Micah Flock

Protein Skimmer

Personal Project

I designed a foam fractionator (protein skimmer, in the aquarium world) to remove dissolved organic compounds from aquarium water.

This protein skimmer utilizes a small air pump and an air stone to generate small bubbles in a partially submerged tube. Hydrophobic dissolved organic compounds in the water of my aquarium are attracted to the surface of those bubbles, and siphoned out of the tank by way of a 3D printed manifold into a waste container. These dissolved compounds would otherwise provide a nutrient source to unwanted algae in my aquarium.

I designed this by reverse-engineering several commercially available protein skimmers.