sera guide - Marine aquariums

24 The physical and chemical properties of ma- rine water require additional filtration com- pared to freshwater. Protein dissolved in the water, e.g. from fish waste, is removed from the water by air being blown in. This task is fulfilled by the skimmer. Skimmer tasks A skimmer is the heart of marine aquarium filtration. It removes protein that is perma- nently released into the water by micro or- ganisms, invertebrates and fish. The skim- mer removes particles such as floating matter and aerates the aquarium. Protein not removed from the water will lead to an in- creasing amount of harmful substances such as ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (bacterial breakdown chain beginning with protein). Keeping marine organisms in closed systems would be considerably more difficult or, de- pending on the requirements of the species in question, even impossible. Function principle The dispergator pump of the sera marin Protein Skimmer draws in the water from the aquarium or from the filter chamber (1), mixes it with air drawn in by the resulting low pressure (3) inside the gyro case (2), where it is scattered into tiny air bubbles by the sera pinwheel. The fine air bubbles provide a large surface where the protein can settle. This water/air mixture is pumped into the in- ner reaction chamber of the protein skimmer (4). The outlets directed sideways (5) make the mixture rotate, keeping the air bubbles floating for a longer time and therefore in- creasing the flotate yield. The protein attach- es to the bubbles within this chamber. The bubbles accumulate at the water surface and form a solid foam while floating there. The narrowing standpipe of the foam cup directs this foam into the flotate cup where it is col- 3.4 Water purification 3.4.1 Removal of protein and other organic substances 3 6 5 2 1 7 lected (6). The purified water flows into the standpipe at the bottom end of the skimmer and back into the aquarium or filter tank through the outlet hose (7) connected to it. 4