It’s absolutely disgusting, but what on earth is it? It’s a question that has been asked many times when discussing protein skimmers and more specifically the skimmate, or waste, that they produces in the collection cup. It has never been answered very well, but in the recent issue of Advanced Aquarist, Ken Feldman sheds some [...]
It’s absolutely disgusting, but what on earth is it? It’s a question that has been asked many times when discussing protein skimmers and more specifically the skimmate, or waste, that they produces in the collection cup. It has never been answered very well, but in the recent issue of Advanced Aquarist, Ken Feldman sheds some light on the age old question. In his piece, Elemental Analysis of Skimmate: What Does a Protein Skimmer Actually Remove from Aquarium Water, he shows (for what we believe to be the first time) elemental analysis of skimmate. Surprisngly it did not contain as much organic carbon as one would have thought and contains a significant portion of inorganic particles. From it:
In summary, the skimmer is pulling out a solid, water-insoluble mixture of compounds that consist by weight of (approximately):
- 44 % of CaCO3
- 5% of MgCO3
- 11% of biogenic opal
- 34% of organic material
- 0.5% of phosphate
Check out the full article over at AA and finally have an educated rebuttal to the question that gets asked time and time again when cleaning a collection cup–
What’s that smell?!
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