Can turning your skimmer off benefit your reef?

[Cool tangs]

This is somthing ive been looking into a lot myself actually, and curently experimenting with myself.

Personally its a great way to balance your nutrients.

Allows nutrients to be taken up naturally by corals/bacteria/etc.

Other things ive picked up on from researching other peoples experiences is...

It allows benificial bacteria to grow in the water column without being skimmed out - dr tim, also Mark talks about cycling his skimmer off at night with great success.

Ive heard of more stability with PH by not running a skimmer - Mikeymikemike.

 

[DaddyFish]

I have between 26 and 28 fish in my 350 gallon display. I've seen the local LFS have around 40 fish in their 220 display tank. It's all about nutrient export.

I have 6 nutrient export methods, and I barely keep up with phosphates.

1. ATS - full within 3 days and I clean religiously every 3-4 days.
2. Filer socks, change every 2-3 days.
3. 25 micron nu-clear cannister filter, change cartridge every 3 weeks when flow slows.
4. Vodka Dosing
5. Skimmer - which is necessary to assist with and remove bacteria from Vodka dosing.
6. Water changes 30-40% once a month.

Using these 6 methods, I am able to keep my phosphates around .6 to .1 ppm.

If any one of these slow down at all, It climbs from .1 to .16 within a week, then .16 to .2 within 2 weeks.

I feed 1 sheet of nori daily. Most of it is consumed by my 3 tangs and a few of the angel fish. I feed 1 oz of homemade frozen food daily and have a pellet auto feeder to supplement feed my anthias. Which, some of my angels have taken to eating the pellets too.

I did try taking my skimmer offline for 3 months. My phosphates rose to .66.. That's when I put it back on. Had corals starting to die everywhere. I couldn't figure it out until I did an ICP test and got a Hana ULR Phosphate tester. Gradually brought them down with phosphate-E and increasing my filtration by putting the skimmer back on.

I appreciate your data! You and I could have some interesting discussions!

The one thing I miss about skimmers is the ability to carbon dose. I used biopellets instead of vodka, but a hefty skimmer is an absolute must-have for carbon dosing. Nothing else worked for me while carbon dosing.

 

[Montiman]

Besides the few cases where you are treating the tank or using an additive that might get skimmed out I see no reason to turn off a skimmer.

I know many people are now struggling with low nutrients but for me low nutrients is a great reason for me to buy more fish. Who doesn't want more fish?

It also seems that this thread has turned into a skimmerless tank fan boy club. For me a skimmer is likely the cheapest and lowest maintenance filtration methods there is. I clean the cup once per week and clean the pump once per year that is it. Socks clog every 2-3 days, dosing organic carbon means buying more of a carbon additive and maintaining dosing pumps, and powerful refugium require trace element supplements and regular pruning. None of these seem lower maintenance than a skimmer unless you get a really bad one.

 

[rtparty]

It has been proven that a skimmer can NOT and will NOT remove more than about 40% of the DOC in your system. Might be an old AA article showing the tests done.

I can think of a load of negatives not running a skimmer. Can't find many negatives to running one to be honest. It is a tool. Use it as needed. I prefer running one 24/7 but mine is under sized by quite a bit and will be even more under sized on the upgrade.

However, I run an ATS on my 50g and can't wait to ditch it. So much more of a headache than I care for.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I can't maintain temperatures below about 26C with the skimmer running in my RSM 250, so I do have to turn it off periodically during heat waves.

 

[Stoney]

Besides the few cases where you are treating the tank or using an additive that might get skimmed out I see no reason to turn off a skimmer.

I know many people are now struggling with low nutrients but for me low nutrients is a great reason for me to buy more fish. Who doesn't want more fish?

It also seems that this thread has turned into a skimmerless tank fan boy club. For me a skimmer is likely the cheapest and lowest maintenance filtration methods there is. I clean the cup once per week and clean the pump once per year that is it. Socks clog every 2-3 days, dosing organic carbon means buying more of a carbon additive and maintaining dosing pumps, and powerful refugium require trace element supplements and regular pruning. None of these seem lower maintenance than a skimmer unless you get a really bad one.

Good points. As one of those fanboys, I would never say a skimmer is useless, especially for larger tanks. My issue is that they're just not that effective at what they do. Socks clog every 2-3 days but they're basically 100% effective at removing certain particle sizes. Macroalgae and ATS in particular are a PITA to maintain, but are almost guaranteed to lower your nutrients to whatever level you're aiming for. Skimmers only remove a small percentage of specific particles and arent very effective at indirectly lowering N/P. They're more of a maintenance filter than a problem solver IMO.

 

[Soylent Wrasse]

Don't run a skimmer. Not needed if you're not overloading your tank with nutrients.

 

[Siberwulf]

Well this has been a good read. I'm currently fighting Dinos (slightly winning...sometimes losing) and I have it on 24/7. I'm considering changing that to 20 on, 4 off to give bacteria time to do their thing. I do notice that after I dose MB7 and keep it off the recommended 4 hours, when I do turn it back on, it produces much more. Am I just taking all that MB7 out at that point?

