too much skimmer?

jwilson · Dec 27, 2014

i have been fighting my skimmer for months. could't get it to adjust, found the impeller was partially stripped, and while looking for a replacement, the impeller completely stripped. i never could get a replacement impeller that worked, so i bought a new pump with a needle wheel that was "supposed to work" with my skimmer. well it didn't so i finally gave up and found a used skimmer. i bought a ASM G3 for a smoking price. i know it's way big for my little 50 gallons of water. is it possible to "over skim"? should i put it on a timer, or just let it do its thing?

nicodim55 · Dec 27, 2014

You can never over skim IMO I have the G4 in my 150g and I'm thinking of even getting a bigger one since I upgraded to a bigger sump

I would keep your G3 in your 50g if I were you it's a great skimmer.

marvelousone · Dec 28, 2014

I agree you can not over skim imo. If you feel that you are, just set it up on a timer. Just run it 12 hours a day. What corals you have make a difference. some like little dirty water than others.

beaslbob · Dec 29, 2014

jwilson said:
i have been fighting my skimmer for months. could't get it to adjust, found the impeller was partially stripped, and while looking for a replacement, the impeller completely stripped. i never could get a replacement impeller that worked, so i bought a new pump with a needle wheel that was "supposed to work" with my skimmer. well it didn't so i finally gave up and found a used skimmer. i bought a ASM G3 for a smoking price. i know it's way big for my little 50 gallons of water. is it possible to "over skim"? should i put it on a timer, or just let it do its thing?

I'm glad you found a skimmer you like.
As far as overskimming I can't say. Never used a skimmer.
my .02

Daniel@R2R · Dec 30, 2014

spspirate Andy is the guy who convinced me that bigger is always better as far as skimmers go. His theory on skimming makes the most sense to me. Maybe he'll show up and pour some wisdom on us.

BHAMR6 · Dec 30, 2014

I ran a asm g3 in a 65g and it did great

tigerdragon · Dec 30, 2014

I run a BM NAC 9 on my 90 it is always pulling junk. If you have a decent fish load it is very helpful to have a decent sized skimmer it will only skim out what it can. It only skims a small part of your water so i dont feel you can over skim its diff with bio pellets and gfo with those you can really strip the water

spspirate · Dec 30, 2014

mdbannister said:
@spspirate Andy is the guy who convinced me that bigger is always better as far as skimmers go. His theory on skimming makes the most sense to me. Maybe he'll show up and pour some wisdom on us.

Ha! Go big or go home!..LOL No, everyone has their own philosophy in reef keeping. Mine revolves around the environment that some of these fish and corals come from which is a well oxygenated and low nutrient environment. A lot of these stony corals come from an oligotrophic environment. Basically a nutrient deprived environment. Which makes the sense why photosynthetic corals and clams and their symbionts are the way they are. Nutrients in and nutrients out. So for me to replicate this type of environment there are many things I do and having a bigger skimmer thats overrated for my system helps me to achieve this. It also helps me to achieve good saturated oxygen levels. Which in turn helps stabilize ph, gives life to ALL that happy bacteria cleaning our water, keeps those high energy fish like wrasses and tangs with plenty of oxygen and plays a very important roll in the calcification process of corals just to name a few things. So the benefit of having good O2 levels to me is important. A bigger skimmer or one thats over rated for the system gives you that greater margin of error when dealing with water quality and IMO a better advantage in keeping a cleaner system. Remember to keep the skimmer neck clean and to do routine maintenance on the pump.

beaslbob · Dec 31, 2014

I like the idea of recycling stuff instead of exporting.
my .02

Chameleon · Dec 31, 2014

beaslbob said:
I like the idea of recycling stuff instead of exporting.
my .02

that only works for a closed system...i think with the input of food and stuff to our systems we are bound to have to export....

H@rry · Dec 31, 2014

I think having too much skimmer is like having too much money.

hawkinsrgk · Dec 31, 2014

H@rry said:
I think having too much skimmer is like having too much money.

LOL. I with Harry on this one

beaslbob · Jan 1, 2015

So how many of you'all have ever had too much money?

And sure you will need to export. My comment on rercycling is more a emphasis not meant to ignore recycling.

Plus you do export by harvesting macro algaes as well.

my .02

jwilson · Jan 2, 2015

it appears my tank was dirtier than i thought. this this is making some funky stuff. much nastier than the last skimmer ever made, and in much higher volume.

H@rry · Jan 2, 2015

jwilson said:
it appears my tank was dirtier than i thought. this this is making some funky stuff. much nastier than the last skimmer ever made, and in much higher volume.

That would tend to indicate to me that your new skimmer is keeping your water cleaner; be glad!

jwilson · Jan 2, 2015

oh no doubt. the water actually looks better, was starting to get a touch of a haze, now it's crystal clear.

spspirate · Jan 4, 2015

This is good to hear!

Ibassfsh · Jan 7, 2015

The bigger the skimmer the better I think. Especially for SPS corals.

Ibassfsh · Jan 7, 2015

Adding ozone while skimming is even better I think too

gtbarsi · Jan 8, 2015

There is such a thing as too much skimmer!

If the neck of the skimmer is too big for the system the skimmer will not be able to fractionate enough DOCs from the water to form a stable foam head. This will result in a lack of skimmate in the collection cup, preventing the export of the DOCs and leading to their eventual breakdown to ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, or phosphate to name a few.

A properly sized skimmer once broken in and adjusted should have two noticeable states. Active where the foam head is going up the neck and depositing skimmate in to the collection cup, and in-active where the foam head is breaking down low in the neck of the skimmer.

If a skimmer is always in the active state one of two things is going on.
1. The skimmer is not adjusted correctly, this is evident if the skimmate is very thin, and lacks a dark color. Often skimmers not adjusted properly this way flood their collection cup frequently.
2. If the skimmate is not very thin and is dark in color then chances are it is undersized for the amount of DOCs in the system. Upgrading is recommended since the excess DOCs the skimmer is failing to remove are breaking down in the water, causing additional nutrients that could have been exported by the skimmer.