[gonzo114]

After going saltwater for about a year I am returning to freshwater planted aquariums. With saltwater one issue people encountered was their skimmers increasing co2 levels in their tanks and then lowering their PH. To combat this they would either run a line of fresh air to their skimmer or add a co2 scrubber to their skimmer. I have a skimmer and was wondering if anyone has any experience using them with freshwater?

I am not looking for it to remove organics, it would be to keep the water aerated and possibly help maintain co2 levels in a low tech tank.

Any experience or thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[jellopuddinpop]

I’m just talking out of my arse here, but a protein skimmer just basically pours a ton of air through a lot of small bubbles, right? This causes the proteins in the water to make a foam that gets captured in a cup.

Assuming I got that right, then the answer is… maybe. I can’t find the source right now, but I remember reading that you can only dissolve a max of about 4ppm CO2 through atmospheric exchange, and typical tanks have about 2ppm. We only typically see the 4ppm point hit in very large, fast flowing streams (which your protein skimmer would never be able to replicate). The bottom line, is that you could add *some* CO2 to your water, but not enough to be meaningful.

 

[gonzo114]

Thank you Jellopuddinpop. You are correct about the protein skimmer. Doesn't foam in freshwater like saltwater and the bubbles are not nearly as fine. My thought is maybe it can prevent leaf erosion due to lack of CO2 like I experienced in the past. I know it wouldn't add a ton, just hoping enough for a well planted tank of mostly slow growers like anubias, java ferns, crypt parva, etc..

Will see how it goes. If it doesn't seem to help then I will just ebay the skimmer.

 

[jellopuddinpop]

I mean, if you already have the skimmer, and you're not running CO2 otherwise, it certainly couldn't hurt. Give it a shot and report back!