Should I leave my Skimmer on while on vacation?

[MARK M. DAVIS]

Taking the cup of and leaving skimmer on would be my approach. I wouldn't drain into a bucket for fear of loosing all my water to the bucket. I would dry skim and set your bubble in the chamber pretty low. You're only going away for a week.

 

[MARK M. DAVIS]

r2r must've really liked my post as they posted it 3x

 

[gcrawford]

I use a “sump cam” paired with my apex for monitoring and control while I’m away. It also allows me to check other things like ATO verification and of course all other apex goodies....here are a few pics. Cam is PTZ.

 

[tthouston]

If it is me, I will leave skimmer ON for a skim - mate the dirt and create the oxygen in the tank. I will connect the tube from the skimmer cup to the 5 gallons bucket or even bigger to collect the dirty stuff.

 

[RCS82]

I would definitely leave it running but would never hook up an open drain line to a pail which could empty my sump of water if the skimmer should overflow. Just let it run for 6 days, if the cup fills up then no big deal, it can over fill abit and fall back to the sump.

 

[PhreeByrd]

Definitely, I would leave the skimmer running. I don't know if you could get this done in the time you have, but here is my solution:
My skimmer is an in-sump.
Skimmer cup drains into a 2 gallon waste bucket I keep next to the sump (my sump is elevated).
In the waste bucket there is a water level sensor and switch.
When the water level in the waste bucket rises too high, it turns off the skimmer (it actually turns off the electrical outlet the skimmer is plugged into).
The skimmer stays off until the waste bucket is emptied and the level switch is reset.

I normally skim wet, but if I'm leaving for a few days I turn it down to skim more dry. Generally, it would take a month or more to fill the waste bucket anyway. If I set the skimmer to produce drier skimmate, I can easily double that interval.
The level switch is just insurance in case the skimmer does go nuts for some reason (which it has a few times).

This is easy to set up with almost any modern aquarium controller system, but the setup for my skimmer is self-contained, and would work without any controller system.

If you had to do this, just connecting the drain hose to the skimmer cup and letting the skimmate drain back into the sump should be OK for a week. It would be much better than turning the skimmer off.

 

[Jim Fox]

I have mine running when I'm gone like that. I connected a hose to the drain port and just let it run back into the sump. I kept it running for the oxygen.

 

[curiouser]

I would leave the skimmer on. Take the skimmer cup off. If it bubble back into the tank, no big deal. Don't use an overflow bucket since you won't be home to monitor. That would be a source of all water draining from your tank.

If you have a sump you could use bucket that fits into sump. IF the skimmate overflows the bucket it will drain into the sump. If it does not overflow the bucket you've removed the skimmate automatically.

 

[malacoda]

If your tank is mature, your nutrients are regularly low and stable, and you are running a standard type of overflow (versus a full syphon style like a bean animal) ... I'd leave it off.

The overflow should provide plenty of oxygenation (unless your have a huge bioload). And 6 days of regular feeding (auto-feeder?) should not have that big of an impact on your nutrients.

I regularly leave the skimmer on my 24g off for 2 weeks at a time when I travel. Tank is feed by Eheim auto-feeder, and I just put a bit of filter floss in my sump baffle. Even with floss in there for the two-weeks without being changed, I've never seen my PO4 or NO3 increase at all.

 

[harryball69]

I would leave mine on. Dry skim. This is my tanks oxygen.
I don't over feed or over nutrient my tank to where I have excessive waste..

 

[TilmanBaumann]

Would agree. If you are concerned, convert the skimmer into a pure oxygen supply system and let it run.
(Dry skim or just take the whole cup off and let it boil over.)

Perhaps drop in a seneye monitor to altert you if something big dies in your tank and ammonia spikes.
But the that thing is quite expensive.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I leave mine on but it's in sump and I have a shut off. If I didn't have those two things going for me I probably would turn it off! No I would turn it off.

 

[reefes pieces]

Personally I would just make sure to dump the waste before you leave. That way worse case scenario is that your skimmer cup overflows and doesn't dump old skimmate back into your tank. I think making changes before you leave leads to something going wrong even if the intentions were to be safer. But since you have time, start tuning the skimmer dry and observe until you're confident in the skimmer's predictability. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I always do without consequences. Best not to alter natural chemical action especially in your absence

 

[HB AL]

Wow all these options, keep it simple, keep it on and tune it for a dry skim, come back from vacation and empty the cup then tune it back to how you like it.

 

[MartinWaite]

I agree with leaving it on but making the skim dry, mine takes well over a week to fill the cup and its black. 8 would follow the advice from the person with the same skimmer as to how to adjust it and do it now so you can see how long it will take to fill the cup. Enjoy your time away.

 

[Forsaken77]

Hi Everyone,

I'll be out of town for 6 days and want to get some input. Should I leave my skimmer on while I'm gone? I have a ATO system that will take care of the RODI water, chiller to maintain the temperature, and my lights are programmed to the Hydra 26.

When I sent my skimmer in for repair, the manufacturer said you can go up to 2 weeks with the skimmer off and nutrients will be ok.

Why not just use the Auto Aqua Smart Skimmer plug where if the cup gets full, it'll shut off the skimmer?

There are only 2 reviews and one guy gave it a 1 star review for a dumb reason that makes no sense. It's piece of mind if your cup gets full and is cheap.