Would you turn OFF your skimmer

[basile]

I'm doing an experiment; I'm stopping my skimmer 12 hour per day, to see if my sponges 13 of them will pick up the slack. What do you think.


I'm trying to determine the best time slot for it.


First the context; Its a hight nutrient tank, because of its inhabitant;


Its LPS dominated
85 corals +


12- gorgonians
4 NPS
13 sponges ( they pump 50 gallons an hour altogether)




Then i have a huge display refugium for which i have to dose suppliments for the macro's to live. The system need a fair amount of nitrates and phosphate for the macro's to survive or they die, i did loose my first batch of macro becaues my skimmer really too efficient cleaned the water so well nothing was left to create nitrates lol. My skimmer is rated for a 300G and i have a 150 G reef and a 75 G display refugium for a 230 G system with 65G sump that's with all the water and rocks taken into account.






$195 worth of macroalgaes gone. So maintaning a 0.5ppm nitrates is perfec for the size fuge i have 75 Gallons display refugium for my 150 gallons reef tank. And the phosphate at 0.47 ppm as well if not i loose my red algaes. I have 37 different species, in there this is not a chaeto caulerpa fuge, its a display and pleasant fuge with good specimen.

So why do i want to shut down. i've noticed my sponges have started to starve. i red a few good article on their feedings and bacterias is their primaty sources, phyto the second. Since they pump 24liters or 5 gallons per day per square cm that a lot of water, i've calculated with the sponge matter that i have that my system is being pumped at a rate of 50 gallons /hour so not enough nutrients are going throught them. I dose every day mind you but if simply turning my skimmer 12 hours can help these guys survive. And i must tell you my water in the morning is cristal clear. because no feeding all night and filtration is done so many times during the night and by them and the skimmer.

So this is my thinking, if i can reduce the mechanical filtration for the sponge to take over they may survive better, but what would be the best time is my next question. My first reflex would be day time since i feed and dose during the day.

So Off daytime ?
ON night time?


Please vote and leave me a comment about what you think about the whole thing thanks for your time.


Their' a few vis about people who run tanks without skimmers but i'm not there yet....





[video=youtube;BW05vMziy2o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW05vMziy2o&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFcprRYjkQ_x265XyqcEtnHs&index=2[/video]










Some of my sponges;

I write big for my iphone friends


​

 

[kuansreef]

I turn off my skimmer only when my tank needs more nitrate. If I see my zoas not doing well, I usually turn off the skimmer, feed, and the next day they open like crazy.

 

[fishroomlady]

in terms of the experiment, I'd probably turn it off at night not during the day when you're feeding and such. Beautiful sponges btw.

 

[Touring]

I turn off my skimmer only when my tank needs more nitrate. If I see my zoas not doing well, I usually turn off the skimmer, feed, and the next day they open like crazy.

what your doing makes perfect sense. i would also do that

 

[Mark426]

I agree with your thinking..... off during the day. Lights off to lights on and adjust it to skim as dry as possible (less efficient). I know I can adjust my RO skimmer down dry enough so it will only skim about 1/2 cup per week. Of course I don't run it that way in my SPS tank

 

[hawkinsrgk]

I would turn if off at night and on during the day.

 

[basile]

My goal is to give my sponges more substance to filter throughout the day, because i've lost 2 through starvation they shrunk and wasted away.

I have enough to filter the whole tank a few times a day. That's the goal instead of extra dosing for filter feeders, see. i hope for a more natural way. trying too lol. Without busting the system that is hahaha.

, so i'm reading a lot on natural system and system without filtrations.

, not that i want to go native all the way, i want a balance and i value my skimmer's contribution, he's awsome, those Octopus are super great, silent and very effective . But my style of tank needs a higher nutrient and particule content than most. So shutting it down a bit seem logical.

I've seen system with no skimmer, no sump and very well stocked, that are just , well they look better than mine , no word to descibe them. a few block from me , and others in my club have practicallly no equipment.

