Skimmer on timer?

[mossanimal]

I'm about to dose copepods into my new system and I know there is some concern about mechanical filtration and protein skimming taking these guys out. I realize there are different opinions on this and that the pods are pretty good at hunkering down. In general I like the idea of keeping as much microscopic life (beneficial) in my water column as possible (I'm not that concerned about the aesthetics of having some particulate matter moving around... it's a classroom tank used to teach about ecosystems). So what are folk's thoughts on limiting protein skimmer use by putting it on a timer? For those that do this... what kind of schedule? The goal for my 90 gallon aquarium is to have a rich, mixed reef (soft, hard, Tridacna) with only a few beneficial fish. I'm also looking into making an algae scrubber that could take up some of the skimmer's duties.

 

[c4haskett]

I'm about to dose copepods into my new system and I know there is some concern about mechanical filtration and protein skimming taking these guys out. I realize there are different opinions on this and that the pods are pretty good at hunkering down. In general I like the idea of keeping as much microscopic life (beneficial) in my water column as possible (I'm not that concerned about the aesthetics of having some particulate matter moving around... it's a classroom tank used to teach about ecosystems). So what are folk's thoughts on limiting protein skimmer use by putting it on a timer? For those that do this... what kind of schedule? The goal for my 90 gallon aquarium is to have a rich, mixed reef (soft, hard, Tridacna) with only a few beneficial fish. I'm also looking into making an algae scrubber that could take up some of the skimmer's duties.

Turning off flow/skimmer/pumps and removing mechanical filtration is fine when adding in pods for 30 minutes or so but I don't think it's necessary to put your protein skimmer on a timer. Once the pod population takes hold I doubt the skimmer and filtration would put much of a dent in the population. Maybe instead of an algae scrubber you can start a refugium? Sounds like that would be more suitable for your goals of sustaining a healthy pod population. Not to discourage you from building an algae scrubber though. They work great.... Hands down the best at nutrient control and the cheapest. Be careful though, GHA is much more agressive at pulling nutrients than any type of macro algae. I have a algae scrubber and it's the best investment i've ever put on my tank.

 

[mossanimal]

Turning off flow/skimmer/pumps and removing mechanical filtration is fine when adding in pods for 30 minutes or so but I don't think it's necessary to put your protein skimmer on a timer. Once the pod population takes hold I doubt the skimmer and filtration would put much of a dent in the population. Maybe instead of an algae scrubber you can start a refugium? Sounds like that would be more suitable for your goals of sustaining a healthy pod population. Not to discourage you from building an algae scrubber though. They work great.... Hands down the best at nutrient control and the cheapest. Be careful though, GHA is much more agressive at pulling nutrients than any type of macro algae. I have a algae scrubber and it's the best investment i've ever put on my tank.

Thanks a lot. I actually do have a refugium with Gracilaria. It's only been running for 2 weeks and hasn't melted away. My nitrates got up to 40ppm after adding Gulf liverock so hopefully that gives it up something to feed on. I'm very excited about getting a scrubber together. Sorrry... what does GHA stand for???

 

[mossanimal]

Turning off flow/skimmer/pumps and removing mechanical filtration is fine when adding in pods for 30 minutes or so but I don't think it's necessary to put your protein skimmer on a timer. Once the pod population takes hold I doubt the skimmer and filtration would put much of a dent in the population. Maybe instead of an algae scrubber you can start a refugium? Sounds like that would be more suitable for your goals of sustaining a healthy pod population. Not to discourage you from building an algae scrubber though. They work great.... Hands down the best at nutrient control and the cheapest. Be careful though, GHA is much more agressive at pulling nutrients than any type of macro algae. I have a algae scrubber and it's the best investment i've ever put on my tank.

Oh... and I may be overdoing it on filtration but there is also a separate display fuge with deep mud and mangroves being installed! I just really like the teaching possibilities with the various filtration methods. I have a feeling I will be dosing nutrients at some point if all of this works.

