Bubbles Bubbles Bubbles!

The long awaited protein skimmer is here. If you compare this tank pic with the previous ones, this grey plastic device hanging at the back is a protein skimmer. What the skimmer does is that it produces many many fine micro bubbles. To simplify things these bubbles all have an ionic charge which causes waste materials in the water to stick to the bubble's surface. The more and finer the bubbles, the greater the total available surface area and hence more waste could adhere themselves to the bubbles. The longer the bubbles take to float and reach the surface, the more time there is for waste material in the water to stick to the bubbles. Hence the protein skimmer produces many micro bubbles and churns them in a way such that they would take a longer time to float to the surface as compared to simply floating straight up. After waste or in particular protein wastes are stuck to the bubbles, the bubbles float upwards and froth into a foam which then overflows into a collection cup. all i need to do is to empty that cup every other day. So in short, thats what a protein skimmer does is that it skims and remove protein waste from the water. This is quite like how you see the white water form when waves wash up to shore and sometimes you get some disgusting slimy foam on the beach.














Today, I spent another bomb but this should be the final piece of equipment. The tank is fully functional now. Lights, filtration, chiller, skimmer, can't ask for more. Thanks to this very interesting aquarist Patrick who sold me his skimmer at a low price.


One thing about the bubbles, bubbles are escaping into the aquarium! Nothing wrong with it, but aquarists generally regard this as unsightly. Will need to modify the skimmer a little bit.