Then you can look it up on You Tube. So the hyper technology is not always right. And some species thrives on higher nutrients and denser particule waters. As in the video i've provided and i've got a full library of NPS videos on their requirements, and pulling out everything from the water is not for those species a viable solution.

My whole tank is geared towards this, you and most of you have tank with SPS and are thinking in that patern or for those needs. They don't apply to mine.

Thats why i've given all the info in the beginning but nobody seems to understand the needs of sponges, NPS, Gorgonians, and macroalgaes. And its not bacterias i'm removing with the skimmer, the skimmer removes only particulates.

Its the waste that contains the bacterias that is being removed before it can be used, by the filter feeders. free food in other words. Thats the reason for stopping the skimmer for certain period.

[video=youtube;_PKjd-TA1kM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PKjd-TA1kM&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFeUYFtXWkts76_Mmc6s0Sqo&index=5[/video]


[video=youtube;qMIlWxX4q1c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMIlWxX4q1c&index=6&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFeUYFtXWkts76_Mmc6s0Sqo[/video]


[video=youtube;_Uf5IyXvajg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uf5IyXvajg&index=1&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFeUYFtXWkts76_Mmc6s0Sqo[/video]

I'll start one day and examin all the parameters before continuing on those course. I don't want to crash the system. This is a direction i'm going but , i'm doing one step at a time.

looking at all the species in play, and effects as well. This week it will be 4 h , then i'll augment , the target is 12 hours. Now am i going to reach it? I've stopped it for 4 h already. The skimmer is back on .

i'm doing my test. Then i'll retest in the morning, see if any improvements or not. If not the system has degraded and the experiment failed. If improved. Its safe, to continue.

Its the reason i want to extend my macro algaes to my main reef tank, make it a mixed reef to grow macro's for the herbivores and augment the denitrification potential of the system.

My build up thread might help you understand my system better; https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/me...arfire-reef-tank-build-up-12.html#post2007482

Thanks for your interest.​

 

[DFW]

You don't need a skimmer because your creatures are your filters. I have been running without a skimmer for almost 3 years, and have a system crowded with nothing but acropora. I am employing an algae scrubber, dsb, plenum, plenty of rock, and a very small fish load. I also have a small unlit sump where I have deposited sponges through the years, and all kinds of filter feeding creatures live there. The main sump is loaded with tube worms. Occasional use of carbon when things don't smell right, which is very rare, and some Phosgard in a hangon filter to remove some silicates, and some chaeto in the sump as well. All the food gets to travel uninhibited through this system with no filter socks either. I drip lime water every night which likely helps with phoshate removal. Water is clear, and never yellow. Polyps are extended on acros all of the time. Colors are very good!

I vote never on skimmer use for you, but that was not one of the choices, or maybe one day per week, to test the idea of going skimmerless.

 

[juggalogentry]

imo you should turn off during the day, and on at night for added aeration

 

[NanaReefer]

Add a slow drip line to your skimmer cup & allow some skim mate to return to the water column.

 

[Paul B]

My skimmer has been running 24/7 for about 40 years. There is a blue sponge that grew out of no where and covers about a foot and a half of the tank.

 

[KorD]

I just turn down the skimmer bubbles to min if I want more nitrite in my water table.. and if I need less I skim harder.

 

[chrisfraser05]

I have my skimmer only on from 6 am to midday.

I add food though the day, but allot of my corals eat at night.
I've lots of flow (tanks and sump) so I think most food stays in the column.
The corals get their chance to feed day and night then in the morning yesterday's food gets skimmed out ready for new.

Changing from 24 hour skimming saw no raise in levels, no reduction in levels of collected skimmate but my gonioporas seem happier as do my trumpets.

Spa all growing as allways too

 

[basile]

I've started a 16;00 to 04;00 turn OFF routine, principaly because the tank ORP is at its best at night and the tanks activities are during the day and i have a lower ORP, of course all the fish and corals are all active and buzing, at night only the night crawlers get out the rest are sleeping. The feeding time is at noon and the second feeding at 18;00 so is the dosing.

