THE GREAT SKIMMERLESS DEBATE! join on in

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7545485#post7545485 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marinelife
I spent the big bucks hoping to see a difference but have yet to, I purchased two different skimmers, both pulled stuff. I think with the correct amount of export by other means then you can get away with out a skimmer, there is always more than one way to do things, I think that is what every one is forgetting here

Besides skimming I:

-Preform 40gl a week water changes
-Change Carbon Once a month
-Change Rowaphos once every two months
-Polyfilter changed monthly
-I feed very little compared to what is recommended
-Use only Ro/Di water
-I run a refugium on a reverse lighting cycle
-Tank has sand substrate
-Few hundred pounds of Live Rock
-Two Filter socks in my sump changed daily

All of this and my skimmer cup STILL fills up with thick coffee colored crap every two day.

Why would I want to leave all that crap in my water? When it comes to water quality I am very diligent about keeping my water clean.

TRUST ME, if skimmerless system had any benefits what so ever for an SPS tank I would be running it.

 

[SunnyX]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7545496#post7545496 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marinelife
Not really since I spent the money but still am getting rid of it, so am I cheap

I wasn't laughing at you or anyone, I was simply laughing at the post.

What skimmers were you running?

 

[coker98]

no youre not cheap. i understand that you were told to get the very best out of your tank potential wise you would need a skimmer, so you got one and it didnt work out for you. thats great that you know how to do something right and have your tank succeed without buying expensive equipment. more money on corals for you

 

[marinelife]

Yeah if the skimmer sells, I will be adding another 100Gallon tub to hold cheato with a 250w MH over it. I will also be adding Live Rock to it to make a quarter full. I am going to get a few large pieces. I am hoping to add 200 pounds, which should get me back up to 1200pounds or more of live rock

I had an Aqua C then got rid of it and have a E.T.S.S. 1400 now

 

[bagedtaco]

all i know is that if i don't skim wet. i have to clean my glass every other day. but when i skim wet. i don't have to clean but once every week and a half.

i'm not sure what that points out. but i skim wet 4 out of 7 days a week and i have a fug with dsb and mangroves too.

 

[marinelife]

I feed phyto and the algae on the glass stops coming around

 

[Flatlander]

I will be adding another 100Gallon tub to hold cheato with a 250w MH over it. I will also be adding Live Rock to it to make a quarter full. I am going to get a few large pieces. I am hoping to add 200 pounds, which should get me back up to 1200pounds or more of live rock
[/B]

Thats my point in the discussion of turf scrubbers. It has to be large enough.

 

[Flatlander]

I just don't understand why some people have to get so defensive at others who chose not to use skimmers on their own personal tanks.

[/B]

Because the the title of this thread is the the great skimmerless "debate". Why they argue it on your own tank thread is beyond me. No reason for that, beyond asking you why that particular method.

 

[Ralistin]

I am not sure if my 2 cent is worthy but I have a myreefcreation MR-1 skimmer. I almost never use it because I almost never get any skimate. I feed very sparsely, about one thumb nail of food twice a week with a small bio load of 4 small fish in a 75 gallon tank. Either that means I do not have much to pull out of the water or my skimmer does not work correctly.

I am curious if the success stories with skimmerless are just very careful with adding nutrients as opposed to someone who likes to feed a lot and pulls out the excess nutrients thus creating a slightly healthier reef due to feeding more heavy which in turn feeds all tank inhabitants. Sorry if I reiterated someone elses post because I did not read them all.

 

[Shawnts106]

Ok, first off, EVERYONE CHILL, GO STICK ICE CUBES IN YOUR PANTS EVERYONE!!! geeze...

this is getting too hot... and its hot enough outside!!!

ok...


This is a debate on Skimming and NOT SKIMMING in SPS aquariums...

This is ALSO A DISCUSSION about how people that DO NOT run skimmers have sucess...



that being said all comments are welcome unless they are VULGAR and rude to other users... lets remember that.

I am not sure if my 2 cent is worthy but I have a myreefcreation MR-1 skimmer. I almost never use it because I almost never get any skimate. I feed very sparsely, about one thumb nail of food twice a week with a small bio load of 4 small fish in a 75 gallon tank. Either that means I do not have much to pull out of the water or my skimmer does not work correctly.

