So I turned my skimmer off about 2 weeks ago

[EuphylliaAddict]

Parameters are staying stable with the skimmer off, 0.06 po4 this morning without feeding yesterday. I'm thinking of going to no skimmer for a while... Has anyone stopped using a skimmer after a year or so of the tank going? I recently lost alot of my fish load and got a blue clam. The original reason I turned the skimmer off was to quit skimming my phytoplankton out, I then forgot to turn it back on and got to a point where I didn't see any negative effects as of yet. Ph always sits at 8.2 with a CalRx...

The only thing I've noticed is that my sps have their polyps out now and my po4 spikes around 0.11-0.06 is the range I sit at, I was thinking of dosing vinegar instead of using the skimmer, but I think they work together. I'm thinking that just feeding every other day should work with the current bio load, am I wrong for thinking of taking the skimmer out completely and using that area as a frag tank? I have a ton of coral and about 9 fish so my fish load is really low. 180 mixed reef.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Fourstars]

Lots of sucessful tanks are run without a skimmer. I did it for more then a year but started back up when I started moving more to SPS. I think most tanks are over skimmed. I even dump skimate back into my mushroom tank.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Lots of people don’t skim. And they have beautiful tanks. I think it really just depends on the system. Some systems need a skimmer and lots of dosing. Others get by with next to nothing.

as a newb I may catch flack for this, but I truly believe every system is unique. Just like people. Figure out where your tank runs naturally (without dosing, ridiculous filtration, etc) to get and idea of how your system operates and go from there.

 

[blasterman]

If your nutrients are in a good range skimmers are counterproductive. Ive pulled skimmers off my tanks when they mature and I just can't keep nitrate elevated.

The gas exchange argument doesn't work for me. I have plenty of surface agitation with pumps.

 

[Timfish]

This system the skimmer was shut off after about 6 months:





Looking at how cryptic sponges remove and recycle labile hydrophilic and hydrophobic DOC much faster than bacterioplankton I think skimmers have gotten a lot of credit they are actually doing.

 

[reefiniteasy]

How long has the skimmer been off?

Edit: the title says two weeks. Hahaha

Changes in a reef happen slowly. Two weeks is not enough time to determine whether the change is positive or negative. I’d keep going with it off. I took mine offline months ago and I can say it had a positive effect on my reef.

 

[revhtree]

I’ve had mine off for a few months and my tank has been doing great! 400+g with very low fish bio-load!

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

I did the same for a while then went back to skimming to control some algae issues. I'm thinking of turning it off again now that I have a few gorgorgians now in my tank. I would recommend that if you do stop skimming, instead of stopping cold turkey, decrease the skimming until you get to a really "dry" skimate going. This way you don't change your parameters too quickly...

 

[Dan_P]

Parameters are staying stable with the skimmer off, 0.06 po4 this morning without feeding yesterday. I'm thinking of going to no skimmer for a while... Has anyone stopped using a skimmer after a year or so of the tank going? I recently lost alot of my fish load and got a blue clam. The original reason I turned the skimmer off was to quit skimming my phytoplankton out, I then forgot to turn it back on and got to a point where I didn't see any negative effects as of yet. Ph always sits at 8.2 with a CalRx...

The only thing I've noticed is that my sps have their polyps out now and my po4 spikes around 0.11-0.06 is the range I sit at, I was thinking of dosing vinegar instead of using the skimmer, but I think they work together. I'm thinking that just feeding every other day should work with the current bio load, am I wrong for thinking of taking the skimmer out completely and using that area as a frag tank? I have a ton of coral and about 9 fish so my fish load is really low. 180 mixed reef.

Thanks for any feedback.

Great question.

One thing to consider is that the average hobbyist runs a skimmer ”dry” which means the skimmer is not removing as much organic waste as possible. It is conceivable that running dry and not running at all might not be all that different and that is why the hobby’s opinion about skimmers is ambivalent.

Another consideration is that the skimmer is a good water oxygenator, which may or may not be that important to your system.

 

[Azedenkae]

Parameters are staying stable with the skimmer off, 0.06 po4 this morning without feeding yesterday. I'm thinking of going to no skimmer for a while... Has anyone stopped using a skimmer after a year or so of the tank going? I recently lost alot of my fish load and got a blue clam. The original reason I turned the skimmer off was to quit skimming my phytoplankton out, I then forgot to turn it back on and got to a point where I didn't see any negative effects as of yet. Ph always sits at 8.2 with a CalRx...

The only thing I've noticed is that my sps have their polyps out now and my po4 spikes around 0.11-0.06 is the range I sit at, I was thinking of dosing vinegar instead of using the skimmer, but I think they work together. I'm thinking that just feeding every other day should work with the current bio load, am I wrong for thinking of taking the skimmer out completely and using that area as a frag tank? I have a ton of coral and about 9 fish so my fish load is really low. 180 mixed reef.

Thanks for any feedback.

Lol at the forgetting to turn it back on. But it is great that everything is doing well! Imo if your corals are actually doing better and everything seems to be good and stable, then might as well let it be. ^_^

Heaps of people don't have skimmers on.

The real danger is a sudden change that could throw everything off kilter. Given that it has been two weeks though, I reckon you are sweet.

 

[Thaxxx]

Do you have a refugium?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

IMO, an important function of a skimmer is for aeration, and in my tank, my experimenting with it off resulted in pH too high from inadequate aeration.

 

[arking_mark]

IMO, an important function of a skimmer is for aeration, and in my tank, my experimenting with it off resulted in pH too high from inadequate aeration.

I'm also just using it for aeration with a CO2 scrubber to maintain a stable pH.

 

[EuphylliaAddict]

Do you have a refugium?

Yeah, I have a fuge with cheato, also I use a wave maker to keep the cheato spinning. It was huge the other day, I ended up ripping off just a baseball size to keep.