Shut that Skimmer Down! Over skimming your tank.

[atoll]

All a matter of balance like most things in this hobby we are constantly balancing our tanks. We balance SG calc mag nitrate etc etc so why not skimming. We usualy buy skimmers based on the size of our aquarium stocking and feeding it's another balancing act IMO.

 

[Russ265]

i see a lot of the same stuff here.

i have a 300 gallon system and i have no skimmer.
i hve no skimmer because a skimmer is really a particle suspender. it takes the good with the bad.
....and in an ecosystem where we can measure only a fraction of what goes on in our tank and know so very little about what makes a tank mature, or even how to choke out dinos. im going to trust in mother nature.
that collection cup has plenty of phyto, worms, nematodes, pods, you name it. it doesnt just target poo.
when you smell the dead crap in that cup, did it die before or after you pulled it out?

the skimmer does not remove nitrates and it does not remove phosphate. it also pulls out several minerals.

water is also homogenous. so skimming wet is a misnomer. so is flow through a skimmer.

/steps off soap box

/pats GAC reactor.

i have an ulns and dose nitrate and phosphate btw.

 

[gcrawford]

There are many different ways to have a successful reef tank; some ideologies have their drawbacks. I received a book as a gift for Christmas this year that began the tank setup setup chapter with "Most reef tank hobbyists utilize an under gravel filter." Some day the same could be said about the protein skimmer. Our grandchildren will get a kick out of our trials and errors...FWIW I use protein skimmers 24/7 at present.

 

[moulton1853]

Can someone add a pole to see how many people run their skimmers 24/7 just as a quick reference?

 

[Justiful]

<--- Newer reefer, trying to understand a concept.

Hey. I see differences of opinion here. But wouldn't it be fair to say that there are three general types of ways reeferss manage waste. At least from what I have read.

1. ULNS -- Ultra low nutrient systems, (AKA carbon dosing addicts) --- (control primary)

2. Standard -- Nutrients kept down using non-carbon dosing methods. (filter carbon, GFO, skimming, ext) (preventive measures primary)

3. Dirty -- all naturallll. (likely nudists) (Corrective measures primary)

So while you all have opinions on skimmer usage, I think mainly it depends overall on the kind of reef you are running right?

1. ULNS -- not always on, mostly because it can interfere with dosing, and if your doing it right you shouldn't need it on all the time. Plus you want to create more crack bacteria, your a junky and a dealer.

2. Standard -- pretty much always on, as a preventative measure. Though it may not always be pulling skim.

3. A refugium is a must for these people, and a skimmer maybe used for corrective measures. But is not a primary part of their system. Some use it some don't, the hard core don't.

----
I don't thing these are set in stone, more of a spectrum. But certainly people primarily are one from what I have read on these forums.

 

[Russ265]

lets all agree that you can have a successful system implementing all you have at your disposal. or even none.

ive seen sps tanks with 50ppm nitrate and 2ppm phosphate.

ive seen zeo systems die of starvation.

so many different ways. but we are all doing one thing in common. "keeping water".

my old 220 had biopellets, gfo, gac, 3x 400w halides with t5, oversized skimmer, the works.
i went off threads and forums and common knowledge.

these days... a bit wiser and more skeptical. i went minimalist. ill add as i need... and so far havent had to.

my way isnt any more correct than the next. i am just saying, you dont need the bubbler for ulns.

im also saying that there is stuff we just cant test that we are missing.

find a thread prior to 2013. everyone advocated 0 everything. 0 nitrate and phosphate. we are technologically there and people are reporting dying corals.

my .02

 

[mattcoug]

lets all agree that you can have a successful system implementing all you have at your disposal. or even none.
...
ive seen zeo systems die of starvation.
...

I've seen a tons of softies and LPS corals start dieing off when nutrient levels get too low.

-Matt

 

[Russ265]

I've seen a tons of softies and LPS corals start dieing off when nutrient levels get too low.

-Matt

surprisingly my softies and lps are more tolerant of ulns than my sticks.

sticks will pale and die within weeks.

 

[Diesel]

All what was said and explained here is that you have to find the sweet spot for yourself, more or less.

 

[melev]

I have put my reefs through all kinds of various trials over the years, but the skimmer has always been my safety net. I can't imagine running a tank without one, ever.

