Tunze DOC 9430 - best skimmer money can buy? Impact on phosphates?

[Alexander1312]

Has anyone tried this one yet?

I believe someone here claimed that skimmer cannot reduce phosphates significantly / or at all from the water.

I know from several credible sources that this skimmer was able to bottom out previously high phosphates in larger tanks (300 gallons up). Any thoughts?

I cannot continue doing 30% weekly water changes, and I am looking for a serious solution to this problem (which, ideally, does not involve LC).

DOC Skimmer 9430 - Tunze

Hi-Tech für Aquaristik

www.tunze.com

 

[Slingfox]

I believe the science of skimmers has been around a long time so what about Tunze’s skimmer allows it to skim phosphates better than other skimmers. I have not been in the hobby long but it looks like the tech upgrades to skimmers in the last few years have all been pretty basic: DC motor, more controlability via an app, neck cleaner, light up skimmer body, sensors which help prevent overflow, auto drain feature, etc. None of these relate to the basic science behind the skimming process itself.

 

[Alexander1312]

I believe the science of skimmers has been around a long time so what about Tunze’s skimmer allows it to skim phosphates better than other skimmers. I have not been in the hobby long but it looks like the tech upgrades to skimmers in the last few years have all been pretty basic: DC motor, more controlability via an app, neck cleaner, light up skimmer body, sensors which help prevent overflow, auto drain feature, etc. None of these relate to the basic science behind the skimming process itself.

Agreed. Does the basic science say it does not remove phosphates?

I just wanted to clarify, as I was not clear in my initial post. I am not saying that Tunze skimmers do and other skimmers do not. I know from this skimmer that it does a very good job (apparently), given the pump they put in it (which is why it is so expensive). This started me rethinking skimmers again (and their settings) if phosphate reduction is my core objective.

 

[L/B Block]

The science say it does -but whether it removes enough is the question- skimming alone has never gotten my PO4 low enough.

Maybe the beast above does -I can’t say

 

[tribbitt]

Reefs.com says skimmate has around 4700 ppm phosphate so to me that sounds plausible. But how much are you actually intending to skim lol

Elemental Analysis of Skimmate: What Does a Protein Skimmer Actually Remove from Aquarium Water?

Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. The chemical/elemental composition of skimmate generated by an H&S 200-1260 skimmer on a 175-gallon reef tank over the course of several days or a week had some surprises.

reefs.com

 

[Alexander1312]

The science say it does -but whether it removes enough is the question- skimming alone has never gotten my PO4 low enough.

Maybe the beast above does -I can’t say

That is exactly the issue I have. Because it seems they do not, folks are looking for different methods, adsorber, lanthanum, etc.

I always thought setting the skimmer (too) high does not make it more effective as it relates to phosphate (or nitrate for that matter). But it looks like if you are adding one of the most efficient and effective hobby grade pumps available to a skimmer, i.e., the Tunze Stream 3, it might have this effect.

So my thought was that maxing out my existing skimmer’s capabilities might give me a similar effect - I am currently only running it at 50% speed to get the darker skimmate.

 

[Alexander1312]

Reefs.com says skimmate has around 4700 ppm phosphate so to me that sounds plausible. But how much are you actually intending to skim lol

Elemental Analysis of Skimmate: What Does a Protein Skimmer Actually Remove from Aquarium Water?

Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. The chemical/elemental composition of skimmate generated by an H&S 200-1260 skimmer on a 175-gallon reef tank over the course of several days or a week had some surprises.

reefs.com

Nice!

 

[PjFish]

Reefs.com says skimmate has around 4700 ppm phosphate so to me that sounds plausible. But how much are you actually intending to skim lol

Elemental Analysis of Skimmate: What Does a Protein Skimmer Actually Remove from Aquarium Water?

Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. The chemical/elemental composition of skimmate generated by an H&S 200-1260 skimmer on a 175-gallon reef tank over the course of several days or a week had some surprises.

reefs.com

I assume it may be high since it’s like testing concentrated frozen OJ!

 

[PjFish]

Here’s a great thread related to your topic I read a while back @Alexander1312
Pay particular attention to Randy Holmes-Farley’s responses since he’s a guru of reef chemistry!

POLL: Do skimmers remove nitrate and phosphate?

True, but I tried to ask if it directly removed those inorganic nutrients. I could have worded it better. Seems clear to me. A skimmer does not remove them. It may result in lower tank levels, but that is a different question. :)

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Alexander1312]

Here’s a great thread related to your topic I read a while back @Alexander1312
Pay particular attention to Randy Holmes-Farley’s responses since he’s a guru of reef chemistry!

POLL: Do skimmers remove nitrate and phosphate?

True, but I tried to ask if it directly removed those inorganic nutrients. I could have worded it better. Seems clear to me. A skimmer does not remove them. It may result in lower tank levels, but that is a different question. :)

www.reef2reef.com

A guru . So unless I misunderstand, Grandmaster Randy says, the beloved wet skimming method is a stupid idea?

 

[PjFish]

A guru . So unless I misunderstand, Grandmaster Randy says, the beloved wet skimming method is a stupid idea?

Theres no mention of wet skimming in the thread ? But he will give you his opinion Im sure if you ask him..
My opinion wet skimming just stretches out water changes since the skim mate is really diluted and your removing more water then actual skim. Some reefers just use their skimmers ( wet skimming ) doing smaller water changes more frequently..