Shut that Skimmer Down! Over skimming your tank.

[Pfisherman]

This seems like the kind of claim that should be backed up with some data.

If they have a tank that has benefitted from the method they have given data my friend. I have been on forums for years and have seen this same thread many times. This one has evolved more than most in a very short time and I will be keeping an eye on it, believe me. You need to keep in mind that not all data has been published because this is a evolving hobby that is based not only on proven scientific evidence, but also by trial and error. Thats what keeps us moving forward at such a quick rate. When @Paul B started his tank fourty years ago they didn't even make foam fractioning filtration equipment yet.

 

[cb684]

Does that also counts for the ZEO reactors as we don't talking bio plastics here.

Not sure if that is what you asked but, Zeoreactors are usually placed after skimming. The idea is that shaking the reactor clean the surface of zeolites keeping them active for longer time and release organic material that is taken up by corals as food source. But with the Zeovit system the carbon is dosed in a liquid form twice a day. The reactor is used to remove undesirable substances and as surface for bacteria growth.

 

[ESVAreefer]

Kinda wanna try a Xenia fuge just to see how it does with water also wanna try cryptic zone filtration

 

[bobman]

Lol. Here's a scenario. A reefer is having a bit of a "Cyanobacteria" issue. Wanting to go the natural route, and not wanting to use an antibiotic treatment, the reefer goes with a Product made up of a bacterial strain that out competes the Cyano. The reefer shoots the well known company ( not mentioning any names) an e-mail and ask's them if they should discontinue the use of carbon/GFO/skimmer while treating. The reefer gets a reply back from the company to shut off the skimmer a few hours a day while treating to give the bacteria time to procreate in the tank or the skimmer will just remove the bacteria added. It's was also suggested by the company that a skimmer should be shut off a few hours a day for the above stated reasons. So one question is...... Can a skimmer have the means of removing bacteria floating in a water column?

I can see why a company would say to turn off the skimmer in this situation as most beneficial bacteria to us is not present in the water column however if you take a bottle of it a dump it in the tank it is in the water column and can now be skimmed out of the tank. It needs time to settle and get established. There are many strands of bacteria in our tanks some good some bad. Cayno is one that is not really bad but looks horrible and is in most of our tanks from time to time. Point is the only really ture bacteria I care about in my tank is not in the water column. If the skimmer wants the rest so be it

As far as skimmers and over filtering a tank its not possible. Sure it can and will skim food for corals as thats what it is designed to do remove dissolved organics in the water (hell after seeing my skimmer it dont even have to be dissolved to be removed) how ever I cant see how you can skim to much. If you skim and over filtrate feed more plain and simple. It can only skim whats in the water so if it stops skimming feed your corals. I know my skimmer will just quit skimming everyday. Then I feed and feed heavy in about an hour the skimmer cup is full of bubbles and gunk. Every time to take frozen food to feed your inhabitants you are adding no3 and no4 so if you are concerned your levels are to low its not the skimmer its you need to feed your corals more. They wont complain trust me they may not eat if they are full fat and happy but they wont complain like my 4yr old at dinner time.

 

[trido]

I have one of the infamous Bubble King 250's, which in years past have been known to overskim an SPS tank and crash the system.(theory and hearsay) I run it 24/7, along with full time filter socks, a large algea refugium, a small cryptic LR sponge refugium and I run ozone 12 hours a day. Its all about balance. I feed my display five times a day. I feed my 90G frag tank once and the 35 doesnt get food at all. The 90G has cyano growing in it as well as in the surface algea of the refugium. All share the same sump.

Are you going to tell me that cyano is growing because I'm over skimming my system? I'll have to disagree. The cyano grows in one tank and not the others because of flow and lack of husbandry. Even with all of my high tech equipment and filter socks there are enough DOC's in the water column to feed the cyano.

 

[twilliard]

Interesting..
Overskim and crash??

 

[twilliard]

I have one of the infamous Bubble King 250's, which in years past have been known to overskim an SPS tank and crash the system.(theory and hearsay) I run it 24/7, along with full time filter socks, a large algea refugium, a small cryptic LR sponge refugium and I run ozone 12 hours a day. Its all about balance. I feed my display five times a day. I feed my 90G frag tank once and the 35 doesnt get food at all. The 90G has cyano growing in it as well as in the surface algea of the refugium. All share the same sump.

