Skimmer thinking of turning it off

[reefer91]

Hi, my skimmer is really loud and wife is really hating it.
just a question it’s about 40 gallons
If I were to turn it off and up my water changes would I be ok? I have done research and see a lot of people run reef tanks without skimmers.

what do you think?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Your bioload is an important part of the answer to that question. The larger the bioload, the harder to maintain good water quality without a skimmer.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi, my skimmer is really loud and wife is really hating it.
just a question it’s about 40 gallons
If I were to turn it off and up my water changes would I be ok? I have done research and see a lot of people run reef tanks without skimmers.

what do you think?

Does unit have muffler?
You can also run on a timer at night when your asleep
What make is skimmer?

 

[doubleshot00]

I have mine scheduled to turn off for about 2 hours each night while we sit and watch tv.

Mine barely skims anything. I have a light bioload for my 90 (7 fish).

 

[reefer91]

Your bioload is an important part of the answer to that question. The larger the bioload, the harder to maintain good water quality without a skimmer.

2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 coral beauty, snails hermits, 2 cleaner shrimps

Does unit have muffler?
You can also run on a timer at night when your asleep
What make is skimmer?

what is a muffler?
I don’t no the make it come with the tank.

 

[RichReef]

The biggest problem with turning off a skimmer is making sure you have some water agitation somewhere or you will wake up to suffocating fish.

What is actually making the noise? Air? Pump?

You can try running the air outside if possible.

If it's the pump it most likely has a problem.

 

[reefer91]

The biggest problem with turning off a skimmer is making sure you have some water agitation somewhere or you will wake up to suffocating fish.

What is actually making the noise? Air? Pump?

You can try running the air outside if possible.

If it's the pump it most likely has a problem.

I have a lot of water agitation anyway

the silicone hose where it sucks in air very loud

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

make a muffler, basically a tube with polyfill or cotton or socks or whatever in it so the air pulls thru the muffler and it will quiet it down... they probably sell them somewhere

 

[Goaway]

2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 coral beauty, snails hermits, 2 cleaner shrimps



what is a muffler?
I don’t no the make it come with the tank.

Sca aquarium?

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

 

[zaga]

Where is the noise coming from? Vibrations or the air being sucked in?

When does it bug your wife? Only when you are in the room with the aquarium?

I bought my reef second hand and the oversized skimmer was overly loud.
Things I did:
- made sure it was not hitting any sides of the sump to prevent any noise from vibrations
- made a muffler using an empty pill canister
- decreased the water it was drawing to create a drier skimmate.

You do not have a heavy bioload, so you can either run the skimmer at certain times, run it dryer, or just keep it offline and see how your corals react.

What kind of corals are you keeping btw?

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Hi, my skimmer is really loud and wife is really hating it.
just a question it’s about 40 gallons
If I were to turn it off and up my water changes would I be ok? I have done research and see a lot of people run reef tanks without skimmers.

what do you think?

Oh yea plenty of tanks with no skimmers out there. If it were me I would make a silencer and attach it to the air intake line. If it’s the motor then I would consider a different brand down the line

 

[Arego]

Mine turns off in the morning. Ive found I get much better skim results this way running only at night. During the day the neck dries out so when it turns on at night the influx of bubbles breaks all that debris off the inside and cleans it out into the cup as it continues it's job.

I haven't run it all day for a long time and I didn't see a single number budge by doing so, it just got more efficient and cleaner.

Skimmer is a vertex omega 180i on a 250g

 

[The Farmer]

Can you post a pic of your skimmer

 

[Arego]

Sure just took one for you.

And a terrible tank shot with skimmer below.

 

[Arego]

Another good muffler is just use an empty prescription bottle and turn it upside down over your air intake. Tall enough it doesn't block the opening and that will cut the air draw noise in half easily.

 

[Spare time]

I'd just run the skimmer at night

 

[G Santana]

Place it on a timer so it's off while you're in the living room/fish room.
Have it run from morning until you come home.
A few hours off won't hurt.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My skimmer dead silent.
Assure its at water level 8" +/- 1 and tweak air control

 

[Matt Carden]

I started my current tank 7 months ago without a skimmer. No water changes. Ran a filter sock twice for one day each to remove dinos. Phosphate under .1