Portien skimmer in fresh water?

[DaddyK]

Protien skimmer in fresh water. Is it benificial to your tank? Is it even possible? What do you guys think?

-B

 

[ward1066]

Protien skimmer in fresh water. Is it benificial to your tank? Is it even possible? What do you guys think?

-B

protein skimmers are for salt water only, density of the water

 

[beex215]

ive had a guy use it for freshwater and it worked.

 

[mkman]

thats a misconception that protein skimmers are only for salt. They WORK better in saltwater and most skimmers are for saltwater but it can be used in freshwater but not as popular. I've seen some pond protein skimmers.

 

[Cholly]

They're really not that beneficial for freshwater. Only freshwater setups I've personally ever seen with them were well over 500 gallons.

 

[JAFRIAS]

here is one that seems to be working
http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78548

 

[velanarris]

A lot of protein skimmers do not work in freshwater because of the water density. Some work, however, it's no where near as effective in freshwater, and is mainly considered a waste, as for your water to get dirty enough to work, you need to be failing to do tank maintenance for extended periods of time.

 

[jschall]

They can be designed for freshwater. I believe the pressure needs to be much higher.
If you want a similar effect in a freshwater tank, build an algae scrubber. Really simple - just put a light very close (like less than 4" away) to a screen that has water flowing down it. You can find designs in the diy section.

 

[mkman]

run a algae scrubber and a protein skimmer =EXCELLENT water quality

There are a few companies that sell freshwater skimmer, only a few though.