Could I be overskimming?
- Thread starter thuddly
- Start date
luke33
In Memoriam
A g6 is a nice skimmer, your pulling 60scfh and have 48" to work with. I'd feel comfy running it on a 300-400g display. But in no way are you overskimming imo, not by any means. Could you breakdown the setup you have going on a little better along with my previous questions. That will give everyone a much better idea as to whats wrong.
trates, sg, ph, alk, calc
Ammonia: Undetectable
Nitrates: Undetectable
Spec Gravity: 1025 (used refractometer)
PH: ACIII says 8.0 right now, lights are off.
Calcium is 430
Phosphate: dont have anything to accurately measure it with
I have a fairly large display tank in my dining room. It is plumbed to go down into my basement into a 125gal sump which is where the skimmer is. It is then pumped back up.
I have great flow as well, I just haven't noticed any growth in my zoas or green/neon star polyps, etc
I have noticed growth in the past which is why I believe growth has stopped and they could possibly declining.
feed more.
fish poop. its whats for dinner.
very few systems are set up efficiently enough to have the ability to actually overskim, and it takes a whole lot more thought put into the system design than just putting a big bad skimmer on it to make it happen. Not sure the asm would qualify for the big bad skimmer part on that size system anyway
fish poop. its whats for dinner.
very few systems are set up efficiently enough to have the ability to actually overskim, and it takes a whole lot more thought put into the system design than just putting a big bad skimmer on it to make it happen. Not sure the asm would qualify for the big bad skimmer part on that size system anyway
Hm,
I'm confused.
You stated that what my tank needs is to be fed more - that t needs more fish poop however you also state that I couldn't possibly be over skimming... so which is it?
You're saying that I should feed my fish more - it needs more waste which should help my corals grow... Hmm...
My biggest fish is a vlamingi at 8.5 inches. My blonde naso is 7 inches and my blue hippo is 6 I believe. My other fish are normal size.
I should probably get more fish in this case. I'm already feeding the tank pretty well to keep the big fishes happy...
reptilemanmark
New member
Are you doing water changes? Are you feeding corals if so how often? What type of corals?
I'm surprised nobody here has asked all other params...
Alk for one...that's a huge param. Calcium alone does nothing without alk in proper adjustment.
Mg?
Fe?
Accurate Phosphate?
It's early and I'm sure there are others to be tested.
With a 600g tank, you really might want to invest in some nice test kits.
What kind of reflectors are you using? 4-250's over a 600g at 37 inches deep may not be enough light especially if your water isn't clear.
Carbon? GFO?
It's not necessarily about getting more fish. Any uneaten food will also add DO to the water and help feed corals, if you have enough fish already (we don't know your fish list) then I wouldn't suggest adding more.
This questions also might be better placed in the SPS forum.
Alk for one...that's a huge param. Calcium alone does nothing without alk in proper adjustment.
Mg?
Fe?
Accurate Phosphate?
It's early and I'm sure there are others to be tested.
With a 600g tank, you really might want to invest in some nice test kits.
What kind of reflectors are you using? 4-250's over a 600g at 37 inches deep may not be enough light especially if your water isn't clear.
Carbon? GFO?
It's not necessarily about getting more fish. Any uneaten food will also add DO to the water and help feed corals, if you have enough fish already (we don't know your fish list) then I wouldn't suggest adding more.
This questions also might be better placed in the SPS forum.
dascharisma
New member
I am very confident that your problems are not due to your skimmer. I have run ASM skimmers, and I know what they are capable of. I have a G5 running on a 225 gallon system maintenance tank, and while it produces lots of skimmate, it can barely keep up. So a G6 on more than 300 or 400 gallons isn't going to be too much.
In my experience, the best growth occurs in systems that have strong lighting, heavy nutrient import (by way of lots of feeding), and heavy nutrient export (by way of a big skimmer). A tank with low nutrient import won't grow well even in the absence of a skimmer. A tank with insufficient export will grow well for a while and then taper of significantly because of increasing nutrient levels. You have to find the right balance.
