Does anyone run their skimmer part time ??

[pnavarro170]

Been looking into this, basically running your skimmer around 6-12 hrs a day instead of 24/7. giving your sps time to feed more and ill be running an ats to take care of the rest of filtration during.

 

[AquaReeferMan]

I'll shut mine off for a half hour or so when I feed something like oyster feast, or when I dose Reef Eneregy. Minus that, my skimmers run 24/7/365. Been that way on all my tanks for the past decade.

 

[IdahoGuy]

Yes, mine is on a timer so it's on at night. For some reason it keeps my ph levels up at nighttime.

 

[pnavarro170]

idahoguy is that why you started doing that in the first place ? and the reason is probably cuz it gets extra oxygen when the lights go out.

but im talking about doing it on purpose as to feed sps better .

 

[pnavarro170]

bump

 

[Steve175]

Nope

 

[Ansphire]

yes, I feed at night and dont skim to allow the food to stay in the water a bitlonger. my algae scrubber keeps ph on check during these hours. then skimmer turns on 2 hrs before display light and skim for 12 hrs. then off again and im ready to feed about an hour later.

I have seen better growth since doing this and no ill effects on coral or params since the food is not left to rot in the tank.

 

[westreef]

I am just curious. Does anybody know that if the pump turns on an off so frequently, would that shorten the life of the pump? Just wondering.

 

[nmouncey]

In theory, pumps live longer lives when they are not turned on and off regularly. The most work they do is starting up. By that logic, the more they need to restart, the harder work it is on an engine. But I have not ever seen detailed research on specific brands that tests that theory out.

 

[r-balljunkie]

i run my skimmer when i go to sleep...from 11:00 pm and runs till 4:30: pm, off when i get home in the afternoon.

tanks doing great. my skimmer is oversized for my setup, so no probs with skimmate production. i do it for a couple of reasons, one you mentioned, other for sound control since my tank is in the living room.

 

[buffalo123]

An old comparison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iSW_GPP9ac

 

[zzl630]

My skimmer is rated 3 times of my total volume. I only turn it on for 1 hour each day. Everything seems happier. I do water change 10% each week think that helps keep nutrition low.

 

[Benar]

My skimmer is rated 10x perhaps I should.

 

[firemountain]

I just picked up a RO 170sss Regal with a DC motor for my 65g. While I know it's oversized, I bought it knowing I would upgrade my tank in the future and this would fit the bill..

Anyway....with the DC motor, specifically, would putting it on a timer cause any problems over time. I know this skimmer has a slow 10 second startup due to the DC motor, so I am thinking that this unit on a timer would be a good option as opposed if I went with a AC motor.

I know there is such a thing as over polishing the water, so I am leaning on having this run only half the day, since this is such a beast. Any thoughts??

 

[Fishy 1]

I run my skimmer on the light timer, so it's on for 8hrs everyday. The reason being is that the family doesn't like the noise when they are trying sleep and I found that having it run 24/7 made the water too clean. It also allows me to feed and the corals have time to consume it.