Skimmer protocol?

Qh2214 · Nov 20, 2015

I have always ran my skimmer 24/7 and I always see people mentioning they keep theirs on a timer and only have it running at certain times of the year.

I was just wondering what is the "right" way to go about using your skimmer? I figured I'd give it a try and my skimmer is now only running 5 hours a day starting at noon.

Am I looking to far into this skimmer run time thing or are the pros & cons to the amount of time your skimmer is on.

Interested to see opinions thanks!

ReefMadScientist · Nov 20, 2015

There is no right way on doing it. It depends on your tank and its behavior. If you have a ton of fish, you will probably have to run your skimmer all the time.

If you have a low bioload, you may not have to run it as much. Overall, I ran skimmer-less since I had low bioloads and wanted to keep my NO3 around 5ppm. Now I run it 24/7 as I have more fish and the bioload + skimmer keeps me at 5ppm's

Qh2214 · Nov 20, 2015

ReefMadScientist said:
There is no right way on doing it. It depends on your tank and its behavior. If you have a ton of fish, you will probably have to run your skimmer all the time.

If you have a low bioload, you may not have to run it as much. Overall, I ran skimmer-less since I had low bioloads and wanted to keep my NO3 around 5ppm. Now I run it 24/7 as I have more fish and the bioload + skimmer keeps me at 5ppm's

Got it! Thanks! Ya right now I've got 4 fish in 20g L but I'm moving into a 55g in about a month so just wanted to see if my skimmer "etiquette" was correct or not. I'll definitely be getting more fish when I go into the 55 but for now I think I'm at my limit for the 20!

stunreefer · Nov 20, 2015

IMO it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you're keeping a ton of "LPS" that prefer a little more nutrients in the water I would lean towards a skimmer cycle. If you're keeping a ton of "SPS" you might consider running it the standard 24/7.

With that said it's also going to depend on how much and what you feed, and what other methods you're implementing to remove nutrients. I feed my office reef really, really heavy. Fish are fed LRS 3-4 times/day, and I heavily spot feed my non-photos once or twice a week. I'm also pretty lazy when it comes to tank maintenance, so my skimmer runs 24/7 to pick up slack. There's no additional nutrient methods employed besides water changes.

Cherry Corals recently stopped using a skimmer on one of their "LPS" raceways and the corals have never looked better. However the tank has very few fish which are only fed a couple times per week (they're janitors). Their "SPS" raceway is still heavily skimmed with the same fish bioload.

A million ways to skin a cat

ReefMadScientist · Nov 20, 2015

Also do not forget, a skimmer creates better pH within the water column as its aerating.

redfishbluefish · Nov 20, 2015

I have tangs (crap machines) and run biopellets so my skimmer runs 24/7!

ReefMadScientist · Nov 20, 2015

redfishbluefish said:
I have tangs (crap machines) and run biopellets so my skimmer runs 24/7!

Yeah my fat tangs poop and eat it at the same time. Foul creatures.

Qh2214 · Nov 20, 2015

Ya but those are constant grazers though! I think I'd take the pay off of them pooping all the time for the cleanliness they provide! I feed a homemade food that is all organic that I get from a local reefer and all my fish seem to love it. He told me when they poop it's supposed to be so good the corals love it lol! I turned mine back on 24/7 I love the crystal clear water too much to risk it dirtying up!

that Reef Guy · Nov 20, 2015

stunreefer said:
IMO it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you're keeping a ton of "LPS" that prefer a little more nutrients in the water I would lean towards a skimmer cycle. If you're keeping a ton of "SPS" you might consider running it the standard 24/7.

With that said it's also going to depend on how much and what you feed, and what other methods you're implementing to remove nutrients. I feed my office reef really, really heavy. Fish are fed LRS 3-4 times/day, and I heavily spot feed my non-photos once or twice a week. I'm also pretty lazy when it comes to tank maintenance, so my skimmer runs 24/7 to pick up slack. There's no additional nutrient methods employed besides water changes.

Cherry Corals recently stopped using a skimmer on one of their "LPS" raceways and the corals have never looked better. However the tank has very few fish which are only fed a couple times per week (they're janitors). Their "SPS" raceway is still heavily skimmed with the same fish bioload.

A million ways to skin a cat

Very Interesting.

That makes sense.

Usually everyone has their Skimmer going 24/7 but in some cases that is not the Best way to go about it.

haninja · Nov 20, 2015

I don't know which skimmer you are running but I had issues in the past with a skimmer pump that used to get 'stuck' after power loss and refuse to restart without a 'nudge'. I personally like running it constantly...

inetjnky · Nov 23, 2015

In my biocube29 I run 24/7 only because when I power off the skimmer my return pulls the water line from chamber 3 down low enough that it triggers my ATO which runs 30 seconds or more. It was causing my salinity to go lower then what I wanted. Haven't figured out how to resolve it either.