Aquarium Protein Skimmers
An Aquarium Protein Skimmer is an essential component of the Marine (salt water) aquarium. The Protein Skimmer removes organic pollutive material from the water that other elements of the filtration system are unable to deal with.
Proteins in solution are removed by the skimmer through a process known as "foam fractionation". A specially designed impeller thrashes the water pumped into the skimmer chamber & a vigorous fine mist of air carries the separated protein molecules into a collection chamber where the material is deposited as a brown liquid. This can then be decanted to waste.
The process can be further enhanced with the addition of an Ozoniser which produces a super charged oxygen molecule, Ozone (O3). This improves the molecular attraction of the protein molecules to the upward air stream resulting in more efficient protein removal.
Protein Skimmers can be mounted external or internal to the aquarium (not all can be positioned in both positions) or in a sump beneath.