Underperforming Skimmer: How do you know?

[Joekovar]

I'm fortunate in that having been born and raised in Tampabay FL, I've basically grown up around a massive sump.

When I see a skimmer, I immediately think about the foam I periodically see on the shorelines.

We have a few reclaimed water facilities in my area. Namely the one by Eckerd College, and one near the Bayside bridge.

Periodically we get a lot of rain. More than the facilities can handle, and those facilities will discharge partially treated water into the bay.

We like to joke about not eating the brown trout with newcomers who fish in the area.

Now, when this partially treated water gets released into the bay, there is usually (I say usually vs always, because although I've seen it numerous times in almost 40 years, I haven't paid attention every time because it's so common) a boom in foam along the shorelines.

So, if I look at a skimmer, and it's always spewing a steady stream of foam, to me that means it's under performing. I'm relating the constant stream of foam, to reclaimed water facilities constantly discharging partially treated water.

Ideally, I would like to see the skimmer foaming most of the day, then stop sometime right before lights out. This tells me that the skimmer is keeping up with daily activities, but not running wastefully.

 

[Nhjmc]

I have a RSM 130D and running the stock skimmer. Seems to work fine only issue is that it’s SOOOOO loud.

 

[damselindistress]

I voted "other" bc while my skimmer is performing, I feel limited by its capacity - I have an aoi tank and finding a skimmer that performed but did not take up my entire display tank was a real challenge.

Tank is 60g. I started out with a tunze docline - great skimmer, eyesore in the tank. And lots of micro bubbles. Switched to a reef glass skimmer that fit in the rear compartment, tank looked great but bioload was more than it could handle. Started seeing algae pop up.

Currently have the macro 50 hob. It fits my needs bc I am able to perch it on the back wall of the display, and the body of the skimmer fits down into the rear chamber nicely. For the price it is an effective little skimmer, see pic below. However, I feel it is performing at max capacity so I feel limited in adding any more fish. Currently have a tomini tang, pair of clowns, a purple pseudochromis and a blue damsel. I have a fair amount of coral - softies, lps and sps - I tend to feed the fish pretty heavily but I only feed my corals once a week to try and limit excess nutrients.

Overall, for the tank I have, I'm mostly satisfied with this skimmer but wish I had other options to consider at times. Also wish they made the macro 50 in black lol.

 

[R0C95]

Care to share your skimmerless tank? I know it works just always curious to see them.

NP! So this skimmerless tank is fairly new as you can see. But putting in a nice CUC, I've dropped my nitrates from 50ppm post cycle, down to less than 5ppm consistantly for a month now. I have 10 hermits, 1 emerald, 3 cerith snails. 2 fish. And i can admit this, I'm overfeeding, but with 10% weekly water changes, and the CUC I have, my nitrates have been in great check. I'm liking the non skimmer setup, and as you know water params swing super fast in nano tanks. I feel like this tank is super stable in it's short life for a nano. I'm only using 25 lb rock, filter floss, and bioblock in the sump for filtration. so far, my RFA is super happy, my soft corals are splitting like crazy, and my ricordea added 2 mouths. I'm going to add a bunch of Lps this week, and 3 more fish. I would normally space this out on a newer tank to be aware of bio load, but this tank has gotten me a bit confident. I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

[Waynerock]

If it makes me want to gag when dumping the cup then yes it is working

 

[R0C95]

Yeah, so the old school method to grow some fancier corals is less than 1ppm nitrates, VERY low nutrients and dose nutrients as needed. Problem is, this can cause water param swings which are no good in any tank. The newer school of thought, and partially because of the aquacultured boom (hardier corals and fish this way) we had is that nutrients and higher nitrates is the way to go. Less dosing with calc, less parameter swings, more stability makes fancy coral grow well.

 

[MTBake]

Really like my current skimmer. More so than any I've used before.

