Protein skimmes or surface skimmer

[hammerhd]

To all the old birds

Im starting a 2ft tank, height ard 18inches.

I intend to get either the surface or protein skimmer.

pls advice

Cheers

HH

[SpiderOne]

they are 2 entirely different things. do a search on protein skimmers and surface skimmers on the net to find out more.

[hammerhd]

I knw but is it good to just put either 1 as i dont want to overcrowd the tank with accessories. Will protein skimmers help to skim the surface abit??

[hoppinghippos]

errrmm if you know then you would also know your question is wrong lah.... like spidey said they are not the same, both serve diff functions, protein skimmer in itself does not skim the surface at all, BUT you can use an overflow box to let the protein skimmer use the surface water as intake.

[Tanzy]

Even though they have 'skimmer' in their names they couldn't be any closer than apples and pears. The protein skimmer should be more accurately called the foam fractionator. The surface skimmer is not a form of nutrient export but a simple device that draws surface water into canisters.

[tansh]

If u are keeping coral,surface skimmer n protein skimmer is a must. Surface skimmer help to remove surface oil or dirt that will block the light from penetrate n less oxygen.Protein skimmer is to track liquid waste or dissolved organics.

[terryansimon]

I knw but is it good to just put either 1 as i dont want to overcrowd the tank with accessories. Will protein skimmers help to skim the surface abit??

if you invest a bit, you can get the Eheim surface skimmer for about less than $40 at Petm@rt (=

and it doubles up as a suction intake for your filter as well. preferably used with Eheim, of course. not sure if it can be sucked into any other types of filter.

so far it blends in quite well with my FW tank. hehz.

[pospeh]

I have to disagree. Surface skimmers are not necessary, and especially so with tanks with overflows.

[panlee]

Protein skim - get rid of unwanted organic compound in water

Surface skim - get rid of oil on water surface

If you have overflow box to a sump, then the overflow does the job of surface skim. So no need to buy any other product. Its better go for overflow/sump setup if possible.

[tansh]

I have to disagree.  Surface skimmers are not necessary, and especially so with tanks with overflows.

Of couse dont need surface skimmer if hv overflow system cos he never mention he using overflow system

[hammerhd]

tks guys at least i have an idea.

I just bought a protein skimmer, is the bubbles supposed to go into the cup???

Mine isnt it is just crearting lots of bubbles that go right out of the output.

Is it supposed to be like that??

[Tanzy]

Is is an airstone skimmer?