You dont have a big bioload, so your skimmer doesnt have much to pull... its working , just doesnt have to hard.


This really is an excellent post...

This tells me that, People who have SPS tanks can run skimmerless if their bioload is very low and they do regular waterchanges...


What are you guys thinking about that?

 

[marinelife]

I agree and will let you know how it goes with a larger bioload

 

[Milleme]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7548433#post7548433 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shawnts106



This is a debate on Skimming and NOT SKIMMING in SPS aquariums...

But its in the sps forum so therefor people are going to say skimming is very big factor b/c they think you are talking about an sps mainly tank, when not so important in a softy tank. What is being kept is the biggest factor of wether or not a skimmer is needed. ehh?

 

[marinelife]

I am talking SPS tank, I have only SPS and Clams

 

[concept3]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7548433#post7548433 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shawnts106

This really is an excellent post...

This tells me that, People who have SPS tanks can run skimmerless if their bioload is very low and they do regular waterchanges...


What are you guys thinking about that?

Very true, completely agree. I thought my AquaC 120 skimmer was underrated for my size/bioload tank, and would get about a cup of skimmate every two weeks. I cleaned it, finagled with it, did everything to help it produce more skimmate to no avail.

I decided to sell the skimmer and ended up buying a used Deltec AP600. For a week, the tank ran skimmerless until I recieved the Deltec. Soon after installation, I "thought" that the Deltec was a much better skimmate producer since I got about 6-8 cups of skimmate in about 2 weeks. Also keep in mind that I haven't made a water change in about 2.5 months.... well now, I'm lucky if the Deltec produces about a cup of skimmate every 2 weeks because I went back to my water change regimen.

I'm gonna pull the plug on the skimmer to see if I can get the corals to color up as well, I'll probably post up the results in a few weeks if I leave the skimmer unplugged. The only thing I may be concerned about is the additional O2 the skimmer injects as bubbles.

 

[coker98]

this thread is very informative and i have a good time reading the responses as i am learning. thank you guys and girls for all the information.

 

[Shoreliner11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7532818#post7532818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefer44
skimmers dont remove these "babies"............so why not add one?

A tank that needs the pristine water conditions of an sps tank should have a skimmer present (if not at least something to control butrient other then live rock and algea; for example a nitrate reactor or phosphate reactor) Algae alone cant reduce nutrients to 0 in a fairly stocked sps tank (maybe you can get by with growth and ok color if you really limit your bioload).

I agree that an sps dominated tank that a skimmer should be used (this is from personal experience as well as reading...so on) but, It seems as though everyone forgets that there are plenty of reefs in reasonably high nutrient areas. Just thought I'd add my 2 cents.
Aaron

 

[oligotrophic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7548433#post7548433 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Shawnts106

This tells me that, People who have SPS tanks can run skimmerless if their bioload is very low and they do regular waterchanges...

This is a cool post! I think we got a breakthrough here. I'll join in for now. Hope the rest of this thread could be constructive so we all learn something...

 

[oligotrophic]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7549821#post7549821 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by concept3

I'm gonna pull the plug on the skimmer

Hi concept3, look forward to seeing the results, cool thing. The only point I would add is that when skimmer goes offline, 02 level may reduce. Just a point to consider. Some people address this by running a skimmer passively i.e. without collection cup, just for the sake of oxygenation. In some other literature some use an airstone to oxygenate water in the sump, but I'm not so sure to what extent its effectiveness in comparison to a skimmer ran passively.

Cheers

 

[FastFish720]

In reply to the MR-1 Skimmer, I found that it was really touchy and needed a lot of adjustments.

Moving on, I have run skimmerless and skimmer tanks and prefer to run a skimmer on all of the tanks I take care of. Overall I have seen better coloration and polyp extension while running a skimmer, although those may not be signs of good health.

 

[Unarce]

Although, I only started keeping SPS about 8 years ago, I never used a skimmer until this year after upgrading. The primary reason for adding a skimmer (which is undersized) was because I wanted to keep a lot more fish. Before, I would keep no more than two at a time. I just relied on algae, bivalves, and WC for nutrient removal.

Here are a couple of shots of my skimmerless SPS tanks:

There's more than one way to skin a cat. You'll find success or failure with either skimmed or non-skimmed, BB or DSB, metal halide or fluorescents.

Not everyone gets the same MPG, as some of us drive differently