Skimming 0 nutrient water

[ren99]

Just curious. If you tried to skim perfect water with no nutrients, would a foam head form? Or would the water just bubble around like a opened can of soda?

[badwrasse]

would still skim some but wouldnt be as dark and the head would be wetter I think. but there is no sure thing is 0 nutrient water and there is other stuff like organic wasts (detritus) to skim

[der_wille_zur_macht]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15498262#post15498262 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by badwrasse
other stuff like organic wasts (detritus) to skim

This is an important consideration.

If you were to try and skim trule clean and sterile water - i.e. freshly made saltwater from a good quality salt mix - you wouldn't get much foam.

But, if you were skimming tank water that happened to measure 0 for the commonly monitored nutrients, there still COULD be lots of stuff in the water for the skimmer to skim. In fact, test kits for nutrients like nitrate and phoasphate really don't directly correlate to "skimmable" material in the water. Skimmers do best with "big" stuff - discrete particles, and really really big molecules and clumps of molecules. Meanwhile, nutrient test kits measure nutrients that have been broken down into very basic forms.

[qfrisco]

The way I understand it (which could be way wrong, but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express or two in my lifetime :-)), skimmers skim dissolved organic compounds (DOCs), basically uneaten foods, detritus, etc. "Nutrients" in the way we use the term in relation to aquariums pertains to ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, etc., things that come as a result of DOCs going through the nitrogen cycle, i.e., decaying.

So going back to the OP's post - zero nutrient water doesn't have a direct correlation to being unskimmable. However, zero nutrient water most likely means DOCs are at really low levels, which itself has a direct correlation to being skimmable. And finally, if you've got anything living in your tank that is generating waste and being fed, then you most likely have DOCs in your water.

Not sure I'm making sense. Hope so. :-)

[WaterKeeper]

The skimmate is composed of dipolar organic compounds where one end in hydrophilic, water loving, and the other hydrophobic, water fearing. This causes the molecules to point in one direction into the water and forms a film around each bubble. That is what keeps the bubble from collapsing shortly after it forms. No dipolar molecules and the foam never really forms.

[100%hydrophylic]

well....... i turned on my protein skimmer and all i have in my tank is freshly made saltwater from an RO and sand. i turned it on just to make sure the pump works. but i didnt get any foam. just bubbles at the top.... like soda bubbles

[ren99]

I still don't understand.

Lets say this.

I make up a fresh batch of salt water. I have nothing living in it. Immediately I put my skimmer to the water. Would I get a foam head just like how I would get if it was really dirty water?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Most likely not.