THE GREAT SKIMMERLESS DEBATE! join on in

Thanks Jeremy. I don't have Paletta's book so I missed that. I was actually waiting for someone to point out Tyree's tanks. Maybe this is ancient history but why was the sale of turf scrubbers stopped? Also can you point out some details? Like the types of algae needed. Ratio of scrubber volume to tank volume.

And thanks for pointing out the link to the 80G dvanacker. I must have been asleep to have missed it.
 
let me reply to our lovely jeremy blazes comments

first off a beach does act as a protien skimmer in nature....i am a biochemist and have a minor in coral biology and study these environments in nature so this is true....but it is also true this is not what really takes nutrients from water in the ocean.....for every square mile of reef in the ocean there is over 1,000 miles of algae infested water that removes phosphates and nitrates .....not to mention the miles uponm miles of mangrove coast located near reefs.......set up a 55gallon with a 2,000 gallon algae scrubber/refuge and ill tell you that you dont need a skimmer

it is pointless to try to recreate a minni ecosystem within our small tanks.....think about that amount of water that washes over a reef....or perhabs the thousands of other organisms that carry out essential proccesses on the reef which cant even get close to being recreated in the numbers needed to be effective in a tank

skimmers are needed hands down (edited...to extreme read later post)

please make yourself usefull and do some research

Brad
 
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good information Reefer44 but I can not say hands down skimmers are needed, I have seen to many nice tanks without skimmers
 
and please dont use palettas book as a reference on an advanced forum......i have this book and have read it through....it is useless to an advance aquarist and full of amatuer aquarium designs as well as major understaments about the toxicity of nitrates...as well as understandments about nutrients....it is made for completely for begginers and not remotely designed for sps systems

try a book written by someone with an advanced education in reef chemistry and biology (college and up)

for example Reef Secrets by Alf Nilsen

also im sure borneman supports skimmers over an algae system....take a look at his tanks

Brad
 
maybe that was a bit extreme.....hands down skimmers help ALOT......enough to make them almost nessesary...but ur right not needed
 
yeah they help, I have been talking with borneman about skimmer, he has done several tanks without skimmers.

I have and read Reef Secrets by Alf Nilsen another good book. With this hobby nothing is 100% want works for one does not work for the other. I can say yeah a skimmer help but you can get away without one.
 
ill let you in on a little secret jeremy the tanks in Natural Reef Aquariums are crap have horribly coral color and specimens look undernurished

im glad your products are great.......i also study and take care of reefs for a living....but i deliver high quality service and dont underfilter my tanks by only having algae based filtration

ill tell you again ever single tank that you think is glorious without a skimmer would do better with a skimmer....no negative effects...so why not add one
 
i dont have proof that it failed......read it a few times on boards and stuff....but read the info she even says she had trouble with acros in one of the comments i believe
 
why would u want to get away without one.....a system with an algae scrubber plus a skimmer is so much better than one with just algae scrubber......its not that much expensive due to such better results and specimen survival
 
a system with an algae scrubber plus a skimmer is so much better than one with just algae scrubber
Click to expand...
I agree, and haveing a refuge helps the cost of a skimmer, because you dont need to by one of such great power concidering you have help... you can get away with a smaller one...
 
and i disagree a skimmer is 100%...as well as carbon being a 100%....as well as water changes..all these are proven...it cant not work unless your unit is broken or something......
 
I read this and wonder what you think, especially the part with Anthony Calfo's reply about skimmers being set right
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=554786

Here is a take on it for me, my tank was skimmerless when I started it, I had good growth and color, I added a skimmer because of threads like this, well lets say the skimmer is for sale again because the tank is nowhere near as nice as it was, I have lost corals and gotten agle. The only difference in the tank is the fish got larger. Another example: a friend of mine ran his tank with a crappy skimmer and then changed to a better one, now he tank is looking grea but let his dad has a tank that has never had a skimmer and it looks just as great, so I think tanks can be run skimmerless and be successful. Not one person can say they are a must, they may or may not improve the tank, one never knows until they try it
 
i stand corrected (well at least about the skimmers being 100%).....i have always had my skimmers sucked from the top of water column due to habbit.....didnt realize some ppl had it really low and that this effected the effeciency or made them somewhat negative to have

even after reading calfos book on coral propagation

thanks for the info
Brad
 
plz go into more detail about why this skimmer would affect your tank badly.....is it oversized???? is it mostly lps...lagoonal corals?

Brad
 
all SPS and 4 clams, I have 500 Gallons total water with a skimmer rated for 400-800 gallon. Since adding the skimmer I have gotten hair algae, red slime algae with bubbles, tank not looking so clean, I lost several acropora corals over the two years it has been on, I even have traded skimmer to see if it made a difference but it has not
 
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