How many here use a skimmer?

[discusRcool]

Just curious as to how many people here use a skimmer... I'm considering a Schuran pond skimmer myself.

[steve.ryall]

I don't know anyone that does, hth

Steve

[Hans Kloss]

Skimmers were always in use in my discus tanks. I consider it more important than heather. At this time all my water flow is going through skimmer and because of it no additional aeration is necessary.
Hans

[brewmaster15]

Hi Hans,
Can you post some pictures of your system?

Thanks!

-al

[kaceyo]

Are we talking about surface skimmers or protien skimmers here?

Kacey

[Rod]

Are we talking about surface skimmers or protien skimmers here?

Kacey

What i was thinking too!

protein skimmers don't work in freshwater?

[Hans Kloss]

Protein skimmer is very difficult to work in freshwater tank.
Pictures of my ugly surface skimmer are here:
http://www.pkmd.pl/modules.php?op=modload&name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3056
Most of its elements were accidentally found in WC ;) (sorry Agnes, we don't need TWO WC's....)
Of course it is usually masked ;), I removed masking only for photo.
Hans

[kaceyo]

Hey Hans,
Couldn't tell how to get to the pictures. Are we supposed to click on something on that page?

Kacey

[Hans Kloss]

Hey Hans,
Couldn't tell how to get to the pictures. Are we supposed to click on something on that page?


F... Pictures are not visible for anonymous users ;(, so I uploaded them here.
Hans

[D discus]

Dzien dobry' Hans
Teraz prosie wytomac po Engelscu. Gwova boli, e nie pism po polsku 60 lat temu. Ryszard:confused:

[kaceyo]

Interesting design. It looks like the power head drives the venturi but the skimmer is fed via overflow. Have you got a diagram of the inside with water movement etc? Where does the foam come into it?

Kacey

[Hans Kloss]

Dzien dobry' Hans
Teraz prosie wytomac po Engelscu. Gwova boli, e nie pism po polsku 60 lat temu. Ryszard:confused:

Witam rodaka zza Wielkiej Wody ;). I'll try do describe how does it work, but I suspect my English to be much worse than your Polish :(
Hans

[Hans Kloss]

Interesting design. It looks like the power head drives the venturi but the skimmer is fed via overflow. Have you got a diagram of the inside with water movement etc?


Water movement is extremely simple. All device may be approximated by two elements: U- shaped tube and floating tube ended with comb-like overflow .
One arm of U-tube is connected with sucking hole of power head.
On the second arm the floating tube is overlapped. The diameter of floating tube is a little bigger so it can easy move up-down, depending on water level and power of water suction. Great part of water is collected directly from surface through comb into the floating tube. Stainless wire on the bottom of floating tube was added to correct its buoyancy which is vital parameter for proper operation of skimmer.
Additional elements (container filled with macroporous sponge, circular piece of PVC grid) were added for rough mechanical filtration, mostly from my freshwater baby shrimps.



Where does the foam come into it?

Have never seen a foam in my tank.
Hans

[kaceyo]

Thanks Hans,
I actually meant sponge, not foam, so you answered the question. I like the idea of a floating water inlet. I've never seen one designed like that before.

Kacey

[phidelt85]

Check out this surface skimmer you can attach to your canister filters.
surface skimmer (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12703&Ntt=surface%20skimmer&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1)

[scolley]

I've been wondering about this for a little while, and was surprised to see this recent discussion.

Do surface skimmers like this accomplish the same things as protein skimmers in SW tanks? Will it strip the water of it's organic impurities?

Would love to know if it works, as it sounds like a good tool to improve water quality in setups where you are not depending on frequent, high-volume, water changes to maintain good water quality.



PS - I should add, I'm considering this for planted discus tanks. And in a planted tank, if you've go a surface film, something is wrong. The film is the symptom, and the cause needs to be found and addressed. But even still, if this is a way to remove organic waste - even if not visible as a film - it seems like a good idea.

[Hans Kloss]

Do surface skimmers like this accomplish the same things as protein skimmers in SW tanks? Will it strip the water of it's organic impurities?

