Changing Protein Skimmer

[codytbuckner]

Hey all,

I'm wanting to change out my protein skimmer. I have a seaclone 100. It was the first skimmer I bought. It works okay, but it seems to stop skimming whenever something enters the tank. So every time I feed, reach into the tank, etc. It is also pretty noisy. I am wanting to buy a Reef Octopus skimmer. How would I go about the transition? The new skimmer will need a break in period and I don't want to leave the tank without for however long it will take. Can I leave the old one running while the new one breaks in?

 

[mcgyvr]

There is no need to worry...A skimmer is optional and quite inefficient anyways...stopping one and letting the new one break in for a week or so will have very little effect on the tank...
Not an issue at all..
No need to run both..

 

[codytbuckner]

There is no need to worry...A skimmer is optional and quite inefficient...stopping one and letting the new one break in for a week or so will have very little effect on the tank...
Not an issue at all..
No need to run both..

??? I'm a bit lost. Sorry, semi-new to the hobby. The skimmer is the only source of filtration I have on the tank. If it's optional and inefficient, how would the tank survive since it's pulling out quite a bit of gunk?

 

[mcgyvr]

??? I'm a bit lost. Sorry, semi-new to the hobby. The skimmer is the only source of filtration I have on the tank. If it's optional and inefficient, how would the tank survive since it's pulling out quite a bit of gunk?

Bacteria in the tank is doing far more work than your skimmer is...
Skimmers are helpful but optional..
Your tank will be just fine just pulling out that crappy one and starting up the new one..
They really arent that effective/magical..

 

[Daddi0]

For sure get rid of that seaclone. We had one and it was garbage. Never skimmed good. After 2 months of trying to get it to skim, tried most every hack/upgrade we found online. Finally we packed it back into the box and returned it to Petco. We then got a reef octo. and while it was better, it still wasnt great.
Cheers! Mark

 

[herostar]

You'll be fine. If you're worried just do a water change right before you pull the skimmer.