Aeration and Protein Skimmers !

[Merman]

This morning I discovered my yellow Tang on it's side on the bottom of the tank. I gave her a little nudge and she began moving again, but just barely. She's about eight years old so I thought she as dying. I then discovered that the rest of my fish seemed quite lethargic, wouldn't eat and not very active. I have a protein skimmer and it has been off for the last few days as it needs cleaning. I turned the skimmer back on anyway and it started creating tiny bubbles almost immediately, as usual. Within half an hour I noticed a big difference in the fish, and now, an hour later they are all back to normal. My question is, do protein skimmers help to aerate the water as well as remove waste, or was this just some kind of wierd coincidence.

[thegrandpoohbah]

Aside from the skimmer, do you have anything else that aerates the water?

[Melody]

If you're not removing the organic compounds at the usual rate, that could throw your system off. They also tend to sit on the surface which can restrict air exchange.

I know next to nothing about marine issues, so that about sums up my input :laugh: .