This item is not your swimming pool leaf-remover. This is actually a protein fractionator, to use the four-dollar name. And the more it foams instead of just bubbles, the more efficient it is. The foam should be sort of just short of whipping cream texture. Stands up in a spoon. The closer your system is to that, the more efficient it is.
It removes protein waste, which gets whipped into a nasty dark film, then a dark green froth and collected in a cup for removal. If you look at a cupful, the usual conclusion is that you don't want that in your water.
If you have a tank under 50 gallons, the bubbler type may do fine for you, because you don't produce that much waste. The larger the tank, the more you need one of the foamy sort.
It is useful in first, removing waste. This lowers nitrates. If you have really high nitrates and can't get rid of them, the skimmer is probably your shortcoming. Stony coral doesn't like nitrates. So if you're a reef, your need for 5 instead of 50 nitrates says---improve the skimmer.
The skimmer is one of the truly major reasons to have a sump: they're large, they're fussy, ugly when they're full, and some spit water in a power-out and restart. There ARE hang-on ones that can work without a sump. The Remora is an example, for a smaller tank.
The other thing they're good for is cleaning up your water after a problem---like cyano. Preparations you can use in your tank rely on a good skimmer to remove the dieoff of what you're trying to get rid of. Otherwise the treatment just sends the nutrient of your problem right back into the system to fuel another outbreak. Water changes can help some in that situation. But again, the skimmer is fitted to do that job quickly, efficiently, and without fuss.
Are the good ones inexpensive? Unfortunately, no. Could you make one? Yes. It would still cost a pump, the container, and a lot of engineering; and you might get it wrong. So at a certain point---figure that convenience and a proven design are going to be worth it. I rate it right up there with lighting and good flow, in my own scale of what-matters in a tank that's got some size to it.
It removes protein waste, which gets whipped into a nasty dark film, then a dark green froth and collected in a cup for removal. If you look at a cupful, the usual conclusion is that you don't want that in your water.
If you have a tank under 50 gallons, the bubbler type may do fine for you, because you don't produce that much waste. The larger the tank, the more you need one of the foamy sort.
It is useful in first, removing waste. This lowers nitrates. If you have really high nitrates and can't get rid of them, the skimmer is probably your shortcoming. Stony coral doesn't like nitrates. So if you're a reef, your need for 5 instead of 50 nitrates says---improve the skimmer.
The skimmer is one of the truly major reasons to have a sump: they're large, they're fussy, ugly when they're full, and some spit water in a power-out and restart. There ARE hang-on ones that can work without a sump. The Remora is an example, for a smaller tank.
The other thing they're good for is cleaning up your water after a problem---like cyano. Preparations you can use in your tank rely on a good skimmer to remove the dieoff of what you're trying to get rid of. Otherwise the treatment just sends the nutrient of your problem right back into the system to fuel another outbreak. Water changes can help some in that situation. But again, the skimmer is fitted to do that job quickly, efficiently, and without fuss.
Are the good ones inexpensive? Unfortunately, no. Could you make one? Yes. It would still cost a pump, the container, and a lot of engineering; and you might get it wrong. So at a certain point---figure that convenience and a proven design are going to be worth it. I rate it right up there with lighting and good flow, in my own scale of what-matters in a tank that's got some size to it.
