protein skimming frshwater???

the marine apprentice · #1 01-19-2010, 02:34 AM

i know this may seem like a dumb question but i was wondering if it is possible to run a skimmer on freshwater to remove some of the nutrients.

Fishward · #2 01-19-2010, 02:47 AM

As far as i have read, what makes skimming work are the properties of salt water (specific gravity, surface tension etc.) . If you have one laying around it would be neat to find out for sure though!

pelle31 · #3 01-19-2010, 02:49 AM

I think I read somewhere that a skimmer won't work on fresh,as it won't produce the tiny bubbles. I'd say just do a water change. Thats all I ever did when I bred Discus......waterchanges everyday it was crazy but I had some big ass Discus!!

the marine apprentice · #4 01-19-2010, 02:53 AM

that is what ive been told before as well. i just wanted to find out some opinions from others. thanks guys

Delphinus · #5 01-19-2010, 03:03 AM

Short answer: You can and you can't ..

Slightly longer answer: Generally speaking, you can't, you just won't get adequate foam fractionation (for the reasons stated above). However that said, there does seem to be such thing as a FW skimmer, think they are run on ponds in areas where the water is so insanely hard that basically you can get foam production.

the marine apprentice · #6 01-19-2010, 03:10 AM

thanks tony that makes sence as well.

RuGlu6 · #7 01-19-2010, 03:31 AM

yes you can. Just need a right skimmer.
PMed you

StirCrazy · #8 01-19-2010, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Short answer: You can and you can't ..

Slightly longer answer: Generally speaking, you can't, you just won't get adequate foam fractionation (for the reasons stated above). However that said, there does seem to be such thing as a FW skimmer, think they are run on ponds in areas where the water is so insanely hard that basically you can get foam production.

are you thinking about a surface skimmer?

Steve

Delphinus · #9 01-19-2010, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

are you thinking about a surface skimmer?

Steve

No - I was thinking about an actual protein skimmer. I saw a company making them a few years ago. They used ceramic based airstones for the smaller bubble sizes and basically compressors instead of airpumps. Other than that they looked more or less identical to say the old style countercurrent skimmers. I went looking for the link but couldn't find them so maybe they weren't viable. Did find a couple skimmers that worked on a slightly (but not altogether) different principle on a couple Koi sites.

Thought I read somewhere that Tanganika water is hard enough that protein skimmers would work on it. I don't remember where I read that though so who knows.

The short answer remains the same. You're not really going to get a protein skimmer intended for saltwater to work on a freshwater tank. I can't really think of an application where it would be really beneficial anyhow, it's not like FW isn't easily managed with water changes.

MMAX · #10 02-02-2010, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Short answer: You can and you can't ..

Slightly longer answer: Generally speaking, you can't, you just won't get adequate foam fractionation (for the reasons stated above). However that said, there does seem to be such thing as a FW skimmer, think they are run on ponds in areas where the water is so insanely hard that basically you can get foam production.

All a pond skimmer does is clean up the surface of leaves and other debris before they sink to the bottom and decay. No foam or skimmate are produced.