Partially only. Of course skimmer removes all insoluble organic impurities from water surface but it cannot directly clean water from dissolved organic compounds. It can help you with proper water circulation and greatly improve aeration of the entire tank capacity. It may be also considered as a source of well oxidized water, suitable for further nitrification process and, probably, for oxidation of great part of soluble organic wastes.



Would love to know if it works, as it sounds like a good tool to improve water quality in setups where you are not depending on frequent, high-volume, water changes to maintain good water quality.


If you are familiar with marine tanks then you should consider the Jaubert/Plenum method of filtration. It can work in both marine and freshwater tanks. Plenum allowed me to do WC once monthly (best score- 3 months) with no visible influence on discus health.
Hans

[Stag]

I noticed a bit of film and a few bubles on top fo my water as well.

I think it may be because i just set the tank up.

WC, WC, WC that should do it! :)

[Li-T]

Hey! Didn't know about this thing, is it supposed to saturate the water with the right elements or just filter it? Found some reviews on them (https://www.backyardstyle.com/best-pond-skimmer/). I'm having my first big aquarium, you need a skimmer?

[coralbandit]

I use Eheim 350 and aquaneat surface skimmers in many/most of my tanks .
They both work the same with the only difference being $20 less for the aquaneat and the aquaneat has a nice removable guard/strainer .
I take the sponges out of all and actually place some foods right into them where they get shot into the water column catching the interest of some if my finicky eaters !
If you keep the sponge in place you will need to turn them off during feeding and clean them often [no less the 2x a week] ..
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Surface-Skimmer-Oil-Remover-Filter-Plant-Freshwater-Marine-Tank-500L-H/282381492278?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item41bf3fa036:g:9bkAAOSwTuJYuSV9&enc=AQAEAAACUBPxNw%2BVj6nta7CKEs3N0qVjB2Ip78FXYrb9 MC0g6WT4xLD31IE%2BRCAykjBDnb79tKEMqWYOiin738vyapJD 8O3B8DpcwcvVRNKcki0Eco5qiJFf7INaPU3oK5Pr5tyjG%2B49 w4Ezquum3JZHH9XyLdPqafgPa0amAVsQEBMiwOke%2Fu8hWKZI nKdLsB3%2FnKSwtpSUrn3BW%2BMgjmywwsOLIHN4kFuwk8Hip3 soxY6DcXy2h1GfXMYMbu7fyXL8iS8usTArd45Rc2FJ%2FtiDql VgR7vKJuSONONS4MqYuRfXiW6cn4zjwBidvsqM%2BZ4poiyNMF fI6v%2FSoEU6lsYOrjgD%2F3cbb17eIoBwkjHC26TRGLPVhJcl UjkZ2Bf%2BoymnNJ15Nt9VimDwQ5MCyZOOItB29DEpSRBI%2FL TcWkHNVTsTf6JDSCTbr5PQKxs%2Bw65ZdLb98vLyBVMt7qdSrX ymc5kge%2Fjt2DmOGST0O4kbiMlVWhFoAUT5fuVNHWFFBjqNO0 I0d%2BhtNYPZnoKMM6SkPPZthsMEAG4daWp6a%2BQHxxPM4dvC saUkj%2FZdKDwhECTTrRzBbkNnJT87phZb5MaEn7ulW0mOWcGB tCAhv7OPoS5%2BZtaZVscyfLxbZpWNuvMIawOuT5SQE8z5ko93 Icj7bvQTroU%2B8hYBimalpKPrbXIXxvjrGFT%2B7rCGg2okjW BOHiHVESZJrwoHdL9kx1HWtZ29BJ2HmYJEe3HMYQUUdpQNFIyn dqnpcw6okmB1NV9NBKSqcgeH6xZ9G5myCCZTNz9m%2FcU%3D&checksum=282381492278eb712a06a02e455da497477bcacc5 d22

[captainandy]

I am not quite sure why one would use a protein skimmer in a Discus tank. First of all, with frequent water changes, I doubt that you will generate much of a proteinaceous foam. It does not transport nitrates while phosphates either. The only advantage I could see is that it would aerate the water