Skimming unfiltered water

[LaurentSeattle]

Hi!

I have been told (at a LFS) that skimming is not very efficient on unfiltered water and that a mechanical "stage" is highly recommended to obtain optimal performance.

Truth or Myth?

Thanks for your contribution.

 

[sjm817]

I prefer to have the water filtered by 100 micron filter socks on the drains. My skimmers work very well with a mechanical filter stage first. JME.

 

[Amphiprion]

Supposedly, skimming is actually optimized with as much raw, unfiltered water as possible. At least according to Anthony Calfo. The logic behind it does make plenty of sense, however.

 

[sjm817]

With my current skimmer, an ATI BM250, I get better performance with the filter socks, but that may also be due to the sump flow change that was a side effect. My previous skimmer, an ER RS250 worked great as well although I never compared with/without a sock.

 

[LaurentSeattle]

Dang...

Worst case scenario: Two very experienced reefers providing conflicting advice...

I need more input please.

Here is the long story if that may help...

Most RedSea Max owners remove most of the mechanical filtration stage and then complain about poor performance of the skimmer. The Max tank comes equipped with a RedSea made skimmer (as expected) derived from the Prism model, which is not very well rated on the RC forums.

I was surprised to get a bit better performance than other owners without removing any of the mechanical filters placed before the skimmer. I talked to the LFS earlier this afternoon and they told me that mechanical filtration was important before skimming...

The RedSea Max is an "All-In-One" 30g nano tank.

 

[sjm817]

The thing is, people often look for a right Vs wrong answer. Often, there isn't one. Just different views. A skimmer will work either way. It depends on your setup and equipment used.

 

[manderx]

I was surprised to get a bit better performance than other owners without removing any of the mechanical filters placed before the skimmer

in this case it's not an issue of the mechanical stage removing particles that affects the performance, but rather having it in place adds a restriction to the pump intake.

the only way i could see having a mechanical stage improving skimmate is by large particles getting trapped in it and then breaking down into skimmate producing DOCs rather than getting skimmed out themselves, siphoned out during a water change, or eaten by critters/bacteria.

 

[Amphiprion]

^^I tend to agree with this. I had what seemed like better skimmer "performance" with a sock, but had more algae issues simultaneously. Without the sock, performance went down a bit and algae subsided. Try it either way and see what works best for you.

 

[GSMguy]

whatever goes into a filter goes back ito the tank as sludge for the skimmer to skim
a filter sock must be emptied regularly to work without adding DOCs back into the water
an efficent skimmer should work best without any filtration but skimmers like prizms only skim small amounts of the total desolved solids and are only able to create a foam head with the help of lots of DOCs in the water.

 

[sjm817]

I would say my ATI BM250 is more efficient than a Prizm. It works better with filter socks, at least in my system. The main reason I like socks is they take out the particulate. My sump is squeaky clean on the bottom. No detritus sitting there. Its easier to change a sock than to siphon the sump out.

 

[Serioussnaps]

It may be due to filter socks holding the deititrus, uneaten food etc...which is breaking down and then the skimmer has to perform more? Its really a chicken or the egg paradox in essence. I ran unfiltered water through my skimmer for a year until a week ago. I just completely changed out sumps, but my old sump was full of crap...I am going with filter socks from now on. My concern with the socks is 100 microns is small and it seems it could trap most anything, I guess this could be good too....just like before it just depends on how you look at it.

 

[sjm817]

I've been back and forth several times through the years socks/no socks. I always like it when I run them. No more crud on the bottom of the sump to clean out. Skimmer seems to work fine with or without them. I've always used the 100 microns.