Red sea Prizm skimmer

[MikeyG]

Hi, i currently have a 50gal reef setup been running for just over 3months, I foolishly bought a red sea prizm protein skimmer and have found out how pants it is! I think i need a better skimmer but dont know what to get?? The problem that i have is that they dosent seem to be the variation of skimmers you get in the u.s, the red sea is almost all we get over here.
Help anyone?

+ are they really that bad or have i just not set it up right?

[kimche']

No they are really that BAD...Sorry you got suckered in by the hype (I did too, 2 times!) as I upgraded to the bigger Prizm.

Then I bought an AquaC Remora which sucks slightly less.

My cure was to buy an Ozonizer, a Saunders (sp?) which makes the Aqua Medic ozonizers. Intruducing ozone helps the skimmer work and breaks down organic compounds .

You may want to try it .

[phil519]

Originally posted by kimche'
No they are really that BAD...Sorry you got suckered in by the hype (I did too, 2 times!) as I upgraded to the bigger Prizm.

Then I bought an AquaC Remora which sucks slightly less.

My cure was to buy an Ozonizer, a Saunders (sp?) which makes the Aqua Medic ozonizers. Intruducing ozone helps the skimmer work and breaks down organic compounds .

You may want to try it .

I've never heard/read that ozone helps in skimming. Do you have an article that I can read this?

Mikeg - if you have a sump - a lot of folks on RC like the euro-reef skimmer. For HOB - I've read more positives on the Remora Pro than any other hob. Of course - that could just simply be biased reporting (e.g. the remora pro owners are more loquacious than other brand name skimmer owners).

oh - all skimmers will be impacted by the salinity of the water and quite a few have a "break-in" period. But I'd guess your mileage will vary depending on what brand you get (definitely don't get a sea clone).

[xp964]

I don't know of any scientific article that I've read, but when you inject ozone into a protein skimmer (as opposed to plain air) it not only sterilizes the water going through, it breaks down big protein chains that otherwise wouldn't get caught in the foam. This makes for a much more efficient protein skimmer. **CAVEAT** Ozone WILL KILL YOUR NITRIFYING BACTERIA as well as everything else going through it. It will also break down ammonia into nitrite, which starves the Nitrosomas bacteria(converts ammonia into nitrite). This means that as long as the ozone is running, your system will remain stable. However, if you experience a power outage, the ozone will shut off, and there will be a nitrite spike.

[bertoni]

I think the chemistry forum has some threads on ozone and skimming that might be useful.

I haven't heard that ozone leads to a nitrite spike during power outages, and the nitrifying bacteria are not thought to be in the water column, AFAIK.

[MikeyG]

right, i dont have a sump so, would i need a hang on?? + anyone reccomend 1 in particular?

[peterjroberts2003]

hi mate i am also a uk reefer in the making, and i have the same problems with finding good equipment, one of the best sorces you can use is ebay both the .com and the .co.uk as most of the shops will ship here, there are also a few web sites that offer a selection of stuff have a look
http://www.essentialaquatics.co.uk/acatalog/index.html
and
http://www.reefkeeper.co.uk/
and
http://www.aquaworld.co.uk/system/index.html
which is in warringington in the northwest, only about 30 mins drive for me and the best sorce of stuff
hope this helps

[Willie_6]

Do a search for protein skimmers on here. There are a million threads asking the same thing. Good luck.

[kimche']

Originally posted by xp964
I don't know of any scientific article that I've read, but when you inject ozone into a protein skimmer (as opposed to plain air) it not only sterilizes the water going through, it breaks down big protein chains that otherwise wouldn't get caught in the foam. This makes for a much more efficient protein skimmer. **CAVEAT** Ozone WILL KILL YOUR NITRIFYING BACTERIA as well as everything else going through it. It will also break down ammonia into nitrite, which starves the Nitrosomas bacteria(converts ammonia into nitrite). This means that as long as the ozone is running, your system will remain stable. However, if you experience a power outage, the ozone will shut off, and there will be a nitrite spike.

I sure would like to see that in print.

I can only say it never happens to me and I've never seen it in print.

http://www.ozoneapplications.com/ozoneinfo.htm

As for a European HOB skimmer...Look at the Deltec or Turboflotor 1000 iirc.

[Vincerama2]

Almost a year later... I'd like to suggest that if you are stuck with a Prizm skimmer, you can greatly increase it's skimming power by doing a few "tweaks".

1) raise the skimmer up about an inch. I built a wooden "chair" to set the skimmer on that lifts it an inch. This allows you to open the inlet valve more without the skimmer overflowing.

2) raise the collection cup about a 1/4" from it's "fully down" position. The o-ring provides enough friction to allow you to do this, but you can also get small bits of acrylic that is 1/4" think and shim the collection cup up.

These two tweaks will help alot!

Things I haven't tried are ...
1) A larger diameter air hose
2) making some kind of extender to lift the collection cup further (so you can run the skimmer with more flow without overflowing)

I actually made a surface skimmer box, but it didn't work out very well. (Too much volume in the box, so it never surface skimmed until the water level was quite low..then it would surface skim briefly and then stop when the water supply got cut off!)

V