DIY Skimmer

[Chris_A]

Skimmers, like wet/dry's, are borrowed technology from waste water treatment plants (sewage treatment, call it what you will). So actually marine aquarium skimmers are borrowed from a freshwater application. There are many reasons you should have a skimmer on a marine tank but most of them could be eliminated with large, regular water changes which is easier to do in a fresh tank. That's probably a big part of the reason they never caught on in the fresh hobby, freshwater is more accessable (from the tap). Freshwater O2 saturation is significantly higher than marine so there's another reason they are not as needed. Can freshwater skimmers work? Of coarse they do, ask public works in any major city. Do 99% of the freshwater hobbiests out ther NEED one? nope, just have a frequent water change schedule and your all good.

BUT, like someone else said (haven't figured out the quote thing yet, sorry) there is a mad scientist cool factor! Plus it's a challenge and lets you learn something new. Then there's the size factor, with some of the HUGE systems I've seen on here, you might find yourself in the 1% that would benifit from FW skimmer. Fish that come from areas that could be super saturated with O2 (rapids) would probably benifit to.

 

[amehel0]

Skimmers, like wet/dry's, are borrowed technology from waste water treatment plants (sewage treatment, call it what you will). So actually marine aquarium skimmers are borrowed from a freshwater application. There are many reasons you should have a skimmer on a marine tank but most of them could be eliminated with large, regular water changes which is easier to do in a fresh tank. That's probably a big part of the reason they never caught on in the fresh hobby, freshwater is more accessable (from the tap). Freshwater O2 saturation is significantly higher than marine so there's another reason they are not as needed. Can freshwater skimmers work? Of coarse they do, ask public works in any major city. Do 99% of the freshwater hobbiests out ther NEED one? nope, just have a frequent water change schedule and your all good.

BUT, like someone else said (haven't figured out the quote thing yet, sorry) there is a mad scientist cool factor! Plus it's a challenge and lets you learn something new. Then there's the size factor, with some of the HUGE systems I've seen on here, you might find yourself in the 1% that would benifit from FW skimmer. Fish that come from areas that could be super saturated with O2 (rapids) would probably benifit to.

the difference in wastewater trestments is that waste water has a very high protein, organic mineral, trace metal content which im not to sure if it increases surface tansion but basically allows for fine bubbles to work. i have reproduced theese environments and tested it. when i filled a tank and added bait hormones(origianlay it was to see if it incresased breeding and if they even lived ) after a few days became cloufdy and i added ell crap skimmer on it with lime wood airstone it ran alrighty very liquid waste came out but it was waste. i then did the same in a normal runnign tank and noticed in the normal one not ony were bubbles bigger but there was no skimmate. thing is there is a freshwater skimmer that runs off a few things that doesnt need a high surface tension to run im afdter diagrams of it to make one because i can by them but they aint cheap

 

[Chris_A]

I appologize, I wasn't trying to say they were the same as waste water treatment skimmers just that they do work. Again, sorry. In reference to the surface tension, I guess when you think about it that's probably why FW skimmers are more common on ponds. Heavier stocking levels, heavy feeding, falling leaves ect, and harder to do water changes all add up to higher protein levels, DOC's and POM.

I too would be interested in actual diagrams, anything to increas water quality . Only been back on the net for about a week (4 years off) so haven't even scratched the surface on things I want to look up!