Skimmers, are they really necessary?

[ceduardogdias]

The nitrate level in my 170 gallons tank was ever highly low. So, I'm always trying to elevate it.

I decided turn the skimmer of at night and in a few days I noticed the pH decreased from 8.14 to 8.08 in the morning. So I changed the period of turning off the skimmer fo daytime and the pH at the beginning of the day came back above 8.13.

 

[Empy the angel]

No ofc not. Neither are sumps, filters, carbon, or anything of that sort.

All you need is rock and flow.

I agree with this statement the most out of any my friend has a 90 gallon with only power heads and live rock and it's been running for years and has had lots of fish in it if tall want pictures lmk

 

[michaelb]

I have three tanks. 10 gallon, 30 gallon. And a 7 gallon. All but 1 has a skimmer. That tank is a planted tank. The 7 gallon. The rest are mixed reef tanks. The 30 has a pretty high load. The 10 doesn’t. I feed once a day. All use the same water and maintenance schedule. One is on my sons room(10) the 30 is in the living room and so is the 7. They also range from 5 years to under and year(planted tank). Having more than one tank I can see the delta. All tanks are different. Skimmers work for my 30. No need in the 7. The 10 I’d say it works the skimmer I mean. They are all different. That’s what’s so cool. I like my skimmers. Does anyone want to clean them for me. Have a good weekend everyone.

 

[GHOSTLY]

My answer. No its not needed but you won't do as well without it. I personally made The King of D.I.Ys skimmer

 

[ClownWrangler]

This! And yes, surface turbulence is my way of oxygenation. I utilize a simple Aquaclear 50 Hob on a 90 gallon....no sump, no fuge, no skimmer. Rock.

Maybe what i have is overkill. Aquaclear 70 on a 20 gallon long. Mainly for the extra space for chaeto. I'm working on a design for a submersible light panel which should increase the efficiency. The light I have on there now looks kind of sketchy from the standpoint of safety, but the bulb is sealed and there is a GFCI.

 

[ClownWrangler]

I have three tanks. 10 gallon, 30 gallon. And a 7 gallon. All but 1 has a skimmer. That tank is a planted tank. The 7 gallon. The rest are mixed reef tanks. The 30 has a pretty high load. The 10 doesn’t. I feed once a day. All use the same water and maintenance schedule. One is on my sons room(10) the 30 is in the living room and so is the 7. They also range from 5 years to under and year(planted tank). Having more than one tank I can see the delta. All tanks are different. Skimmers work for my 30. No need in the 7. The 10 I’d say it works the skimmer I mean. They are all different. That’s what’s so cool. I like my skimmers. Does anyone want to clean them for me. Have a good weekend everyone.

How's the planted tank working out for you? I tried multiple types of macro algae and the only thing I can get to grow is chaeto. I have tried skimming, not skimming, high nitrates, low nitrates, high light, low light. Flame algae is not growing at 6 months, but still healthy and ogo has disintegrated completely. The sally light foot ate the bottle brush and mermaids fan, but they were dying anyway. Frags are growing fine in the same tank.

 

[SaltFishTV]

Up until my poor lionfish died from prazipro a week ago, my water was pristine without a skimmer. Very large bioload with 8” wellfed lionfish. Kept my nitrates at 5ppm longterm by running a very powerful grow light 6 hours a night at 50% power with chaeto. My water is crystal clear, I do use a uv sterilizer. So no, a protein skimmer is not necessary. Very powerful (cheap on amazon) light in refugium works waaaay better in my experience. Don’t even need chaeto, throw a piece of roughed up plastic under the light gives me the same results. Basically a algae scrubber that costs very little.

I like this idea of a cheap alternative algae scrubber. I want to try this myself now

 

[SaltFishTV]

I had a Coralife HOB with built in skimmer on my 29 gallon for a year. It was a nightmare to get it to work properly and consistently, it made a lot of noise no matter how I adjusted it and I think it literally drove one of my clowns and a mandarin goby to suicide. I tossed it to the garbage and have been running without a skimmer for 6 months now with no changes whatsoever to the health of my tank. A power head with a sponge filter attached to it is all a tank needs IMO for filtration along with some chaeto. I also have a 20 gallon tank with 5 RBTAs that has been running a year with no skimmer and its doing just fine. I think the only time a skimmer makes sense is when you have an unusually high bioload and want to reduce the burden on nitrate removal. Other than that, I think it's totally unnecessary. If I had a large predator tank, I might use one.

I agree with you! I am currently just running biological filtration, not even socks or the roller.

 

[SaltFishTV]

I think my skimmer stripped too much. Removed it and the sticks are happier. Not sure I needed it since my chaeto removes a lot

I have heard the same form several people! Sticks like nutrients!

 

[SaltFishTV]

I’m thinking you have only two fish in you tank.

More than that. I have two poop machine tangs, anthia, wrasse, and two chromis.

I also feed heavy 2-3 times daily.

 

[SaltFishTV]

Do

I keep seeing these responses where people say things like “you can live off junk food BUT…” or “…OXYGENATION!”
I know that 75% of reefers would fail if they couldn’t BUY their ‘success’. This is what a skimmer does- 1- oxygenates the water and 2- the air bubbles in the column lift particulates to the collection cup. That being said, skimmers provide ZERO BENEFIT to a tank that is oxygen-rich and clean. That is an unarguable fact. Now, do YOU have the TIME, KNOWLEDGE, etc to keep your ecosystem running efficiently without one? I just read like 3 posts and stopped bc they sounded so…. Like there was only 1 right answer.

