Over Skimming - Page 2

cheeks69 · 01-06-2008, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JT101

Doesn't it just remove dissolved organics?

No it removes more than just organics.

Randy Holmes-Farley:

Quote:

Many inorganic materials, however, are complexed to organics that are skimmed out. Copper in seawater, for example, is more than 99% complexed to organics such as humic acids and proteins (Figure 2). If those organics are adsorbed onto the air/water interface, then the copper will be as well. Analyses of skimmate are fairly limited in scope and the one published study shows high variability from sample to sample. This study, however, does seem to show elevated levels of copper (as well as iron and other trace metals) relative to ions not selectively skimmed out (say, magnesium or sodium).

Inorganic ions will also be skimmed if they are contained inside a microorganism (diatom, bacterium, alga, etc.) that has a partially hydrophobic exterior (many do) and is skimmed out. Such whole organisms may be skimmed out by getting caught at the air water interface, just as individual organic molecules are. They may also get trapped in the foam as it drains. The skimming of whole organisms is evident to many aquarists who observe green coloration to skimmate after dosing phytoplankton, for example. The green colored organisms can collect in skimmate.

What is Skimming? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

JT101 · 01-10-2008, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheeks69

No it removes more than just organics.

Randy Holmes-Farley:

What is Skimming? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Right, what I meant was that trace elements are not directly removed. For example, skimming does not directly remove strontium or magnesium. However, of course, if an organic protein or organism has absorbed (or adsorbed, whichever the case may be) this specific compound then obviously it will be removed along with the organic.

cheeks69 · 01-10-2008, 08:07 PM

Very few people have actually examined skimmate and what it contains but Ron Shimek did and here's what he found:

Down the Drain, Exports from Reef Aquaria by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

tbittner · 01-10-2008, 08:51 PM

Very interesting that it appears that people who have xenia growing wild seems to mean that their skimmer isn't very good and/or they don't have any macro algae.

Good article!

01-10-2008, 08:07 PM	#18 (permalink)
cheeks69 Wannabe Guru Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Northeast Posts: 6,584 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Over Skimming Very few people have actually examined skimmate and what it contains but Ron Shimek did and here's what he found: Down the Drain, Exports from Reef Aquaria by Ronald L. Shimek, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com __________________ Robert My Cube “A spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe—a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.” Albert Einstein

01-10-2008, 08:51 PM	#19 (permalink)
tbittner Watch this Ma! Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Northern VA Posts: 5,562 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Over Skimming Very interesting that it appears that people who have xenia growing wild seems to mean that their skimmer isn't very good and/or they don't have any macro algae. Good article! __________________ Terry 150g predator tank full of killers. Soon to be upgraded to a 360g. 450g reef 300g sump.

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