Is it possible to over skim?

[madcanary]

So having no nitrates or phosphates has nothing to do with my oversized skimmer?

 

[TbyZ]

So having no nitrates or phosphates has nothing to do with my oversized skimmer?

Do an experiment. Turn the skimmer off, change nothing else, & monitor.

 

[madcanary]

I did for about a month and i managed 0.02 on ULR Hannah, I removed a bio plate too.
I always worry I’m hurting my coral skimming. I’m running a mid bioload on a 160 ish system with a SV223.
My corals always seem to have light colour, not unhealthy just not that bright deep vivid Acro colour I always see.

 

[TbyZ]

I can't see how that follows. Even a nonskimmed tank can have nitrate too low. It's just a matter of too much expert relative to import, and there are many reasons to skim that do not relate to nutrients.

What are the other reasons to skim that don't relate to nutrients?

 

[Reef of Fillory]

I've been debating getting a skimmer sized for my biocube, or one that will work on my next tank. Looking at possibly skimmers for 125+ gallons to go in a sump

 

[UpNorthTom]

What are the other reasons to skim that don't relate to nutrients?

Skimmers add lots of oxygen to the water.

 

[madcanary]

I do notice I higher ORP and Ph when the skimmers running.

 

[TbyZ]

Skimmers add lots of oxygen to the water.

Growing algae does a better job.
Or an inexpensive air pump.

 

[Scott.h]

You absolutely can. I switched skimmers in my low nutrient system a few weeks ago just playing around between tanks. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the skimmate until the day I do my weekly maintenance. I had pulled a half cup of tea from the water that week, which is a lot for the small bio load of that system. That weekend many of my corals started to bleach pretty bad. Ever since I've been dumping all of my skimmate back Into the water as the are coming back around. A skimmer (bubbles) are only about 30% efficient at removing organtics. In my low nutrient case if I left it running full power for two weeks it would wipe out most of my corals.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What are the other reasons to skim that don't relate to nutrients?

Removal of organics that can yellow the water or are actual toxins, aeration, export of many elements that are bound to organics and may accumulate in the water otherwise, etc.

Aeration can include adding O2 at night, and equilibrating CO2 24/7, which may bring up the the daily pH low or reduce the daily pH high. Regardless of the overall trend, it reduces the daily swing. It also allows one to bring in outside air or scrubbed air to reduce CO2 levels and raise pH if that is a problem.

In my tank, I experimented without my skimmer for a few months to see the effect. The primary thing I noticed was the pH rose too high for my preference (I was dosing limewater). Hence, in my tank, the skimmer was bringing in CO2.