Protien skimmers, an essential piece of equipment
- Thread starter aresgod
- Start date
I was curious on protein skimmer operation. Whenever I open the valve (even slightly) I still get micro-bubbles coming through into the tank. (I have a Red Sea Max I set up for my daughter). If I turn it down enough to where I don't see bubbles, I can't really tell if the skimmer is doing anything, as nothing is removed. Do these micro-bubbles harm anything in the tank? Or, do they actually add any oxygenation? I'm not sure what else I could do if this is a problem.
I wanted to add my $0.02 in on the topic. I built my own air-driven Skimmer:
It consists of a Red Sea Collection Cup and a plastic tube. In the tube is a replacement pre-filter for a pond pump with an air pump inside it. the entire thing is in a hang-on-the-back filter [cleaned regularly to keep nitrates < 10ppm] so except for the collection cup the entire thing is under water.
Works well. Empty the cup every three or so days when its about half full.
My thoughts about skimmers in general is to be a step ahead rather than play catch up. with my over the back filter, i collect a lot of the solid waste that i just rinse down the into the sink. I dont use the bio-pad though.
Plz tell me what you guys think.
It consists of a Red Sea Collection Cup and a plastic tube. In the tube is a replacement pre-filter for a pond pump with an air pump inside it. the entire thing is in a hang-on-the-back filter [cleaned regularly to keep nitrates < 10ppm] so except for the collection cup the entire thing is under water.
Works well. Empty the cup every three or so days when its about half full.
My thoughts about skimmers in general is to be a step ahead rather than play catch up. with my over the back filter, i collect a lot of the solid waste that i just rinse down the into the sink. I dont use the bio-pad though.
Plz tell me what you guys think.
a skimmer is needed evn more if u dont have any live rock in your tank since live rock is your biological filtration! what size tank is this? u should have roughly 1 lb of live rock per gallon as a rule of thumb.... skimmer are nice to have but you could get away without one if u do weekly water changes, bad part is most of us are too lazy (thats where the skimmer comes into play)
Hey guys, I was just about to buy an Aqua C Remora skimmer with maxijet 1200 pump when I thought I should ask you all if that sounds good for my 50 Gal tank. I don't have any powerheads right now so I liked that this included that. Also, keep in mind with your answers that I may like to upgrade the tank one day to a 75 or 90 Gal tank.
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
The aqua c remora is an excellent skimmer for tanks up to about 55g. Any size over that and you would need the remora pro. Most skimmer ratings are really not very accurate and their tank ratings should probably be halved to be more accurate. I have this very same skimmer running on my 29g and it work great. Do no be confused that the powerhead that comes with this replaces any in your tank that you need for flow. The maxijet will only power the skimmer and the amount of water that drains back to the tank from the skimmer will only be a gentle flow nothing compared to what is needed in your tank. You should think of adding 2 additional maxijet 12's to your tank one on each back corner pointing toward the center middle......this will create random irregular flow which is what you need.
id go with the mag3 or even the maxijet over a rio