Been running them without one and so far they are doing great. I have a strong feeling it has something to do with the biological side and the bacteria housed within the aquarium. I don’t even do water changes

 

[SaltFishTV]

No certainly not necessary and for anyone in the household with respiratory issues or immunocompromised/suppressed is pottentially very dangerous and best avoided altogether due to the fine mist of tank water that become airborne as it operates

Personally wont go near a skimmer myself...my filter feeders are quite pleased about that as well

I didn’t even think about that, misting in the air.

 

[ClownWrangler]

I didn’t even think about that, misting in the air.

Of all the stories I hear about palytoxin poisoning, I'm surprised this doesn't cause it more often. The aerosol can also transfer pathogens from one tank to another if they are close enough.

 

[ClownWrangler]

This is just a theory, but I noticed some people mentioned their tanks going to you no what after they stopped skimming. It could just be that certain biological processes need to catch up. I noticed foam on the surface of my tank after I got rid of the skimmer for some time, but eventually it just went away on its own, without water changes.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

A fish digests its food, releases CO2, phosphate and ammonia and a lot of organic waste.
A skimmer may remove +- 30% of the organic waste, does this very selective and leaves all inorganic nutrients behind.( 85% of the nitrogen present in the food) . Organic waste continuously removed by the skimmer contains building materials needed to build new live with the inorganic nutrients left behind, inorganic nutrients can not be used up and may accumulate. Growth is limited due to limited availability of the other essential nutrients and materials, until for some reason they become available leading to sudden brake outs and uncontrollable growth.
Because a skimmer is used, it is difficult to keep everything in balance. As the removal rate of a skimmer is very unreliable, unknown and not controllable, growth in the tank is difficult to manage .

 

[ReefGeezer]

A fish digests its food, releases CO2, phosphate and ammonia and a lot of organic waste.
A skimmer may remove +- 30% of the organic waste, does this very selective and leaves all inorganic nutrients behind.( 85% of the nitrogen present in the food) . Organic waste continuously removed by the skimmer contains building materials needed to build new live with the inorganic nutrients left behind, inorganic nutrients can not be used up and may accumulate. Growth is limited due to limited availability of the other essential nutrients and materials, until for some reason they become available leading to sudden brake outs and uncontrollable growth.
Because a skimmer is used, it is difficult to keep everything in balance. As the removal rate of a skimmer is very unreliable, unknown and not controllable, growth in the tank is difficult to manage .

I really enjoy reading your inputs, but respectfully, I have to point out that all tanks don't have the biological carrying capacity for operating without a skimmer. I think in some tanks, particularly in immature systems, the DOCs removed by the skimmer are no where near enough to limit growth due to lack of needed carbon compounds. What is removed may simply keep the overall DOC's from getting out of control and negatively impacting the system. Once organisms that need/use dissolved and particulate carbon compounds reach effective levels I'd agree that skimming is very limiting.

Unfortunately, the trend to start tanks with dry/dead rock has increased the time required for organisms that use carbon compounds to propagate and may actually be making skimming more valuable for a longer period of time. I do think skimming needs to be managed and kept to the minimum required to keep DOCs in check until they are needed. That's a trial & error thing though and constantly changing. Limiting skimming time and changing the level inside the skimmer to increase/decrease efficiency can make skimming somewhat controllable. I don't have any pictures to share. My new tank is very immature right now. It was started with dry rock less than 6 months ago. I wouldn't anticipate turning my skimmer completely off for probably another year. It will run less and less as the tank matures though.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Are skimmers really that necessary on all reef tanks?

As usual with this sort of question, the phrasing of the question itself reveals the bias of the person posing it.

"Are skimmers really that necessary on all reef tanks?"

The word "necessary" implies an absolute, and since many reef tanks do not use them, the answer is clearly and obviously, no, they are not "necessary".

That is a different question than, say:

"Do most reef tanks "benefit" if a skimmer is used compared to the same tank with no skimmer".

That cannot be answered by pictures of a given tank, no matter how nice, unless one uses a skimmer for a while, and then goes without (or the otehr way around).

Skimmers do much more than export organics. Aeration is a big benefit, and I'd use a skimmer even if that is all it did.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

Skimmers do much more than export organics. Aeration is a big benefit, and I'd use a skimmer even if that is all it did.

In the case I would use a cheap air stone or and surface skimming.
In reef tanks sufficient water movement, circulation and surface skimming is basic management.
A reef tank should not be dependable of a skimmer for sufficient gas exchange .

Most Skimmers seem to be NOT very effective as an aerator.

 

[rusgum]

You can do without a skimmer with an algaecoat, but with the bacterial method, it is simply necessary.

 

[schuby]

In the case I would use a cheap air stone or and surface skimming.
In reef tanks sufficient water movement, circulation and surface skimming is basic management.
A reef tank should not be dependable of a skimmer for sufficient gas exchange .

Most Skimmers seem to be NOT very effective as an aerator.

I've had both of my tanks, one at a time, in my living room. Each had covers, acrylic or glass, and a hood. Surface agitation wouldn't be very effective means of maintaining adequate aeration. An airstone in sump may work, but the large bubbles make a mess on inside of my cabinet. I consider my skimmer critical to the long-term health of my reef tank, with aeration being a major benefit.