I'd say my Deltec sc1455 is doing its job well

 

[laguest]

I just switched to a lifereef skimmer and I love it

 

[mucky1957]

Because of the position of the tank ( and costs ) I run a small skimmer on my 240lt tank. The nopox works well and my levels are pretty much spot on. I empty the skimmer cup every 3 or 4 days. Little or no algae on the glass and the sand is clean. With all this in mind I believe that my little PS1 Fluval is perfect for my tank....until someone tells me otherwise.

 

[Pickwun]

I don't have one so I picked #1 since "I have no doubts in it's performance on my tank".

 

[danieyella]

I feel like my skimmer works great about 75% of the time. There are random bouts where it just doesn't seem to be tuned properly anymore and I'm not sure why. Then I have to sit there tweaking it over the course of an hour. I've taken to turning it off entirely for about 2 hours when I replace socks because otherwise it freaks out and overfoams/fills. I accidentally left it off for 48hrs once (I'm sick, cut me some slack) and noticed a significant difference when I plugged it back in.

 

[Elgreco]

What were you using before and is this this performing that much better?

New tank so this is the first skimmer for this RedSea 350 but in the past I had a Vertex Omega 150 on a 70 gallon CAD , definitely like this one better DC pump and easily adjustable for bio load. Pic is 2 days worth of skim with medium bio load.

 

[cloggins]

"Other," was my option. I pulled my skimmer out about 3 months ago. Couldn't be happier.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I struggle skimming right after a water change, especially if I changed out one of the socks! I usually just turn it off for a few hours. I didn’t take a pic, cuz I just cleaned it and did a water change today : )

normally what I dump out each week is super dark green and smells like.... (can’t use that word here : )

 

[C5thomas]

I’ll let you guys know how mine is doing in a few months. Say hello to my new little friend. Just picked this up yesterday Redline Pro 450. We shall see. I got it for a steal. Couldn’t pass it up.

 

[rossco]

I have seen several very nice, mature systems like yours that don't use skimmers anymore. I believe at some point the skimmer just becomes an unnecessary nutrient export device. BTW, wouldn't it be easier to simply increase feedings, rather than dose nitrate and phosphate ?

That's my thinking as well, and thank you. I first took the skimmer off line due to past experience with our almost annual forest fires and the injected smoke crashing my acros, then left it off when they actually started looking better.

As far as the feedings, I just don't have enough fish to feed. I am kind of attached to the tangs, and really don't want to risk of bringing in disease by putting more fish in. I used to use my frag tank as a coral and fish QT but now the fish in there are established too, and haven't added any fish to either in a very long time. I really am more of a coral person than a fish person, and all 3 tangs were picked for the cleaning they do. The Springerii Damsels for some movement, and also for their reputation of eating flatworms just in case something slips through dipping.

I do feed the coral Reef Roids, and on the day following I skip the dosing because I get a little bump in nutrients from that. It's definitely more economical to dose nitrate and phosphate than feed Reef Roids daily.

 

[Braves Fan]

Haven't read what other have to say about the brands they use ,, or what others had to say about the skimmer I use ,, I use a Reef Octopus Skimmer ,, it the only brand I have used since I got into the hobby ,, I have heard its not the best on the market ,, but its also a far cry from the worst that's what I read lol

There is just nothing I can say bad about a Reef Octopus Skimmer ,,, its dependable ,, they just don't break and keep on keeping on ,, I will never own another brand of skimmer ,,, I win the lottery ,, I will still run a Reef Octopus Skimmer

 

[ReefGeezer]

...There is just nothing I can say bad about a Reef Octopus Skimmer ,,, its dependable ,, they just don't break and keep on keeping on ,, I will never own another brand of skimmer ,,, I win the lottery ,, I will still run a Reef Octopus Skimmer

I bought a NWS 150 recirculating Reef Octo in 2009. It is still running my 90 today. I voted that my skimmer was amazing. I don't know how well the new Reef Octo skimmers work, but the old ones are great for any amount of money but amazing considering their price point and quality.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

One should be aware a skimmer only removes +- 1/3 of DOC and TOC present in the tank.

What is in the cup gives an idea of what is leftover in the tank. The quantity and color of what is in the cup do not tell much about the skimmer performance!

 

[Ruben Sacramento]

Think mine is ok