skim to much??

[Paidbychrist0825]

no such thing as too much skimming though right?

[Zack]

yes there is! skimmin can remove good nutrients. I will move this to this to a forum so someone with more exp can help you out.

[blackangler]

the tank you think is being skimmed to much
is it a reef?

thankyou,
will tyson

[Zack]

noo he was wondering if it is possible to skim a tank to much.

[Paidbychrist0825]

thanks Zack, will remember that when i am setting up,i will come here with the skimmer i intend to buy and see what you all think. thanks all

[blackangler]

any way, yes it is possible.

there are some articles i can send you if you would like on the subject.

[Paidbychrist0825]

i have a couple of friends who i will ask for assist. thanks though.

[Zack]

any way, yes it is possible.

there are some articles i can send you if you would like on the subject.

i know i would post them hear love to read :-D

[blackangler]

Skimming can remove many benificial elements from the water. Iodine, (helpfull to inverts and leathers) different types of algae that from the water column that filter feeders feed upon just to name a couple. When keeping many filter feeders Sponges, oysters, etc. I would say that it is not quit as useful as when keeping sps or any other hard coral but I would not recommend any reef tank or F.O. with delicate fish be without one. aside from good things removed from the water the amount of garbage pulled more than makes up for it. But as long as you replenish these elements as the skimmer takes them out you should be ok. I personaly only run my skimmer for about 10 hours a day.


i am on my laptop top right now and the articles are saved on my pc at home. i will upload those later

[andrew79]

i run my skimmer 24/7, i also do weekly water changes, to me i would rather take out all the crap and replace the elements, then to let it sit in there, i have a 55 that i do a 4 gallon change every week and never had a problem. as long as you keep up on your water changes you would be fine

[paulsreef]

I'll just toss in my $0.02 on this. Yes, it is absolutely possible to skim too much. True, many studies have been conducted about the "nutrient poor" reef environments, but you have to stop and consider what environment specifically is being discussed. Is it a saltwater lagoon with turbid water and tons of dissolved organic solids (where one would find species like Goniopora or some of the brains)? Or is it a top tier reef environment, say 10m below the surface, in swiftly moving currents (where one would find species like Acropora)? It all depends a lot on what kind of tank you're trying to keep. It also depends on how good the other methods of filtration you have are. I've seen plenty of tanks with tons of live rock, a good sand bed and some kind of refugium (or a remote live sand bed type structure) that use no skimmers at all. I’ve also seen many tanks with great skimmers and poor water movement… so there never anything for the skimmer to remove. It’s a matter of setting up your tank intelligently and making sure that whatever mix of bio, mechanical and chemical filtration you have meets or exceeds any negative impacts that the bio-load of the tank could create (and proper water movement to ensure organics stay in the water column).. Always aim to be able to process more waste than your tank is currently producing (i.e. don’t undersize any component of your system… don’t skimp on live rock, buy a bigger refugium, etc.). With a skimmer it will, over time, remove water and slightly raise salinity but that can be controlled with water changes and top-off. You can also remove trace elements, but from the reports I’ve seen their reduction has been negligible. I would say if you’re going to keep a fair sized bio-load in your tank, skim and skim often. It won’t hurt if you have the proper Ca / Alk / Trace supplementation scheme to keep things at natural seawater values.

[Paidbychrist0825]

hey thanks guys. i amsorry i was not very agreeable last night, i am getting sick, and am not feeling too hot. i am sorry.