Skimmer

[Riggins44]

I have, in the last six month acquired a Rea Sea 350. It came with a Red Sea skimmer, I do weekly 15-20% water changes religiously. I have a Brittle Star, a File fish, a Lemon peel Angle fish, a Maroon Clown fish, an Anemone, 2 Banggai Cardinal fish and one PJ Cardinal fish, snails, crabs, all in a "Reef " tank.
Here is my question, with the skimmer off, my glass stays clear for days. With the skimmer on, the glass gets algae in a day or so, I try and clean the skimmer out twice a week. With the water changes that I do, do I really need a skimmer, or at least full time??

Trying to learn..

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have, in the last six month acquired a Rea Sea 350. It came with a Red Sea skimmer, I do weekly 15-20% water changes religiously. I have a Brittle Star, a File fish, a Lemon peel Angle fish, a Maroon Clown fish, an Anemone, 2 Banggai Cardinal fish and one PJ Cardinal fish, snails, crabs, all in a "Reef " tank.
Here is my question, with the skimmer off, my glass stays clear for days. With the skimmer on, the glass gets algae in a day or so, I try and clean the skimmer out twice a week. With the water changes that I do, do I really need a skimmer, or at least full time??

Trying to learn..

Run skimmer part time on a timer at night and see if you see a good balance and you then get the benefts of skimming and less algae buildup.
If tank is near a window, it may be based on how the UV hits the tank and not skimmer

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! I always run a skimmer by default, but I have to ask - is your skimmer pulling stuff out of the water and into the cup? If so, I would tend to keep skimming. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[Riggins44]

Run skimmer part time on a timer at night and see if you see a good balance and you then get the benefts of skimming and less algae buildup.
If tank is near a window, it may be based on how the UV hits the tank and not skimmer

Thank you, It is close to a small door window, but the blinds are closed. I noticed this difference when I turned off the skimmer for 2 weeks when I did a " chemiclean"
Thank you for your tip.

 

[Zach B]

Welcome! I usually have better results running my skimmer all the time. However, I run quite heavily stocked tanks. Not sure why you'd be getting more algae with the skimmer on, usually would be the opposite unless it's not functioning properly. Best of luck

 

[Riggins44]

Welcome! I usually have better results running my skimmer all the time. However, I run quite heavily stocked tanks. Not sure why you'd be getting more algae with the skimmer on, usually would be the opposite unless it's not functioning properly. Best of luck

Thank you

 

[redfishbluefish]

Welcome. I would continue running the skimmer because the other benefit is aeration of the water....putting oxygen in and taking unwanted gases out.

 

[Riggins44]

Welcome. I would continue running the skimmer because the other benefit is aeration of the water....putting oxygen in and taking unwanted gases out.

How often should I clean it?

 

[vetteguy53081]

How often should I clean it?

As needed. Empty the cup as needed and clean the neck (below the cup) when its brown as it restricts flow of bubbles

 

[Riggins44]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!! I always run a skimmer by default, but I have to ask - is your skimmer pulling stuff out of the water and into the cup? If so, I would tend to keep skimming. Good luck with whatever you choose!

Yes! it gets diry very quickly in my mind but then again, I am new at this

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Peace River]

Yes! it gets diry very quickly in my mind but then again, I am new at this

I understand the desire to take the skimmer off line, but if you stop running the skimmer and you are already doing plenty of water changes then where will the stuff go that is currently going into the skimmer cup? Ultimately, you want to be a good water keeper, the rest will follow.

 

[X-37B]

How often should I clean it?

If you ran chemiclean that was what stopped the algae not turning off the skimmer.

Clean it? Depends on your system and skimmer.
I have not cleaned the barrel of this skimmer ever. I do clean the pump once a year.

 

[tbrown]

I have, in the last six month acquired a Rea Sea 350. It came with a Red Sea skimmer, I do weekly 15-20% water changes religiously. I have a Brittle Star, a File fish, a Lemon peel Angle fish, a Maroon Clown fish, an Anemone, 2 Banggai Cardinal fish and one PJ Cardinal fish, snails, crabs, all in a "Reef " tank.
Here is my question, with the skimmer off, my glass stays clear for days. With the skimmer on, the glass gets algae in a day or so, I try and clean the skimmer out twice a week. With the water changes that I do, do I really need a skimmer, or at least full time??

Trying to learn..

Welcome! I run my skimmer on a timer which may be helpful as stated by others. What are your current nutrient levels - nitrates and phosphates? How long are you running your lights and what spectrum are you running - heavy blue or heavy white or a balance of both? Lots of red or green in the blend? Lights can aid in the growth of algae and some algaes grow best with high nutrients while others grow best when either phosphates or nitrates are missing.

 

[Big Smelly fish]

 

[tbrown]

Thank you, It is close to a small door window, but the blinds are closed. I noticed this difference when I turned off the skimmer for 2 weeks when I did a " chemiclean"
Thank you for your tip.

As mentioned above, chemiclean removes algae and turning off the skimmer keeps the chemiclean from being removed.

 

[Riggins44]

Welcome! I run my skimmer on a timer which may be helpful as stated by others. What are your current nutrient levels - nitrates and phosphates? How long are you running your lights and what spectrum are you running - heavy blue or heavy white or a balance of both? Lots of red or green in the blend? Lights can aid in the growth of algae and some algaes grow best with high nutrients while others grow best when either phosphates or nitrates are missing.

Jesus! Thats a lot of questions I have a Mobius lighting system. UV 31% Violet 26% Royal 23% Blue 17% Green 41% Red 52% Warm White 47% and cool white 14%
I do a test on Alkalinity, and Ph.. that's about it. since I do large water changes every week

 

[jsker]

 

[tbrown]

Jesus! Thats a lot of questions I have a Mobius lighting system. UV 31% Violet 26% Royal 23% Blue 17% Green 41% Red 52% Warm White 47% and cool white 14%
I do a test on Alkalinity, and Ph.. that's about it. since I do large water changes every week

The red, green, and white could be adding to the algae growth. Nutrients are a big thing to know.

 

[tbrown]

Jesus! Thats a lot of questions

Sorry for the questions, it just makes helping you easier with more background.