If you are new to the saltwater aquarium hobby, you are likely trying not to drown in all the information being thrown at you at once. I’m here to help do what I can to demystify some of what might be confusing you.
Let’s take protein skimmers. Such an important piece of equipment for saltwater aquariums, but what exactly do they do?
First, I want to be clear that this article is for novices; to help them understand the basics behind what may seem confusing in the beginning. This is not intended to be a technical piece for an engineer or bio-chemist. Yes, I’m over-simplifying in order to help newbies.
Now that I have the hounds at bay, let’s get back to the subject at hand; protein skimmers.
You’ll have a lot of questions at first: Do I need a skimmer? Which brand? How big? What does it do? All valid questions. My opinion? Yes, you do need a skimmer for a saltwater tank. All those other questions? Well, let’s get after it, shall we?
WHICH BRAND?
Oh that’s a tricky question. Tricky because it all depends on: (A) Your budget. (B) Your goals. (C) The design of your aquarium system. Let’s start with A…budget. I chuckle inside when I see someone who set up a saltwater tank where I can tell they spent their money in an unbalanced way. They spent all their budget on one or a few pieces of equipment and the rest is garbage. High-end lights but bad filtration, $1500 main pump sitting in a Home Depot storage container as a sump, $1200 Bubble King skimmer sitting in a $100 used acrylic sump that is way too small. You get the point. I’m advising you to look at your budget, and spread the love around to all your equipment. One piece of great equipment is not going to make or break your system. Honestly, what makes or breaks your saltwater aquarium system is going to be inside your skull…not equipment. Of course proper tools make life easier but without the experience and knowledge, you aren’t much better off than other beginners using lesser equipment. A skimmer is so important to your aquariums over all health, it is something I’d rather not see anyone scrimp on. Buy a decent skimmer and you will have a better time. As of May 2019, I’d say Bubble Magus Curve skimmers, Aquamaxx, Reef Octopus, Tunze, Dalua (available from Unique Corals), not in that order or anything. These are all decent skimmers. If you are coming into this with a large budget and want to throw money around like a West Coast rapper, check out Nyos, or better yet, Bubble King. Those are really nice and expensive skimmers. As I said earlier though, please don’t think the skimmer alone is going to make you successful or not. There are other brands out there but, if I didn’t mention them, I’m not a big fan.
HOW BIG?
Simple question…but I could easily make it more complicated with a complicated answer. Let’s keep it simple. If you are a beginner, you are hopefully only keeping easy stuff before you eventually gain the knowledge it takes to get more complicated. In that case, look at a manufacturer’s recommendation online for the skimmer you want, and then get the next size up. Why do they do it like that? I don’t know but it has always been this way. It’s not an exact science for quantifying exactly what size skimmer to use, no matter what “they” tell you, but it never hurts to go a little bigger in this endeavor. I would caution you to refrain from buying a large skimmer that barely fits in your small sump. You want a decent sized sump so you don’t end up squeezing your skimmer into a chamber where it barely fits. Give the skimmer room to do it’s thing.
WHAT DOES A SKIMMER EVEN DO?!?
Ah, important question. Simple answer is; It removes dissolved organic matter from the water. So fish waste and uneaten food dissolve into the water on a daily basis. Fish waste and uneaten food turn into dissolved organic matter and cause the water quality to decline. These dissolved organic molecules are generally large and somewhat complex. They have a side that hates water and an opposite side that loves water. This is because of the different electrical charges that the molecule has. These waste molecules are trying to find an air/water interface like a tiny air bubble or the top of the water. That water hating side wants to get out of the water. A protein skimmer makes TONS of tiny air bubbles that the organic molecules are attracted to. You adjust the height of the foam in the skimmer in order to concentrate this collected muck stuck to the top air bubbles, and then it gradually spills out into the skimmer “head”, removing this waste from the water.
IN CLOSING…
I hope that helps a little bit and wasn’t too painful to read. Reading is something you will hopefully do a lot of in this hobby because an informed aquarist is a good aquarist. Don’t forget that caring for delicate wild animals is a privilege and we want to be good at it in order to do right by them. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to help.
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