How long do you run your protein skimmer?
- Thread starter Chitownpw
- Start date
DiscusHeckel
Acropora Gardener
24/7 except when I:
or
if I dose KZ ZEOzym in which case I turn off my skimmer for two hours.
- clean my skimmer's cup;
- dose phytoplankton;
or
if I dose KZ ZEOzym in which case I turn off my skimmer for two hours.
Dkuhlmann
New member
Why?
Holyreefer
Octopus Extreme 300 Skimr
24/7
Chitownpw
New member
I asked the question b/c I recently watched a video on the American Reef channel, and Mike Palletta [?] stated the same thing - he runs his skimmer for 8 hrs or has it off 8 hrs (I can't remember).
If it is running 24/7, doesn't it pull trace elements out of the water as well?
davocean
Active member
Having a skimmer on at night oxygenates the water and helps to maintain PH stability which really helps our relatively small contained systems.
I can't imagine any benefit from turning off in the daytime.
Usually we see people wanting to shut down at night for various reasons, other than quiet sleepy time and a small hint of energy savings it really does not benefit us IMO
Yes I'm sure it skims those 8 hours but you are not gaining all benefits from using your skimmer.
I can't imagine any benefit from turning off in the daytime.
Usually we see people wanting to shut down at night for various reasons, other than quiet sleepy time and a small hint of energy savings it really does not benefit us IMO
Yes I'm sure it skims those 8 hours but you are not gaining all benefits from using your skimmer.
karimwassef
Active member
18 hrs on / 6 hrs off. But I keep the air injection going. I just shut down the circulation so no skimming occurs.
Adrianborg
New member
Would there not be some benefit to corals in allowing nutrients to accumulate occasionally by switching the skimmer off for an hour or two?
In the low-nutrient natural reef environment occasional upwellings of nutritents flush the reef and I understand this is an important contributor of coral nutrition.
I haven't tried it but I'm tempted to... any thoughts on this?
In the low-nutrient natural reef environment occasional upwellings of nutritents flush the reef and I understand this is an important contributor of coral nutrition.
I haven't tried it but I'm tempted to... any thoughts on this?
Mainly bc it get's too noisy at night, it's a bedroom tank, also haven't had any nitrate problems running it less either.
Dkuhlmann
New member
No it doesn't pull out trace elements. I does oxygenate the water and pull out organics ie: deatrus.
d2mini
Premium Member
The way I see it, a skimmer is not pulling out 100% of the nutrients.
I think I read the most it can pull is around 30%?
It's just one tool we use to keep nutrients in check.
So I really don't see any nutrient benefit in shutting it down for a few hours.
tekjunkie28
New member
Haha. I just read this thread and remembered I had a dream about a massively elaborate skimmer. It was on a 1000 gallon or something like that. The sim mate it was making was like foam. It was nuts.
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