Question about protien skimmers air intake line

[madmax7774]

I've noticed several posts on this site and RC that indicate that for Deltec and ER protein skimmers, you should close the valve on the air intake line to the "2 o'clock" position and then run your skimmer that way. That seems counter-intuitive to me. When folks are discussing protein skimmers, there is always a lot of talk about "how much air" the skimmer pulls, and it seems that the more air it pulls, the better. So why would you want to limit the air intake? wouldn't more air be better? What am I missing here??

 

[geofloors]

I've noticed several posts on this site and RC that indicate that for Deltec and ER protein skimmers, you should close the valve on the air intake line to the "2 o'clock" position and then run your skimmer that way. That seems counter-intuitive to me. When folks are discussing protein skimmers, there is always a lot of talk about "how much air" the skimmer pulls, and it seems that the more air it pulls, the better. So why would you want to limit the air intake? wouldn't more air be better? What am I missing here??

 

 

I think in some cases less air makes smaller bubbles. This is why people are modifying their needle wheel skimmers with the Enkamat mesh. More air, smaller bubbles, more skimming.

 

 

George