Protein skimming and water clarity

[CamoFan]

Good morning all,

I got the skimmer on the Coralife 30GAL filter/skimmer combo to produce some wet foam. As a bonus, the microbubble spillover is actually rather minimal. Could cut a piece of filter floss and catch the rest.

The collection up is about half full with green skim water/foam mix and I noticed that the tank looks a little extra clear after about 48-72 hours of the skimmer running. Does protein skimming really play that big a part of water clarity? Have I been missing out?

 

[Starbuxxx]

Yea, pretty big part in my opinion. I dont even run filter socks or rollers. I just run a skimmer, refugium and algae turf scrubber.

 

[Dom]

Good morning all,

I got the skimmer on the Coralife 30GAL filter/skimmer combo to produce some wet foam. As a bonus, the microbubble spillover is actually rather minimal. Could cut a piece of filter floss and catch the rest.

The collection up is about half full with green skim water/foam mix and I noticed that the tank looks a little extra clear after about 48-72 hours of the skimmer running. Does protein skimming really play that big a part of water clarity? Have I been missing out?

Your protein skimmer is the sewage treatment plant in your aquarium. It certainly helps clear water, but it is limited in this function. Additional polishing steps should be taken in addition to skimming.

 

[twentyleagues]

Yes imo it does like @Starbuxxx I run almost no mechanical filtration. You really want to blow your mind look up diy coral snow. That is when I run mechanical filtration for 2 days a week.

 

[Serpentman2024]

Protein skimmers remove DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbons) which can tint the water.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I run a skimmer in my tank and it keeps my water clear

 

[CamoFan]

Yes imo it does like @Starbuxxx I run almost no mechanical filtration. You really want to blow your mind look up diy coral snow. That is when I run mechanical filtration for 2 days a week.

Yeah, I've seen it and it's amazing. Would that enhance the skimmer at all or would it just trap it in the mechanical filtration?

 

[twentyleagues]

My skimmer seems to work harder the next couple days so I'd say yes.

 

[CamoFan]

My skimmer seems to work harder the next couple days so I'd say yes.

Awesome. I just did a feeding of frozen food and it seemed to freak the skimmer out. Lots more bubbles than before coming into the tank.

 

[twentyleagues]

Awesome. I just did a feeding of frozen food and it seemed to freak the skimmer out. Lots more bubbles than before coming into the tank.

Yeah you changed the "viscosity" of the water it'll do that for a bit after.

 

[CamoFan]

Yeah you changed the "viscosity" of the water it'll do that for a bit after.

Makes sense. It seems back to normal now.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Back in the day, I had a no name skimmer on my 90G. It was clearly not enough. When I switched up to my old school ETSS the water cleared nicely. My next iteration will have both a high quality skimmer and ozone. That should do it.