What's The Difference?

[newtomarine]

Hi Guys, hope everyone is well.

Can someone tell me in technical terms what the actual difference is between a skimmer and a good external filter.

After having mine running for a while and monitoring it it appears to me that a skimmer draws water into the chamber then uses air to seperate particals of dirt from the water and leaves it in the collection cup. How does this really compare to an efficent external filter which uses a similar method but uses Foam pads, fine wool. carbon instead of air to remove particals from the water?

I hope that doesn't sound aggressive I was just curious to know.

James

 

[SkiFletch]

Wanna get technical about skimming? Randy Holmes-Farley will make your brain hurt . The quick answer is that protein skimming removes way more organic compounds than traditional foam/carbon does. What actually happens is that the organics get attracted to the bubbles which are foamed and collected at the cup thus directly removing them from the water. Foam filters house bacteria to help break down nitrogenous waste only and carbon can filter out a lot of organics too, but needs to be changed constantly and is tempermental at best. Skimming harnesses physics and chemistry at the molecular level to give a far better nutrient removal.

 

[newtomarine]

What is the largest size aquarium you can have without a skimmer?

 

[SkiFletch]

most people agree that 30gallons is pretty much the dividing line. Above that, skimmers should be employed and below that, skimmers are usually not employed. There are of course exceptions to the rule, but 30g is the normal dividing line.

 

[steelhealr]

I agree....30 and above should have a protein skimmer. Under 30 you can do very well with weekly 10% water changes. SH