 

[FrugalReefer]

I run my skimmer for only 13 hours each night opposite my display lighting which runs for 11 hours.

 

[mossanimal]

I run my skimmer for only 13 hours each night opposite my display lighting which runs for 11 hours.

What is your reasoning for limiting it's use?

 

[flashsmith]

With a refugium an algae scrubber would just be over doing it in my opinion. Put a bristletooth in there and let it do it's thing. A scrubber is just more maintenance. As far as pods go I stopped dosing them because of the ongoing expense of reseeding. In the grand scheme of things in a reef tank I don't think they do much of anything when you are running a skimmer and have a refugium. I would compare it to adding 50 snails when a single urchin can do the same amount of work.Unless you have a Mandarin that requires them to survive I wouldn't add them. They'll probably get in there on their own eventually. Also if you are trying to actively grow pods you will need to feed them phyto too. As a rule for me personally I don't put anything in my tanks that requires a special diet etc... If it can't survive on what I'm doing then I don't add it.

 

[mossanimal]

With a refugium an algae scrubber would just be over doing it in my opinion. As far as pods go I stopped dosing them because of the ongoing expense of reseeding. In the grand scheme of things in a reef tank I don't think they do much of anything when you are running a skimmer and have a refugium.Unless you have a Mandarin that requires them to survive I wouldn't add them. They'll probably get in there on their own eventually. Also if you are trying to actively grow pods you will need to feed them phyto too. As a rule for me personally I don't put anything in my tanks that requires a special diet etc... If it can't survive on what I'm doing then I don't add it.

Ok. The pods were a generous donation to my classroom tank from Dinkins. So no expense there. I have an interest in raising them and the phyto just because I like that sort of thing and would be educational for the kids. And I have the room in my classroom.

 

[c4haskett]

Thanks a lot. I actually do have a refugium with Gracilaria. It's only been running for 2 weeks and hasn't melted away. My nitrates got up to 40ppm after adding Gulf liverock so hopefully that gives it up something to feed on. I'm very excited about getting a scrubber together. Sorrry... what does GHA stand for???

GHA= Green Hair Algae

 

[mossanimal]

GHA= Green Hair Algae

haha.... duh

 

[mossanimal]

With a refugium an algae scrubber would just be over doing it in my opinion. Put a bristletooth in there and let it do it's thing. A scrubber is just more maintenance. As far as pods go I stopped dosing them because of the ongoing expense of reseeding. In the grand scheme of things in a reef tank I don't think they do much of anything when you are running a skimmer and have a refugium. I would compare it to adding 50 snails when a single urchin can do the same amount of work.Unless you have a Mandarin that requires them to survive I wouldn't add them. They'll probably get in there on their own eventually. Also if you are trying to actively grow pods you will need to feed them phyto too. As a rule for me personally I don't put anything in my tanks that requires a special diet etc... If it can't survive on what I'm doing then I don't add it.

Which urchin would you recommend?

 

[FrugalReefer]

What is your reasoning for limiting it's use?

I have a nano SPS dominant and I’ve found that running my skimmer 24/7 cleans my tank too much bottoming out my nutrients. I’ve had a few episodes of STN with Acros because of this. I can’t say if it was solely attributed to the skimmer running 24/7 but I do know that ever since I’ve run it part time, in addition to not running GFO anymore, my corals have never looked better. Of course, every tank is different and I’m not saying you should do this. This is what works for me.

 

[mossanimal]

I have a nano SPS dominant and I’ve found that running my skimmer 24/7 cleans my tank too much bottoming out my nutrients. I’ve had a few episodes of STN with Acros because of this. I can’t say if it was solely attributed to the skimmer running 24/7 but I do know that ever since I’ve run it part time, in addition to not running GFO anymore, my corals have never looked better. Of course, every tank is different and I’m not saying you should do this. This is what works for me.

Okay that makes sense. And yeah... I wonder if I will eventually have to do the same thing with all of my other filtration methods: macro algae fuge, mangrove fuge with deep mud and maybe... algae scrubber