Skimmers

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Do skimmers remove nitrates as well as organics or do they only remove organics before they break down like most chemical media does?

 

anybody?

 

Skimmer will help remove organics in the water before they breakdown into Nitrates.

 

That I know, that is also the claim of many different chemical medias. My question is if you already have nitrates, will they remove them in addition to the other organics or do they only remains organics before they break down.

 

I would say both. They definitely remove organics prior to breaking down which is by far the biggest benefit. I doubt it would remove nitrate solely however it will remove bacteria that have nitrate/nitrogen as part of it's make up.

 

From what i have found after searching the answer is no. It will not remove Nitrates that are already in the water column. I think the best bet is to do water changes to reduce the nitrates and then have the skimmer running to prevent them from building up.

If you add a carbon source such as vodka for nitrates to attach to and then a skimmer will remove that. But from what i have read this is risky and I personally wouldnt want to deal with it.

 

Thanks for the responses, I figured that was the answer but couldnt seem to find any solid information about it. I am not having a nitrate issue just tyring to configure what else to add on to my newly set up aquarium

 

Nitrates do not attach to a carbon source! Bacteria use the carbon source along with phosphate and nitrogen. The skimmer is then able to remove the bacteria. Dosing a carbon can be very fruitful, however I would never recommend it to someone who does not fully comprehend how and why it works.

 

I only copied info that I had found online doing a google search. Just trying to get the op some sort of an answer.

Your description makes more sense to me.