 

[davidcalgary29]

I think it's also fair to point out that a lot of protein skimmers specifically built for nano builts are pretty bad and underperform, so there seems to be little point in running them. The PS/2 in my Evo 13.5 is incredibly fiddly and doesn't seem to pull much skimmate from the tank, and also impedes water flow into the return. And my IM skimmer in my IM40 is just a block of inert material in the "sump". My RSK-300 in my 350 is, however, excellent, and I wouldn't want to run the tank without it, even though its bioload is light right now. I just can't seem to wrap my head around spending $300 for a protein skimmer on a 13.5g tank.

 

[ReefGeezer]

1. Do you think there are benefits to turning your skimmer off for periods of time? What?
I think turning a skimmer off when feeding phyto and other foods that need to remain in the water column for a while is essential. In addition, particularly in well established or lightly populated reef tanks where DOC is not high enough make the necessary hydrocarbons available, turning the skimmer off can certainly help.

2. What's the longest you've ever been without a skimmer on a reef tank?
Other than feeding, mine runs 24/7. I adjust level inside to increase/reduce the efficiency as needed. My tank is fairly new, has a lot of fish in it, but not a lot of corals yet. It needs the skimmer's help.

 

[Treefer32]

I appreciate your data! You and I could have some interesting discussions!

The one thing I miss about skimmers is the ability to carbon dose. I used biopellets instead of vodka, but a hefty skimmer is an absolute must-have for carbon dosing. Nothing else worked for me while carbon dosing.

I really really wanted to go without a skimmer. Along with the original post, more nutrients for corals, more diverse bacteria populations. All would be great... But, in order to keep phosphates down the skimmer alone wasn't enough, I found I had to carbon dose as well. Now, could I have done other things like just keep dosing lanthinum chloride. Yes. But, it's dangerous and I don't like the effects on fish. GFO? I'd go broke buying GFO to run a reactor large enough to treat 350 gallons and not exhaust it right away.

I'm not saying my way is the right way. It's what's working for now until I find more efficient export mechanisms! I welcome any discussions! I agree! I believe the success of a reef relies on diverse bacteria and nutrients for corals to feed on. . . I, unfortunately, have to export some of them.

 

[LittleFidel]

I run a 29 gallon with no skimmer, no mechanical filtration, no sump. Just macroalgae and good maintenance.

 

[wcreef21]

Chemi clean did great for me. Gave it 5 days and it cleared it all up. Followed directions, No ill effects. Gets a thumbs up in my book

Thanks! I'll check it out.

 

[Gqch]

my skimmer isn‘t oversizing, so normally i keep it 24hrs, but i do running it with timer when i noticed a super low nutreints.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

I 100% agree. If I run my skimmer 24/7 I cant keep my nutrients up. I run my skimmer for 6hrs a day ONLY at night to help with PH as well. If my nutrients continue to rise, I bump up the time my skimmer runs and also adjust my feeding. Has worked well for me for many many years!

 

[dbowman5]

My skimmer is oversized for the bio load. I have it on a timer and it only runs at night. I 'Think" the corals benefit.

 

[Bad Company]

I used only an algae turf scrubber for a year and zero mechanical filtration. Nitrates stayed at 0. However, I got a green tinge to my water which was crystal clear. A skimmer eliminated the green tinge. All livestock and coral were happy either way.

 

[bumpyj38]

I saw a video where a dude from some company ( I think it was Dr Tims) said that you should run your skimmer on a timer because if you don't when the beneficial bacteria reproduce they will be collected by the skimmer.

Just watched that video the other day. It was Dr Tim Hovanec from Dr Tim’s aquatics. The video was on SaltwaterAquarium YouTube channel and he was saying exactly that. Good bacteria (especially when you are dosing it) needs time to consume the bad stuff before you pull it out of your reef tank (usually with a skimmer). So, he was saying most of us run a skimmer for 24 hours which is too much. If we just give your skimmer a few hours a day (at least) that gives the good bacteria time to replicate and also consume bad bacteria before we pull all of them out with the skimmer. It was mostly about creating better biodiversity in the tank. I have not tried it yet though but turning it off for 3 or 4 hours a day isn’t going to crash my tank so might as well give it a shot.

 

[Coral Winslow]

I will raise and lower my cup and air flow if I feel the skimmer is being too aggressive in removal. I do not turn it off because I believe that the gas exchange is exponentially increased with a skimmer.

 

[corky1966]

Today let's talk about the benefits, if you believe there are some, to turning your skimmer off for a certain period of time. I have always been pro-skimmer and I still am but I have to be honest with you. I took my skimmer off my 400g over 6 months ago or so and my reef has not missed a beat. It's actually doing better algae wise. Oh and I've not changed the water either but that's for another discussion. So let me here from you!

1. Do you think there are benefits to turning your skimmer off for periods of time? What?

2. What's the longest you've ever been without a skimmer on a reef tank?

No skimmer reef image via @CoralAddict645

Yes I learned from Doctor Tim to shut my skimmer off for three hours at night and it’s made a big difference in my tank !