Protein Skimmer for "goldfish saltwater"?

[Taylor]

I got a protein skimmer with a used 200 gal tank I bought last weekend. I know those work best with saltwater or brackish, but does anyone have experience using one with the low levels of salt we use with Goldfish? In reading the manual, it sounds like they get the total dissolved carbon down to almost nothing which is supposed to greatly reduce water changes. THAT sounds nice. I thought maybe if I just play with the settings long enough I could get it to work. Any advice?

[GlassGoldfish]

For me.... I've been finding that keeping ranchu requires less technology and more intuition. Taylor: I'm digging your enthusiasm and I'm super glad you're here to raise ranchu! So please take what I say with a grain of salt: Personally I try to find someone whos ranchu I admire, and then emulate their methods. Once I'm involved in a keeping method I begin to see little places where I can make tweeks or changes to the system. The most important thing to me is to use the skills and techniques of traditional Japanese methods as my jumping off point.:coffee:

[GlassGoldfish]

Also, I reserve the use of salt for only times when the ranchu need a medical treatment.

[Taylor]

Glass, I like your style. Yes, traditional is my favorite too-- Someday I hope to live somewhere with a mild enough climate that I can have a shallow pond outdoors.

The tank is in "my wife's" living room. When I first brought the new acrylic tank home she wasn't sure if she liked it ("over my dead body will you a tank that enormous into our home"), but she warmed up to it a lot ("If you ruin my carpet again I will bury you in that fish tank.") So, I'm wanting to keep the wife happy by minimizing water changes-- with as much technology as I can get my hands on.

In the absence of any pointers I think I'll use just a pinch of salt, set the air inlet on high, and use trial and error to find the configuration with the best foam. My skimmer is a big one, hopefully big enough that the fresh water won't be a problem and it will be able to make enough bubbles for the process to work.

[Cincy Ranchu]

Glass, I like your style. Yes, traditional is my favorite too-- Someday I hope to live somewhere with a mild enough climate that I can have a shallow pond outdoors.

The tank is in "my wife's" living room. When I first brought the new acrylic tank home she wasn't sure if she liked it ("over my dead body will you a tank that enormous into our home"), but she warmed up to it a lot ("If you ruin my carpet again I will bury you in that fish tank.") So, I'm wanting to keep the wife happy by minimizing water changes-- with as much technology as I can get my hands on.

In the absence of any pointers I think I'll use just a pinch of salt, set the air inlet on high, and use trial and error to find the configuration with the best foam. My skimmer is a big one, hopefully big enough that the fresh water won't be a problem and it will be able to make enough bubbles for the process to work.

You are a brave man, your wife sou,ds like she talks to my wife- LOL

[Redcap]

Regarding protecting the carpet during water changes, I have a moving blanket that I lay down in front of the aquarium. It does a good job of absorbing the slips that happen.

[LadysSolo]

Seems to be universal, and not gender-related ("the driveway is for cars, not stock tanks with fish in them!") And won't even go down the basement ("can't find anything down there with all the tanks - YOU go find it!" - whatever is wanted.) And I have to warn not to eat anything not easily identifiable in the refrigerator or freezer - THAT could be a problem! >:) Carolyn

[kendal]

("If you ruin my carpet again I will bury you in that fish tank.") So, I'm wanting to keep the wife happy by minimizing water changes-- with as much technology as I can get my hands on.

In the absence of any pointers I think I'll use just a pinch of salt, set the air inlet on high, and use trial and error to find the configuration with the best foam. My skimmer is a big one, hopefully big enough that the fresh water won't be a problem and it will be able to make enough bubbles for the process to work.

skimmers won't work without a lot of salt and high salt for a long period would not be wise for a fresh water fish.

if you are wanting to stretch water changes out, i think you would be better served with an over-built bio/mechanical filter and a refugarium.

in a fresh water system, plants are your best bet for exporting nitrates IMHO. not all plants are equal on this matter. the two best i know are water cress and mangroves. i posted the charts for a mangrove planted sump recently, but i think watercress would be even better.

you could use the skimmer as a retro built fluidized sand/bead filter or fill it with java moss or a macro algae.

ichthius/david (goldfishgarage.com) has had experience building both from odds and ends and might be worth hitting up for advice and pictures.

i assume your 200 gallon tank is on a cabinet. why not add a good light underneath and pack it full of surface area, plants and black worms? (nice secondary food source).

also i would suggest a hose/tubing that can reach to a sink, toilet or outside and a power head for water changes. and a few clamps to keep the unsupervised end from slipping. the threat about being buried in your tank if you spill water again should be taken serious-LOL.

I have kept marine tanks, salt creep is worse than spilling water and gets everywhere eventually. it would not be where i would go.

[johnatoranchu]

[QUOTE=Taylor;40033]I got a protein skimmer with a used 200 gal tank I bought last weekend. I know those work best with saltwater or brackish, but does anyone have experience using one with the low levels of salt we use with Goldfish?

Salt is best used as a medication only and not on as a permanent additive to goldfish water. Frequent water changes are hard to beat if you want your fish to survive and flourish.
John

[Taylor]

Watercress... awesome. I can stick an LED grow light (red & blue) down there in the sump, and put it on a timer.

I've heard a lot of mixed responses about the protein skimmers. I found one guy locally who uses them on koi ponds, and says they don't work anywhere near as effectively as they do on salt water, but suggested giving it a try. So, what the heck, I'll try it. If it doesn't work, I'll sell it to a salt water reefer.

I always put a pinch of sea salt in every 5 gallons. It isn't anywhere near the salt you'd use for a sick fish. I like to use "sea minerals" which look like dirty rock salt, but are taken from the bottom of evaporative ocean pools and have about a hundred times the mineral content. They have a lot of trace elements and other building blocks of life that are present in natural streams and ponds. They're good for the good bacteria in your biofilter too. I put sea minerals in my vitamin water that I drink, use it to prevent powdery mildew on my grapes, use it as fertilizer for my (well drained & well watered) bonsai in mid-summer, spray a solution of it on my garden (makes plants green right up), and blend it in with smoothies that I feed my kids. Good stuff.

[kendal]

I've heard a lot of mixed responses about the protein skimmers. I found one guy locally who uses them on koi ponds, and says they don't work anywhere near as effectively as they do on salt water, but suggested giving it a try. So, what the heck, I'll try it. If it doesn't work, I'll sell it to a salt water reefer.


if it works, you have a huge water quality problem. you pretty much have to pee (and a few other unmentionable things) in the tank yourself to get enough protein for it to foam.

where i am from we have salt water taffy and we also have reefer. i am not sure about salt water reefer, but i am sure it too is illegal—LOL.

[Taylor]

So... you mean... you guys don't pee in your fish tanks?

[LadysSolo]

Not on purpose - :confuse: LOL!! Carolyn