My ORP stay in its 400 mV till morning, so its ok this way, the PH is about the same, no change there. I'm keeping a ver close eye on the parameters .

The Polyp extensions on all my gorgonians and other corals seem to have amplified, or extended from photography record i made before and after. Not all but most. Some however have their's extended all through the night now , before it wasn't the case. So their's some changes in time exposure of certain polyps.

The water quality is the same in the morning kristal clear, like glacier waters. No sponge changes or reaction, that's very understandable and expected. It'll take months to notice anything from those.

No fish or inverts reaction so far. No algaes or other manifestation yet.

I write big for my iphone friends.

LOL i just realised i made a mistake in the poll lol its suppose to read, 16;00 to 04;00 ,A night time switch OFF; i just voted and the choice i made is wrongly put LOL , boy the experiment is OFF to a rough start lol. Sorry about that guys.

 

[chrisfraser05]

Oh forgot to mention my PE is amazing these days

 

[basile]

A visitor

Hi guys last weekend i had a visitor from the state who came and visit me, or should i say, see my set up. He of course was also here to see is daughter , but this is what he wrote on RC about his visit ;


Old Yesterday, 08:53 PM #27
Fredfish
Registered Member

Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 2,174
Hi Chris. Thanks for letting me drop by to see your system. It really is impressive!


Folks. In person, the aquascaping on this tank is stunning. You could sit there for hours staring at the tank. Wait, I did.


__________________
Advice is like a firehose. Be careful how you drink.


you can view it here; Would you turn OFF your skimmer - Page 2 - Reef Central Online Community

 

[basile]

3 weeks report

Ok , i've been doing a 12 hour shutdowns from 16:00 to 04:00 in the morning. A period of time i judge the tank to be less active and giving me time also to feed without the skimmer scooping up all the goodies out.


Some observations:


At first glance nothing as really change in neither direction I founf new spnoge growth on the backside of a tonga branch , but thats certanly older than 3 weeks. I also lost a sponge who has disintegrated for no aparent reason. In the dark , while the other are doing fine. I've lost 2 sponge out of my 15. My conclusion is , location, waterflow more precisely. I noticed in this one spot its was a vortex location. So no real flow for water exchange and good oxygenation. The firs on was algae build up.

A serpent star exist that lives and clean sponges, i'd like to get my hand on one, lol. Now i only have a tiger coweri that occasional munch on my sponge. No biggy. When that happen its a sign that i forgot to leave him some seaweeds at night. You have to take care of your critters, it also calm down your urchins that way. I'd be moving the fridg too if i was starving lol. So they move the rocks to see what under it.

Anyway not much about the water after the 12 hour break the skimmer starts take what in out of the tank and thats it. I do a dry skim . This week i did 2 water change my nitrates where a little high but thats maybe coincidence its to early to tell. For that dead sponge i'm researching if high nitrates can kill sponges , if anyone have articles on that , it would be helpfull for the research.

I did also some cleaning in the tank , one macro is an invasive one Caulerpa Mexicana. Its sold , but only say medium growth. I think not. Its a totally dominant species stay away from that. Once established on rocks its very hard to get out. I've use a technique they've use on grand scale removal. Seems to work, but their's always little pieces that may take roots as it propagates by FRAGMENTATION the worst kind of spreading.

Anyway that was one reason for my second WC actually lol. The die OFF of that algae did release some nitrates. I made a detailed post on that removal with pictures.

This is my lates videos if you want to check them out;

[video=youtube;sYcc7huFLHk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYcc7huFLHk&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFfzK1jNhN7rAilGwHaEzvH5&index=14[/video]


[video=youtube;s8TVnOe3BW8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8TVnOe3BW8&index=15&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFfzK1jNhN7rAilGwHaEzvH5[/video]


[video=youtube;j8zeD0DCASU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8zeD0DCASU&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFfzK1jNhN7rAilGwHaEzvH5&index=16[/video]


[video=youtube;RfhiYIqhMQE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfhiYIqhMQE&list=PLk_Pw-jAYdFfzK1jNhN7rAilGwHaEzvH5&index=17[/video]​