A skimmer is a piece of equipment that helps to remove particles floating in the water that can cause damage to the environment, such as fish diseases and death. Polyglass’s Recirculating Protein Skimmer has a large collection cup, which makes it easy to see when you need to clean it out. It also comes with a two-year warranty for your peace of mind.
What Is A Recirculating Protein Skimmer?
What Is A Recirculating Protein Skimmer? A protein skimmer removes organic material such as proteins, amino acids, and other waste products from aquarium water. This material forms inside the body of the fish and is released when the fish breathes or excretes. The skimmer captures this waste before it hits the water, which prevents a buildup of these materials in your aquarium’s water column.
The protein skimmer is the most powerful tool in an advanced saltwater tank’s filtration system. It is used to remove dissolved organic compounds (DOCs), particulate organic material, and excess food from the aquarium water column. DOCs are removed through use of a mechanical foam fractionating device that creates tiny air bubbles that rise carrying dissolved organic matter with them to a collection cup where the DOCs collect for easy disposal.
How Does A Skimmer Work?
Protein skimmers are the most important tool for anyone who wants to keep a saltwater tank. They’re very different from filters, which take out solid waste and leftover food, and they help your tank in a totally different way than lights do. A protein skimmer removes organic waste before it can turn into nitrates and become harmful to your corals or other tank inhabitants.
If you don’t yet have a skimmer, the easiest thing to understand about them is that they work like a traffic cop directing cars in a busy city. The water rushes through the skimmer’s air intake at rapid speed (much faster than it’s moving through your aquarium’s filter), and it causes the surface of the water to behave like boiling water does—it bubbles up into many tiny little bubbles that rise quickly to the top of the chamber before poofing back into large bubbles again and repeating.
The bubbles bump into small bits of food and other organic matter in the water as they rise, grabbing onto it so that when they fall back down, they leave little tiny deposits of waste behind on all the surfaces inside the chamber.
What Equipment Do You Need For A Recirculating Protein Skimmer?
A protein skimmer is a piece of technology that’s used to remove organic waste and proteins from a marine aquarium. This waste and protein removal is important because it helps to keep the water in the tank clean, reduces fish disease, and improves the overall health of the aquarium.
What equipment do you need for a recirculating protein skimmer? You’ll need a protein skimmer itself, of course, but you’ll also need:
- -a sump or bucket—this holds the skimmer and aids in water movement
- -an air pump
- -air tubing—this transports air from the air pump to the protein skimmer
- -a check valve—this allows air to flow into the tubing but not back out
- -a collection cup—this catches any sediments or organic material that’s been removed from your aquarium water
How Much Does A Recirculating Skimmer Cost?
A recirculating protein skimmer (or RPS) is an item that helps remove organic compounds from water in a saltwater aquarium. By removing these compounds, the skimmer can help keep your tank’s water clear and your fish healthy. In the past, there were only two ways to achieve this: either by purchasing a skimmer or by using live rock.
With the advent of RPSs, however, many people have found them to be a cheaper alternative to live rock. Since it doesn’t require any extra labor or time to set up, it also allows novices to keep their tanks clean with minimal effort.
Skimmers come in two main varieties: hang-on-back (HOB) and in-sump (IMS). HOB skimmers attach directly to the side of the tank and are usually cheaper than their IMS counterparts. Their drawbacks include being difficult to install and requiring frequent cleaning. IMS skimmers are installed inside the tank, but they require additional plumbing and may cost more than HOB models. The tradeoff is that they’re easier to maintain and they don’t take up room on top of your aquarium like HOBs do.
The Pros And Cons Of Recirculating Protein Skimmers
For those who are familiar with aquariums, the name probably sounds familiar. It’s a fairly common piece of equipment—but it may not be something you’re familiar with in terms of its use in saltwater tanks. This article aims to clear up some confusion about what a protein skimmer does and whether or not you need one for your marine tank.
A skimmer is a tool that removes debris and other particles from water. It’s used to help keep an aquarium clean, so that waste doesn’t build up over time and potentially overtax the system’s ability to perform other functions. Skimmers are therefore important tools that are used in many tanks.
There are several different types of skimmers that can be used, but the most common type is the recirculating protein skimmer. What this means is that it returns nutrients for the coral and fish back into the water column where they can be reused, rather than removing them with the other solid wastes.
The drawback to this type of skimmer is that it uses more power than some of the other types available on the market, which could increase your costs if you’re relying on a large air pump for circulation in your tank.
Last Words
For most users, the ease of use, lightweight construction and low price of hang on back protein skimmers outweighs the increased cost and drain on water resources.