Skimmer and reactor questions

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 9, 2021

Fishingandreefing said:
I have being running a light in the refugium for over 2 years and it’s being great. My question is, will reduce the hours from 12 to 10 hours means the sump will pull less nitrate out if that make sense.

Possibly yes. You'll have to experiment with how much less time is needed for any particular effect. 10% less light time doesn't necessarily mean 10% less consumption.

Fishingandreefing · Jun 11, 2021

So based on this video, Dr. Tim was recommending turning the skimmers off a few hours. I would like someone to explain or show some proof that leaving the skimmer off let say more than couple hours will really cause a problem.

Fishingandreefing · Jun 11, 2021

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jun 11, 2021

Fishingandreefing said:
So based on this video, Dr. Tim was recommending turning the skimmers off a few hours. I would like someone to explain or show some proof that leaving the skimmer off let say more than couple hours will really cause a problem.

I am providing a warning to you of a perfectly plausible and potentially problematic issue. It's up to you whether you take that advice or not. I have certainly smelled hydrogen sulfide in unaerated aquarium water, but I did not do it as a way to show how long of storage was OK and how long was not for my water samples.

Whether it happens in your case or not will depend on what exactly is in your water (levels of organics, nitrate, and bacteria, especially) and how long the unaerated water sits.

If you decide to use this start and stop process, at least smell the stored water carefully to see if it smells at all like rotten eggs (or really, any different than fresh tank water). if it does, it is a big issue and I'd not use the process. if it doesn't smell, it may be OK to proceed to use it.

Details of the chemistry involved are discussed in deep detail here:

Hydrogen Sulfide and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com