I would look to other aspects of your system. The first thing I would do is check and then double check your water parameters. Unless they are within acceptable ranges, you won't be successful no matter what you do. Watch for temp fluctuations of more than 1.5 - 2 degrees. Test your salinity often and be sure that your top off procedures are keeping the fluctuations nearly undetectable. Look for steady ph throughout a 24 hour period (no more than a .4 swing). Make sure your nitrates are less than 3 or 4ppm. Run a phosphate reactor if you can't accurately test for phosphates (most test kits will always tell you that you are phosphate free, even when phosphates are high enough to be problematic.) Monitor your calicum, magnesium, and alkalinity. A big deficiency or excess could be causing problems. For all of the trace elements that you can't test for, make sure you are doing regular water changes (anything less than 50 gallons is barely worth doing with a tank as large as yours.)
Once your water quality is taken care of, start looking at your flow and lighting. Since your tank is very tall and you are only using four 250 watt bulbs, you are not pounding the tank with light by any means. For really intense lighting you need more than 250 halides of tanks taller than 25 inches, which yours is way in excess of. I think you will find that your growth is slow in the bottom half of the tank regardless of other factors. Your flow is likely also deficient just because the tank is so large. Ideally you would want in excess of 40X turnover. That means your pumps need to be putting out 24,000 gph. That's equal to 8 Tunze 6101s.
Brad
In my experience, the best growth occurs in systems that have strong lighting, heavy nutrient import (by way of lots of feeding), and heavy nutrient export (by way of a big skimmer). A tank with low nutrient import won't grow well even in the absence of a skimmer. A tank with insufficient export will grow well for a while and then taper of significantly because of increasing nutrient levels. You have to find the right balance.
I would look to other aspects of your system. The first thing I would do is check and then double check your water parameters. Unless they are within acceptable ranges, you won't be successful no matter what you do. Watch for temp fluctuations of more than 1.5 - 2 degrees. Test your salinity often and be sure that your top off procedures are keeping the fluctuations nearly undetectable. Look for steady ph throughout a 24 hour period (no more than a .4 swing). Make sure your nitrates are less than 3 or 4ppm. Run a phosphate reactor if you can't accurately test for phosphates (most test kits will always tell you that you are phosphate free, even when phosphates are high enough to be problematic.) Monitor your calicum, magnesium, and alkalinity. A big deficiency or excess could be causing problems. For all of the trace elements that you can't test for, make sure you are doing regular water changes (anything less than 50 gallons is barely worth doing with a tank as large as yours.)
Once your water quality is taken care of, start looking at your flow and lighting. Since your tank is very tall and you are only using four 250 watt bulbs, you are not pounding the tank with light by any means. For really intense lighting you need more than 250 halides of tanks taller than 25 inches, which yours is way in excess of. I think you will find that your growth is slow in the bottom half of the tank regardless of other factors. Your flow is likely also deficient just because the tank is so large. Ideally you would want in excess of 40X turnover. That means your pumps need to be putting out 24,000 gph. That's equal to 8 Tunze 6101s.
Brad
RichConley
New member
Thats what it sounds like to me, especially considering the performance of ASM skimmers.
possibly both
Im just saying that if you think you are overskimming ...you arent. Underfeeding the system as a whole is a possibility, and you surely have some more room for some fish.
Im assuming you have zero algae/excess nutrient issues or you wouldnt even have brought up the notion of overskimming as a reason.
All corals are placed near the top of the tank, they are not in the sand... I'm going to see what I can do about my lighting. I am pretty sure my flow is good, anymore flow and there would be a cyclone in my tank and the corals would detach from their placements.
I am certain the p04 is low.
It seems the problem is not enough waste. I have two extra 400 watt MH and 1,000 Watt bulbs. I didn't use them because I thought that I already had enough lighting. I'll acclimate the tank to them.
I do not have any algae problems.
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