Hi
@Timfish , I'm very curious of your statement, and sorry if my English isn't perfect, but I'm writing from Italy.
Do you think that not using the skimmer could be related to the dimension of the tank? And to the number of fish?
Since skimmers arbitrarily alter microbiomes, in light of all the research showing disrupted microbiomes have chronic to acute effects on the ecosystems and organisms that rely on them they shouldn't be used to maintain aquatic ecosystems. What has been ignored is the role of sponges in maintaining marine ecosystems Over a decade before de Goiej conducted his ground breaking research Steve Tyree (perhaps the first "designer coral" farmer) was growing and selling corals using cryptic sponges instead of skimmers. For reef systems sponges have been shown not only to promote microbial processes beneficial to corals but also to deal with the hydrophilic DOC that causes pathogenic shifts in coral microbiomes that can't be touched with skimmers. Sponges are also major players in the nutrient cycles in reef systems and essential for the development of more natural food webs. Sorry for teh data bomb but here's a bunch of links:
Steve Tyree's methodology is covered by Delbeek and Sprung in their books.
Feldman's research on TOC, skimmers and bacterial counts in Aquaria:
Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. Ken and Kelly report on their work on Total Organic Carbon and how it relates to the reef aquarium.
reefs.com
Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. Ken and Kelly continue to report on their work on Total Organic Carbon and how it relates to the reef aquarium.
reefs.com
Protein Skimmer Performance, Pt 1
Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. Protein skimmers have become indispensable for many aquarists who strive to maintain the high water quality necessary to keep stony corals.
reefs.com
Protein Skimmer Performance, Pt 2
Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. Many factors contribute to the 'value' of a skimmer to an aquarist, including quality of construction, size, footprint, noise level, ease of cleaning, energy efficiency of the pump, and of course, the ability...
reefs.com
Elemental Analysis of Skimmate
Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. The chemical/elemental composition of skimmate generated by an H&S 200-1260 skimmer on a 175-gallon reef tank over the course of several days or a week had some surprises.
reefs.com
Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water
What are the bacteria populations in the water column of reef tanks, and how does that value compare with bacterial counts in authentic reef water? Does carbon dosing indeed increase water column bacteria populations (i.e., is growth carbon limited)? Does mechanical filtration (protein skimming...
reefs.com
Sponge stuff
BActeria and Sponges
Element cycling on tropical coral reefs.
This is Jasper de Geoij's ground breaking research on reef sponge finding some species process labile DOC 1000X faster than bacterioplankton. (The introduction is in Dutch but the content is in English.)
Sponge symbionts and the marine P cycle
Phosphorus sequestration in the form of polyphosphate by microbial symbionts in marine sponges
Differential recycling of coral and algal dissolved organic matter via the sponge loop.
Sponges treat DOC from algae differently than DOC from corals
A Vicious Circle? Altered Carbon and Nutrient Cycling May Explain the Low Resilience of Caribbean Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are economically important ecosystems that have suffered unprecedented losses of corals in the recent past. Why have Caribbean reefs in particu
academic.oup.com
Surviving in a Marine Desert The Sponge Loop Retains Resources Within Coral Reefs
Dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen are quickly processed by sponges and released back into the reef food web in hours as carbon and nitrogen rich detritus.
Natural Diet of Coral-Excavating Sponges Consists Mainly of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC)
Coral-excavating sponges are the most important bioeroders on Caribbean reefs and increase in abundance throughout the region. This increase is commonly attributed to a concomitant increase in food availability due to eutrophication and pollution. We ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
The Role of Marine Sponges in Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles of COral Reefs and Nearshore Environments.
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