Are you going to tell me that cyano is growing because I'm over skimming my system? I'll have to disagree. The cyano grows in one tank and not the others because of flow and lack of husbandry. Even with all of my high tech equipment and filter socks there are enough DOC's in the water column to feed the cyano.

You need a better skimmer!!

 

[trido]

Obviously!

 

[twilliard]

Obviously!

Hey your in Washington!! Just noticed that

 

[maroun.c]

skimmers do remove some bacteria but not to the extent one would think (going back to the 1st post where the main reason odd shutting skimmer would be to preserve bacteria) bacteria is also on rocks and sand, and it reproduces so fast proportionally to its available nutrients and numbers that I doubt a skimmer can make a difference. If it did then you shouldn't have a bacteria bloom lasting for days if running your skimmer which is not the case.
Simmers remove mainly organics (a few things more I agree) but then deciding how many hours to shut down your skimmer would be a tough call based on your load and skimmer efficiency. I might agree that skimmer is stripping nutrients from tank but tell sign is faded corals color and you either feed more or add a few supplements. Skimmers do shut down on their own when there's no more organics to work on and if you have a properly sized/oversized skimmer you'll notice that production stops at times.
I chose to run skimmer constantly and match it to my system and fish load and then if it proves to clean for the corals (much less common) then add a few more fish or feed a bit more.

 

[timkenagy]

Most in this hobby take the cheap route and buy a skimmer that's not pulling enough out in the first place.

 

[AlexG]

I have run tanks without skimmers or with the skimmer only running during the day. I think it is a matter of what inhabitants are being kept in the tank. I will add that the tanks that had no skimmers or part time skimmers were loaded up with macro algaes. My clam tank was only running the skimmer 10 hours a day and was off at night. I also used to heavily feed phytoplankton. Then the Caulerpa that I had in the system would go sexual and the clams loved it but most of the time I would activate the skimmer if this happened to keep the oxygen levels up. I am sure when my new system comes online the skimmer will not be running 24x7 until the bioload is built up. I think it is also an experiment that if someone chooses to turn the skimmer off the system should be monitored. Try shutting the skimmer down for an hour or two at the most and see if the inhabitants react in a positive way over a couple of weeks.

 

[jasonandsarah]

I have always run my skimmer 24/7 and I don't plan on changing that any time soon. I honestly don't think any skimmer overrated or not can remove all the particulates that corals eat before they get to eat some if not most they want.

 

[Piranhapat]

If you do shut off your skimmer. Do it during day not at night. Running it at night will help with the PH. I do believe we are are over skimmer at times. Could very be why more people are developing cyano . I believe it's removing good bacteria that's causing these out breaks..

 

[SunnyX]

I've never had issues with "over skimming" . My systems have always had skimmers rated 4-6 times the water volume present. Right now my skimmer is 10x rated for my water volume. But, I do add bacteria, carbon dose, and fed heavy.

Of all the things to worry about in this hobby, overskimming would be way down on the list.

A skimmer, on average, only removes 35% of TOC. Thus, I'd say that it's safe to assume that you cannot overskim.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/1/aafeature

 

[mannyhernz]

Well does the skimmer pull out different things if running wet or dry? Always wondered this and i think this is the appropriate thread to ask in...
Also which one is better?

 

[ReefBuzz]

I mean,i dont disagree or agree lol ill tell you what tho, when i had my apex run my skimmer around night time and had it off for about 8 hours aday every single one of my corals blew up in the matter of weeks

Blew up as in got bigger or blew up as in died?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well does the skimmer pull out different things if running wet or dry? Always wondered this and i think this is the appropriate thread to ask in...
Also which one is better?

No, it won't pull out very different things, but dry skimming will pull out less if the way you make dry skimmate is to simply let the wet skimmate drain more (which is the common way).

 

[Alucard]

Yea lipid based additives also adhere to the bubbles..... Did you know the skimmers work similarly to sea foam on a beach XD but instead of a collection cup the nutrients in the sea foam is absorbed by various beach ecosystems

 

[Sabellafella]

Blew up as in got bigger or blew up as in died?

Lololol got bigger