Protein Skimming and Topping Off

[gilltyreefer]

Hi all! I have been a freshwater hobbyist for a while and I have recently gotten in to the marine and reef side. I was a LFS lurker for a long time and I did a lot of research before I ventured down this path.

I have a small reef tank (Bioucube 14). I have modified the second chamber and built my own media rack. The media rack has Chemipure Elite, some live rock, and Purigen along with floss and a sponge.

I also purchased the Biocube protein skimmer... I know a lot of people do not like it, but after a lot of research, I decided to add it to chamber 1. I also do ~5 day water changes of ~3 gallons of water.

The skimmer is still breaking in, but I like it so far. It pulls out a little bit of tea colored funk.

Anyway...

I was wondering if I should be topping off with RO/DI or saltwater from what is removed by the skimmer (which is not much daily). I do top off with RO/DI now for the skim and evaporation and I also monitor salinity with a refractometer and there does not seem to be much of a swing during the week.

Thanks!

 

[reefwiser]

You want to just top off with RO/DI water. Using saltwater to tipoff will change your salinity. I would buy a ATO system the Tunze nano model is made you a tank of your size.

 

[MaiReef]

My tank is larger, and I only do RO/DI top off. I would think it would depend upon how much liquid your skimmer is really pulling out. I think you could test it with a good refractometer before a water change and see if the salinity is actually changing and how much.

 

[gilltyreefer]

You want to just top off with RO/DI water. Using saltwater to tipoff will change your salinity. I would buy a ATO system the Tunze nano model is made you a tank of your size.

Thanks -- That is what I have been doing. I wanted to be sure.