Depending on your feeding schedule or the time of day you skimmer maybe making larger bubbles one minute then foaming over the next. At the bottom of the skimmer an airstone creates a currentupwards. Oxygenating water, removing dissolvedorganics, and clarifying water all help our closed systems imitate thepristine waters of the reef. This allows time forthe dissolved waste to coat the bubble, rise to the top, and beremoved.Whenyou have your skimmer set up, you will want to adjust it for your tank. Eventhe oils on your hand can make the water tension fall and the skimmerwill not skim for a few minutes or hours.

 

If you run your skimmer andyou are getting a brown residue in the tube but not in the cup, youneed to raise the level of the air/water. If you are getting a lot of clearish, waterylooking foam in Marine World fish tanks the cup, then you can lower the level of the water/airmixture so that the foam takes longer to build up then overflow.Venturiskimmers are a way of injecting air into water. Most protein skimmers are improperly tunedand only provide a fraction of the benefits. So if you are looking tobuy a skimmer, or judge if yours is working right, here is a summary. Venturi inlets just reverse this and use astream of water to draw air in.Thebasic idea behind a protein skimmer is to have the finest bubblespossible suspended in the water the longest time. Needle wheel skimmershave air injected before the pump where the bubbles are chopped finelyby the custom impeller. These are very effective, although youneed to see that the design allows for the air/water mixture to remainin the skimmer tube until saturated. Blow across a straw thatis in a cup of water, and presto, you have a projectile spray and awaiter cleaning up a mess.Protein skimmers are arguably the most useful component of themodern saltwater aquarium. This is important because you skimmer willskim differently depending on the surface tension of the water. I will use the old counter current air-driven models as anexample. Near the top of the skimmer is an inlet for tank water, withthe water exit at the bottom. These are very effective and produce a very dryfoam.

 

The trick is to get the bubbles to remainsuspended, but not be pushed out the bottom, by adjusting the amount ofwater flowing downwards.Overall, adjustment will probably be a matter of raising or loweringthe air/water mixture level in the skimmer. This includes swirling the mixtureto maximize tube length, sending it through a byzantine maze tomaximize space, or utilizing the counter current design mentioned above.Venturidesigns have improved by reducing the size of the bubbles injected, asin the needle wheel and downdraft technology.Good luck and enjoy your tank, Intrinsic Reef Design Article Tags: Protein Skimmers, Air/water Mixture. Downdraft skimmers send the air/water mixture through a tube ofbio-balls to break apart the bubbles and maximize contact time.Pleasemake small adjustments at a time, and let your skimmer run for a fewhours before adjusting more. This allowed for the maximum coating of thebubbles, and maximum density of bubbles in skimmer. This is done by eitheropening the valve to let more water come in from the pump, or if yourpump is maxed out then you need to restrict the amount of water comingout of the skimmer. The idea is like thatold straw trick we annoyed our parents with