Protein skimmer

[millsn]

I was looking through the tunze website and arrived at what may be a daft question but does anyone use one of these in a tropical tank? If so, does it seem to be beneficial?

[millsn]

oops

[OneWay]

the chemistry of freshwater does not allow a protein skimmer to function properly

[millsn]

really? The tunze site implies its the bubbbles that do the protein removal action. Could you expand? Why does it need to be salt water?

[OneWay]

The conventional wisdom has been:

*The higher the salt and pH levels the better protein skimmers work. *Skimmers take advantage of the higher surface tension of saline water to skim wastes off the surface.
*The skimmer would take little to nothing off the surface in a freshwater

A good site with info: http://www.aquariumfish.net/pages/protein_skimmer.htm


But, there are protien skimmers that are made specifically for freshwater tanks. Not sure how well they work, but maybe there is something to it, or maybe not.

http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/commercial/fre ... immers.asp

[millsn]

interesting links, thanks very much