Would it be safe to assume that 85 to 90 percent of the reefing community keeps their skimmers running 24/7 when in actuality we should be shutting our skimmers off for about 4 to 5 hours a day. Are we wrong for running our skimmers 24/7? More than likely. Over skimming or any skimming for that matter removes beneficial bacteria. By putting your skimmer on a timer and shutting it down for a few hours a day, you are giving the bacteria time to assimilate (take in) more nutrients and organics. The misconception with people having algae problems is to run out (or get online) to buy a bigger skimmer. Or to increase the water/air intake of their skimmer only to see problems get worse. By giving the bacteria more time in the reef environment to process and take in more nutrient's, we should start seeing our Skimmate a darker shade of brown in our collection cups. What say you?
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