest for a 55 gallon or less saltwater aquarium ?

Would you suggest I get one if I go with a 20 gallons aquarium?

[S.Reef]

Any practical size tank should have a protein skimmer-3 gallon nanos with skimmers are ridiculous. For a 55 gallon tank I would get a backpak skimmer.

[Henry22]

I have a 20 gallon i set up four days ago and just put in 10 1/2 lbs of mixed live rock from base to fiji and after the tank establishes itself and after i add the cleanup crew and 2-3 fish i might upgrade my lighting and try a coral or two, is a protein skimmer needed. I also plan to get 10 more lbs of lr before i add anything
Thanks

[aresgod]

a 20 is kind of border line, if it is lightly stocked and your diligent about water changes then it shouldnt be necessary, but if your lazy and/or want to stock on the heavier side then I would recomend getting one

[Henry22]

Ok, well since school is here in like two months and i will be busy and not always have the time for everyday or other day water changes i will buy one prob if i do get into coral.

[Managuense]

just my 2 cents - i feel that plankton strippers are completely unnecessary on most salt systems provided that weekly dilutions are made as a form of nutrient export.

skimmers, reactors, etc. IMO are ridiculously overpriced devices simply designed to circumvent simple routine maintenance.

think of how much RO water and salt mix you can purchase for the price of an aqua-c or a a bak-pak.

the prescence of "nasty stuff" in the collection cup provides little evidence that anything beneficial is being done, since many dissolved organic compounds are vital to many systems, particulary reef systems.

that being said, cpr bak-paks and aqua-c's are excellent at what they do.

good article at any rate
M