Finally skimming

I finally got my protein skimmer! My friend James helped me set it up this afternoon. After a long ordeal in getting the device, I'm glad it's finally installed. It's really quite the interesting technology. And very simple.

So, you know how waves crash on the beach, and you get that white foamy stuff? Well, that's protein. And a protein skimmer is the same basic technology. It's the air that gets entrained with the wave that creates the foam. So, the skimmer is a pump that gets water and air to mix inside a vessel. When the two are mixed, a large amount of turbulence breaks the air up into tiny micro-bubbles. These bubbles provide ample surface area to create air/water surface tension - which causes the proteins to come out of solution. The bubbles rise to the top, collect as a foam, and dump into a collection cup. The water goes out the overflow and back into the tank. Really quite genius. So far, no foam, but the thing has been running less than an hour. Give it time!

Still waiting for the nitrogen (aka ammonia) cycle. It's only been two days since installing the live rock... patience is a virtue in this hobby.

Thanks for your help, James. :)