 

[NanaReefer]

Daaaaang!! Another awesome thread that's keeping me up till the wee hours! Love R2R and all you Reefers!! [emoji8][emoji7]

 

[Pete polyp]

I didn't read much past the first page yet and I kind of agree that skimming has an impact on the bacteria. It's not removing the bacteria but it is removing the food for the bacteria. Therefore the amount of bacteria is limited by the amount of food or gets not allowing for more. Think of it like this.... there's 100 people locked in a room and I'm only going to give them one loaf of bread to live on every day. Eventually you're going to end up with 99 dead people in that room.

 

[Pete polyp]

Ok I read the whole thread. Someone please send their skimmate off to triton and post the results to answer @twillard haha. After being in this hobby for 12 years I decided to set up a system and buy my first skimmer. I never really had any issues before without one but I figured what the heck. So now I have this skimmer running 24/7 skimming away and the drain plug hasn't been in the drain tube in almost 2 years. For me it is a $200 airstone, nothing else. I'm not saying a skimmer can't be beneficial to some systems, but it's completely unnecessary for mine. You may ask about my nitrates. Well I have to dose stump remover just to have them detectable with a red sea pro test kit. I'm not dropping in mysis one at a time making sure it all gets eaten either. I feed this tank like crazy!

 

[granocompany]

Hi, all my tanks without skimmer or filter. Some of them with macro or just rocks and fish and corals doing very well

 

[twilliard]

Ok I read the whole thread. Someone please send their skimmate off to triton and post the results to answer @twillard haha. After being in this hobby for 12 years I decided to set up a system and buy my first skimmer. I never really had any issues before without one but I figured what the heck. So now I have this skimmer running 24/7 skimming away and the drain plug hasn't been in the drain tube in almost 2 years. For me it is a $200 airstone, nothing else. I'm not saying a skimmer can't be beneficial to some systems, but it's completely unnecessary for mine. You may ask about my nitrates. Well I have to dose stump remover just to have them detectable with a red sea pro test kit. I'm not dropping in mysis one at a time making sure it all gets eaten either. I feed this tank like crazy!

You spelled my name wrong! Lol
And send to Triton? I already know what will be resulted elementz
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature

 

[Russ265]

Ok I read the whole thread. Someone please send their skimmate off to triton and post the results to answer @twillard haha. After being in this hobby for 12 years I decided to set up a system and buy my first skimmer. I never really had any issues before without one but I figured what the heck. So now I have this skimmer running 24/7 skimming away and the drain plug hasn't been in the drain tube in almost 2 years. For me it is a $200 airstone, nothing else. I'm not saying a skimmer can't be beneficial to some systems, but it's completely unnecessary for mine. You may ask about my nitrates. Well I have to dose stump remover just to have them detectable with a red sea pro test kit. I'm not dropping in mysis one at a time making sure it all gets eaten either. I feed this tank like crazy!

lol another skimmerless system that has to dose nitrates.

ahhhh. dont let them know

 

[twilliard]

Good morning Russ and happy new year!

 

[Russ265]

Good morning Russ and happy new year!

happy new year buddy.

here is another fun year of reef keeping!

finally my tank is on the verge of the 1 year mark so i see many coral purchases. (barring equipment failure)

btw. if you guys want to check out what might be in your skimmer. you might find this interesting.

https://www.waldonell.com/reef/reef-articles/what-is-in-your-skimmate/

 

[Elegance Coral]

I love this site, but it's in desperate need of an "advanced" forum, just for threads like this.

There are some ~2500 different species of "coral". We divide them into different "species", because they have evolved to occupy different niches in the environment. Meaning, their environmental demands can vary greatly from one species to another.

We have threads like this, where one person runs a huge skimmer 24/7, another doesn't run one at all, and they both seem to do well. This leaves the poor new guy scratching his head, not knowing what to do.

The reason for this is largely due to the different species kept in these tanks. If we look at the pic's above by Granocompany, we see that he's keeping a few very hardy, high nutrient tolerating, LPS, softies, and algae. Even the fish he's keeping are very hardy. Damsels and toadfish. His skimmerless system works for these species. Throw a low nutrient demanding acro in one of these tanks and it's likely to have a very short life expectancy. By the same token, if we place a species that's evolved to prosper in higher nutrient environments, like gargonians, and many softies, into an ULNS, it's not likely to do well.

So, the argument over how long one should run a skimmer, should be based, at least in part, on what species are being kept in the system. There isn't an all encompassing answer to the OP's question. When we buy an animal and bring it home, our goal should be to provide it with what ever it needs to prosper and do well. For one animal, that may mean stripping the water squeaky clean with a huge skimmer run 24/7. For another, it may mean shutting the skimmer down occasionally, or not running it at all.

 

[bobbyM]

The bigger the skimmer, the better.