Skimmer Part-Time?

[Liquid360]

I've given some thought as to the purpose and function of protein skimming. It makes sense that in the skimming process, nutrients needed by some coral are lost. I prefer to avoid dosing. Would it make sense to run the skimmer one day on/one day off? Thoughts?

 

[NanaReefer]

Personally a good skimmer just allows me to feed more without the worry of excess nutrients.
I have a Reef Octopus BH-1000 on my 26g and run it 24/7. I feed only frozen 2x daily and am now able to feed phytoplankton, Coral Extacy and whatever else I want. No algae issues, no cyano issues period. My water quality has never been better.
So if your worried about removing needed nutrients you can run your skimmer every other day or just feed more


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[spspirate]

+1 with NanaReefer. Along with protein skimming your also stabilizing your ph by constantly injecting oxygen in to your water......good thing.

 

[mcarroll]

As long as you aren't too overstocked shouldn't be any problem.

If the goal is just to cut skimming time in half, I'd do it 12-on/12-off every day instead of alternating days. Skim when the lights are out to help minimize pH dips at night.

Not sure you will accomplish what you are after though - even set a day behind any decent skimmer will fully catch up in a pretty small frame of time.

If this worries you, consider ditching the skimmer altogether. While useful, they are certainly not a requirement. If needed for nutrient management, you can add an algae scrubber later on as a substitution...

-Matt