activated carbon versus protein skimmers
- Thread starter beireefer
- Start date
Boomer
Reef Sanctuary's Mr. Wizard
Skimmers DO work like carbon allot, as they both remove substances by hydrophobic action. But carbon is also a mechanical sieve, so many particles/substances get trapped in the pores and many of these are unwanted particles/substances. Skimmers also remove some of the Salinity and water from the system. That liquid you get in the skimmer cup does have some "salt" in it. You can not stop it from getting in it. If you never did a water change and just added RO/DI for the water in the skimmer cup loss, the Salinity would go down in time. Carbon of course does not do this.
Carbon also removes unwanted HM. Both skimmers and carbon remove "things", to a very minor degree, we may not want removed. But all tests show that most of these "things" are well above NSW levels to begin with. I might add that skimmers are very good at lowering the plankton count also, a bad thing for the tank. Carbon is also better at removing "drugs" than skimmers. And skimmers just can not remove some things that carbon can.
A skimmers remove things from the systems water immediately, while with carbon you have to wait a period of time till you replace the carbon. So, it is still in the systems water in a way and can effect the system chemistry. For example, if some large organic molecule was stuck on the carbon, bacteria can still feed off of it and some of those byproducts could get into the systems water. And if that same molecule got stuck to a rising bubble, UP it goes into the skimmer cup and out of the system. And finally, a skimmer can help raise the O2 and lower the CO2, which helps raise the pH. And carbon, if left in to long or not rinsed, will go biological and can lower the O2 and pH and increase CO2 .Lastly, if one is using Ozone, one needs both the skimmer and the carbon for a number of other reasons.
So, skimmers and carbon benefit each other and both have their and advantage and disadvantage
Where is Boomer...
He just returned for the F & S Frag Swap
. Next week I will be in Florida for a week, with Tony Vargas, Sanjay and Julian
Carbon also removes unwanted HM. Both skimmers and carbon remove "things", to a very minor degree, we may not want removed. But all tests show that most of these "things" are well above NSW levels to begin with. I might add that skimmers are very good at lowering the plankton count also, a bad thing for the tank. Carbon is also better at removing "drugs" than skimmers. And skimmers just can not remove some things that carbon can.
A skimmers remove things from the systems water immediately, while with carbon you have to wait a period of time till you replace the carbon. So, it is still in the systems water in a way and can effect the system chemistry. For example, if some large organic molecule was stuck on the carbon, bacteria can still feed off of it and some of those byproducts could get into the systems water. And if that same molecule got stuck to a rising bubble, UP it goes into the skimmer cup and out of the system. And finally, a skimmer can help raise the O2 and lower the CO2, which helps raise the pH. And carbon, if left in to long or not rinsed, will go biological and can lower the O2 and pH and increase CO2 .Lastly, if one is using Ozone, one needs both the skimmer and the carbon for a number of other reasons.
So, skimmers and carbon benefit each other and both have their and advantage and disadvantage
Where is Boomer...
He just returned for the F & S Frag Swap
. Next week I will be in Florida for a week, with Tony Vargas, Sanjay and Julian 