Before skimming, where are proteins mainly located in the tank water?

Dave Clark · Mar 16, 2023

Newbie here. Just curious. Before tank water enters a protein skimmer, where are the proteins located ... are they mainly near/on the water surface (assuming minimal agitation), or are they distributed relatively evenly through the tank water volume? Thanks in advance.

GoM_reefs · Mar 16, 2023

DOCs (which include proteins) are distributed throughout the water column. Some proteins, especially hydrophobic ones, can accumulate as a film on the surface. If you have minimal surface agitation, or don't have a surface skimmer, you'll see these build up, but they only represent a portion of the total DOC in a given system.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 16, 2023

In addition to the above comment about those distributed evenly through the water column, the great majority (99.9% or some such thing) of proteins in a reef tank will be in the tissues of organisms.

Also, there are many organics in the water that a skimmer may or may not remove, just like proteins, and IMO, skimmers should not really be called protein skimmers.