What the heck is he doing??

[reefmaster719]

Just visited my girlfriends dad and checked out his 180gallon tank. He put a new skimmer in his sump, Thing is he sold his air pump with his old one and told me he doesn't need one and its useless In the skimmer. I couldn't stop telling him that he needs to have it on to work..lol. didn't listen to me.. anyway what will happen if he doesn't use it???

 

[kmellon]

Air pump? The only skimmers that i've seen that might need an air pump are the little ones that use an air stone for the production of bubbles. The few that i have worked with just need an air inlet hose to be above water as the pump sucks in air through it as it pumps the water through the system.

 

[reefmaster719]

Yeah I looked at his skimmer pump inlet and its underwater.

 

[kmellon]

might be easier to help you figure it out if we knew the model he was using. you could also pull up the specs on line as well. There might be a style that is able to create bubbles without any air inlet.

 

[reefmaster719]

It's not making bubbles without the pump. It's the same as his old model just a new one. Not sure what brand or model. So what would it do if he leaves the bubbles off for awhile?

 

[Craigar]

Simple no bubbles inside tge skimmer means no where for tge proteins to bond to be carried up the neck. Pretty much may as well not even have it on

 

[amonchak]

Agreed most skimmers have a venturi on the pump intake which is why some have tubing comming off the pump. Typically these don't need air pumps just the tubing to provide a source of air for the pump to intake. This allows air to be entrained into the flow stream and "chopped" up in to small bubbles via the pump's impeller or needle wheel.

There are other types of skimmers that use injection type nozzles (typically refered to as a down draft) to create the bubbles and remove the proteins. But a Craig pointed out the key is the bubbles entrained in the water for the proteins to be removed.

What brand and model is he using? How about reading the owners manual and showing him that for reference to help he have the skimmer operating properly?