Quote:
Originally Posted by Big E
The skimmer is taking in bacteria they die= release of phosphate
Skimmer takes in particles of food,waste, ect.......it breaks down= phosphate
These are just my guesstimations of what happens
I don't think anyone knows what is actually taken up at the point of reaction/frationation........it's all supposition and theory based on what the test numbers read. I know there is an article or two about bacteria counts but I think the value and conclusions are overstated in relation to how to run a reef tank.
I'm curious why are you focusing on such minutiae? Other than for interest and conversation I don't see the value.
Just for fun you should test the water before it goes to the skimmer and the water after........maybe that will give you more answers or more questions  |
It certainly does look like I am counting angels on the head of a pin :-) Wait until you see my survey on the number of dinoflagellates collected per mL of skimmate!
I am uneasy about depending on water purification methods like a skimmer or GAC column that are currently impossible for us to assess how well they are performing. Relying on manufacturers recommendations does not necessarily help me. Since there is no transparency in how they came up with their recommendations, I cannot judge if a manufacturer's recommendations are relevant. Ken Feldman published a lot of information on skimmers in Advanced Aquarists, but even that amount of knowledge did little to convince me that I knew how well my skimmer were working. Hence, the study.
Where the phosphate is coming from is a tough question to answer but skimmate collected over an hour and then immediately analyzed for phosphate shows a phosphate concentration much higher (20-100 X) than that of the aquarium water. Typically, my system has a 0 - 0.03 ppm phosphate level. This observation suggests, not proof, that something is being collected by the foam rather than bacterial metabolism or decay in the skimmate producing phosphate.
As for comparing aquarium water to skimmer effluent, very little material is collected per second by a skimmer. The difference is undetectable and only over time does the skimmer remove measurable amounts of material. In skimmer theory jargon, the "recovery rate" for a skimmer attached to an aquarium is very low.