can I run without a skimmer for a week?

P

pascal32

New member
So I've been battling a dino issue in my frag tanks for months. good news is that there is no sign of them in my display which is connected. other good news is I haven't given up yet.

I have noticed that the frags are just not doing well. SPS RTN, lost a couple. AOGs look like they are holding on by a thread. All the higher end zoas just don't look great. I moved some into the display and they are doing much better.

I would like to shut off the connected frag tanks and move all the frags into a 20 long holding tank for a week while I drain and clean out the frag tanks.

catch is that I would not be running withou a skimmer in the 20 long for a week. all that would be in there is a powerhead and a heater.

Part of this would be to cut all the SPS frags and remount to new plugs. for the zoas I'll try to move the ones I can, others will be cleaned with a toothbrush and double rinsed.

As far as why these grow only in my frag tanks is beyond me. I suspect lighting as I've always had better growth in the display with different lights.

I just did an ultra low range phospahate (tested 3 times): 0, 1, 1 - thats in PPB which translates to 0.003066 PPM.

i know its not phospahate :) I did turn off my GFO to let the phosphate rise. funny thing is that the GFO is 2 months old and was reading 0.01533
two weeks ago.

I do have another skimmer, just hard to fit it along with the frags in the 20 long.

thoughts?
 
There many skimmerless systems out there. I'd be prepared to do water changes on both sides of this little venture. My biggest concern for you would be adequate aeration/oxygenation. You'll need to get some turnover going in some portion of your system.
 
would an old school air stone and pump help? I was going to shut off the frag tanks, move display water into the 20 long and count it as a water change for the main tank. on the way back i would leave the water behind.
 
Capt_Cully said:
There many skimmerless systems out there. I'd be prepared to do water changes on both sides of this little venture. My biggest concern for you would be adequate aeration/oxygenation. You'll need to get some turnover going in some portion of your system.
Click to expand...

my frag tanks have a low turn over, I wonder if that is part of my problem...
 
Gary Majchrzak said:
what's the difference in pH between the two different systems (DT and frag systems)?
Click to expand...

My PH meter broke last week, so I used the API kit on the DT and one of the affected frag tanks. color is identical - both register as 8.4 (which for the record I believe is actually 8.2)

Is it safe to speculate you asked because PH is affected by aeration?
 
I currently dont run a skimmer on my frag or display tank. My large coralife skimmer produced massive amounts of bubbles and the water catch tray always developed red algae. i have the emperor 400s and the more expensive kind from deathco. 2 on each tank and i have cut the intakes on one to make them short so they clean the surface water. the fish are fat as ever and the corals are thriving. between those and the large powerheads i have great turnover. as a bonus the hang on backs store all my copepods, letting them spawn without predation so i get tons. i plan on replumbing the return on the skimmer but for the last 4 months its been off. i hope your situation works out well. And of course just my experience
 
Blurry,I have a book you should look at.I think you'd be amazed at the way it fits your situation.
Hands down welcome to borrow it anytime.
 
Blurry said:
My PH meter broke last week, so I used the API kit on the DT and one of the affected frag tanks. color is identical - both register as 8.4 (which for the record I believe is actually 8.2)

Is it safe to speculate you asked because PH is affected by aeration?
Click to expand...
many factors can affect pH including oxygen saturation.

One of the more common ways to beat dinos (if that's really what you have) is to raise pH.

Dinoflagelletes aren't often colored red but golden brown and sometimes stringy with bubbles.
 
Gary Majchrzak said:
many factors can affect pH including oxygen saturation.

One of the more common ways to beat dinos (if that's really what you have) is to raise pH.

Dinoflagelletes aren't often colored red but golden brown and sometimes stringy with bubbles.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Gary, pretty sure these are correctly ID'd. when it all started they were clear, now green with bubbles.

I increased my Ph a bit with sodalime which seems to stun their growth. probably should start dripping kalk again.

for now, I would like to get the glass cleaned and switch to black egg crate with minimum risk of introducing into the display.

do you think the risk is too high?
 
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