Underperforming Skimmer: How do you know?

[DesertReefT4r]

My skimmer seems to work well but not sure how to tell. To a point at least. After watching the BRS videos it got me wondering if my skimmer is tuned properly. I am of the old school reefing mindset of bigger skimmer the better, more air the better. I currently have a 75g reef mostly sps but it is mixed, several fish and I do feed a heavy. Skimmer is a Reef Octopus 150 Space Saver and its always skimmed well. I have recently lower the internal water level to collect a more dry skim and is seems to perform more consistent with foam head production. I have thought about getting a valve to control the air to see if it improves anything.

 

[Back where it all began]

Two words: reef octopus.

 

[Cmooreinor]

Octo Regal skims like a champ...

 

[Ferrell]

I like my skimz sn167 monster. Started out a little rocky 3 years ago because there was a loose nut right out of the box that prevented adjustment so it was either allowing too much or not enough water to escape to produce a stable height. Also I reinstalled the weir backwards the last time I had it out for cleaning which a whole other issue. Lol
Love the DC pump, air adjustment and the temperamental height adjustment of the Monster

 

[Mhart032]

I love my ATB it's awesome. I've had a few others but this one is the first one I have no doubts it's working.

 

[X-37B]

I love my Tunze. I never have to adjust it.

Yea they are great as I have one on my 120 and 45 frag tank.
For me what I remove I would not want in my tank. And since they only remove around 30% that means plenty left for the corals.
If its removing its working imo.

 

[don_chuwish]

I wish it was quieter but it seems to pull well:

 

[DeniableArc]

Red Sea 300 on a reefer 250 with a yellow tang flame hawk and six line. But I turn the wiper to often and most of the gunk is on the wiper and not in the cup.

 

[AJsReef]

I’ll admit it, I can’t tune a skimmer to save my life. I’m hoping it’s just because I have a low nutrient system but I never get a decent bubble head or collect much in the cup

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

I took my display skimmer off line July 2018 prior to forest fire season. I have a fairly light fish load and a very mature 210 gallon SPS dominated mixed reef tank. A white Tail Bristletooth, Purple, & yellow tangs, 7 Springerii Damsels, a blue chromis, and a Royal Gramma.

With the skimmer offline I still have to dose nitrate and phosphate daily. My corals are doing better than they ever have.



I think the key with my system is the multitude of sponges & filter feeding tube worms under the rock work, as well as the huge biomass of zoanthids, chalices, and acros consuming what nutrients are available. I wouldn’t necessarily say that my success would transfer over to a smaller or newer system. And a couple pictures to erase Any doubt. .

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 ?

 

[Anchor]

I like my Reef Octopus for my 75, a 100basic skimmer. Looking for something for my combined 120 gallon system I am building now. Would be interested in knowing all your diameters and tank size they are on.

 

[Victor_C3]

From my experiences, I’ve noticed that so long as I have a nicely sized sump with extra live rock and a large refugium, I don’t have to worry about my skimmer underperforming.

I used to just set my skimmer and forget about it. Sometimes it’s pull lots out, other times, not so much. As long as I had decent sponge growth and enough other natural means to filter out whatever the skimmer couldn’t get, things always seemed to do just fine in my SPS dominated systems of the past.

Right now, I’m trying to setup a new system without running a skimmer. I have an oversized sump with 200 pounds of rock that will eventually support a 90 gallon display tank. I’m trying out a variation on Steve Tyree’s cryptic filtration methodology to see if I can get greater biodiversity and better stability by not running a skimmer or any mechanical filtration.

 

[Lionsreef]

I'm in the camp that I don't know how well my skimmer is working. I have a Bubble King mini 160 and 120 gallon reef tank. I can adjust it to produce lots of bubbles or very few. Currently I run it fairly wet so that it fills the collection cup about 30% full daily with green tea looking skim mate. I do though have a very light bio load still with just 3 fish. The tank has been running 5 months. I see others that empty their collections cups weekly with much darker skim mate. Is that better or worse.....I'm not sure???

 

[Birddog61]

I had to vote other ,as there no answers between amazing and i dont know

 

[AZMSGT]

I don’t understand the question. Please define the criteria for performance of a Skimmer.

Does it collect waste? Yes.. it’s performing.

 

[dragon99]

You're right, I haven't really been honest with my skimmer. It's time.....

 

[schooncw]

Don’t let the pic fool ya ( just cleaned), my Maxspect Aeraqua Duo skimmer is straight up beast mode in removing crap out of the tank!

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

 

[Fourstars]

I’m happy with an underperforming skimmer. The biggest issue with performance is me putting off cleaning.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

Loving the performance out my Reef Octopus Regal 150Int 6'' (Varios) !

 

[Ratherbeflyen]

I had to check other. I think my skimmer is performing exactly as it should and it has some advantages, but I also think that a skimmer is the most over rated piece of equipment in this hobby.

When I was first getting started in salt water, I was told by just about everyone said that a skimmer is a must have item that is the heart of the filtration system. I understand why. When you clean out the disgusting, smelly, brown goo that your skimmer produces, its easy to think that your skimmer is doing a world of good.

I built a tank that I ran for 2 years with no skimmer. It only had filter floss, a very small cheato refugium, and an algae turf scrubber. At one point I intentionally went 8 months without doing a water change. Granted it had no really hard to keep coral, but it was doing great until the ato / kalkwasser overdose.

If I had to pick between a skimmer, cheato fuge, or algae scrubber, the skimmer would come in last.

Here are some pics of my no skimmer 40 breeder.