Only Skimming at Night

[obaltus]

Here in Europe, electricity is very expensive and my skimmer drains about 130 Watts.
Because Electricity is cheaper after 10pm, It would be very interesting to run the skimmer during the night only. What do you think?

Thank you, Olivier

 

[michaeldaly]

I would not reccomend it, 130W is not that much, but it does seem a lot for a skimmer, what skimmer do you have.
Switching a skimmer on and off it cant perfore to it full capabilites because each time itv takes a while to get going

 

[obaltus]

Thank for your help,

The Skimmer is an Aquamedic Twin 5000. It is a dual needlewheel pumps skimmer. Each pump is an OceanRunner 3500 which draws 65watts. The total power consumption is (65*2) + 28 watts for the feeding pump. Dus, it is 158 watts.

 

[Ti]

You could, or better yet you could aim for a no skimmer system.
My position however will be run it all the time or don't run it at all.

 

[King-Kong]

well, some benefits would be:

better o2 concentration at night, where it is most needed.


That aside, I cant see any other benefits. That sounds like a monster skimmer, however, especially for a tank that size, so depending on your bioload, i guess it just depends!

The obvious answer is to run it as much as you can. If you cant afford to run it anymore, then dont, but I'd think you could pinch costs in other areas before resorting to that type of technique.

 

[OCDep]

I ran a skimmerless system for approximately a year and a half. I did however use a large refugium and had my overflow fall into a filter sock, this did produce some natural skimming at times. I did not have a algea problem, it was a softy tank. I might have had 5 fish in the 65 gallon tank and only fed about twice a week, so that might have helped too. You might look into some natural skimming methods or use an air pump into a wood block in the daytime. That way your still oxygenating your water. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Toddah]

???

 

[Phillips]

You might consider running ozone to your skimmer if you decide to try running it at night. This will improve the skimming, and will also oxidize the organics in the water.

If you decide to try running the skimmer only at night, I would recommend once or twice weekly water changes to ease any acclimation your system might go through as it gets used to the skimmer running only at night, just to be safe.

Give it a try...you can always go back to 24 hour skimming if your tank doesn't look so good at the end of the day.

I used to run a 300 liter tank without a skimmer. I tend to stock my reef tanks with a mixture or organisms which complement each other and hopefully fill as many ecological niches as possible. That way waste from one creature is eaten by another.

I use a skimmer now as insurance against a mishap while I'm at work or on vacation.

Best of luck to you,

 

[3rotorFD]

I'd get a new skimmer......

 

[Gigus]

I have had no ill effects from running my skimmer only at night. This has the added benifit of not having to worry about the stinking micro bubble if you have not been able to remove them completely.

Depending on your bioload and habbits your tank will tell you soon enough if it needs the full 24 hour skimming.

 

[CaptiveReef]

Build a new skimmer

Build a new skimmer

Here is a skimmer design I came up with, it can be made any height and I 'm using a Hagen 802 powerhead 400 gph and it only uses 20 watts of electric plus what ever the airpump uses.

CaptiveReef

 

[michaeldaly]

Thats a big skimmer, how well does it work

 

[Gigus]

I am interested as well. Do you have a blueprint and how do you adjust the collection rate? I do not see a flow valve. My skimmer on my 140 gal is about half that size. I am wondering if I need to upgrade as I can never get rid of alage caking on the glass every day.

 

[CaptiveReef]

Skimmate pics

Skimmate pics

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6657100#post6657100 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by michaeldaly
Thats a big skimmer, how well does it work

This is what was removed in a week, I don't have blue prints it's pretty easy to build.

CaptiveReef

 

[blgreef]

why not just run one pump during the day and both at night?

best of both worlds

I have a H&S and a modified tunze, run the H&S during cheap rate 78 watts and run the tunze during the day 22watts. so the tank is always skimmed

Or reduce the lighting for one hour, depending on the power this may offset the skimmer cost. there are post on this forum about a 4 hour lighting period so it can be done.

And also have a look at any pump running 24 hours etc, how much power does the return pump draw?

 

[HippieSmell]

I say run it at night if you want. If you're worried about aeration then run an airstone during the day (it will only be like 20W). But I don't really think aeration will be a problem because of the increased photosynthesis during the day.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

I'd try it and see what happens. If, after a few weeks, you are seeking negative results in the tank, well then you have your answer. If you see no negative results, you have your answer. I know several folks that do this or have in the past.

Chris

 

[kwgozy]

Maybe try to eliminate the feed pump. I'm not sure what the feed rate on that skimmer is, but maybe try feeding the skimmer from one of the tanks drain. Use gravity to your advantage, it's FREE!!!

 

[CaptiveReef]

Check out Keefsama2003

Check out Keefsama2003

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6678001#post6678001 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kwgozy
Maybe try to eliminate the feed pump. I'm not sure what the feed rate on that skimmer is, but maybe try feeding the skimmer from one of the tanks drain. Use gravity to your advantage, it's FREE!!!

Check out keefsama2003 site,he built one of my skimmers, and he was gravity feeding it.

CaptiveReef

 

[gussy]

I've been running my skimmer only at night for more than year without problems. It's on the reverse cycle of the main lights. Some pumps are on during the day and some pumps are off.