Thinking of going with a saltwater tank, read about protein skimmers..

Why do we not use these in freshwater tanks? Sounds like they would be beneficial.

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Originally Posted by Sandy Clay

Why do we not use these in freshwater tanks? Sounds like they would be beneficial.

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There are now freshwater skimmers available, how effective they are I'm not sure as I haven't used one. I have used the salt-water versions though. They didn't used to work in freshwater as the water itself needed to have some salt content, if you've ever seen a skimmer at work it foams up, this is the proteins and salt mixing with air etc ... (you see this at the seaside too on windy days, sea foam is in effect proteins).

Thanks! I have a 29 gallon upright that I have sold the Angel and Parrot , so, my husband wants me to try saltwater. I have been reading, reading, reading! I came across the protein skimmer and thought I would ask.

I had a red sea vortex protein skimmer on my fresh water tank. It worked not as well but it did work, the amount of foam was small collected compared to saltwater but it did work, also aerates the water well. I would feed my fish and turn on the skimmer after and sure enough the protein remains foamed up in the collection cup. If they have a fresh water one even better. I would still have one running if if my cat had not knocked it off the sink while cleaning and shattered it.

I have just wasted a good amount of money trying to build one. Got the best needle nose pump and tried a number of different configurations with poor results(very little foam). It is strictly designed for saltwater.
I build a foam fractionator for my new tank and its running great. Had it running in a new setup with no fish, no wood. Plain water filtered through a carbon filter and I still got good amount of foam forming. Once bio-load increases this thing will be very productive.

If you go into saltwater, take a look at the reef octopus brands. Best value for the money out there in my opinion. Depending on which way you want to go in salt water (i.e. fish only, LPS corals, SPS corals), you may want to go with a skimmed rated at twice it's recommend capacity. Also keep in mind the power draw of the skimmer. Some skimmer pumps can be electricity hogs due to inefficient pumps.

Looked into a used skimmers too. They can be hand cheap around these parts. For example, I just sold my $300 skimmer for $100.

For freshwater, the skimmer won't work very well if at all. Has something to do with the salt in the water. You can get a lot of foam in slat water. Not so in freshwater.

Tom