Vacation & Protein Skimmer

[b0bab0ey]

I'm going on vacation for about a week and might have to turn off my HOB protein skimmer during that time. I've got everything else covered (neighbor will top-off, automatic feeders). I'm a little worried though about depleting my oxygen levels while my skimmer is off. You see, I have a 58g reef that is sumpless, so other than the skimmer, I only have two Koralia 1050s and a HOB power filter for water movement/oxygenation. I have various corals, a CUC, 5 or 6 shrimp, a Maroon Clown and a (ducking) Powder Blue Tang in my tank. Will they have enough oxygen if I turn my skimmer off for a week? I have an open top... wooden canopy with openings in the back. I guess I could run an airstone with an air pump for a week, but I'd hate to think of the salt spray I'd probably come back to.

I might experiment with the tube dripping into a milk jug thing. Never tried that before, however, so I'd have to be pretty confident before just leaving it like that.

 

[iwishtofish]

Don't hold me to it, but I think you'll be fine, provided your powerheads create enough surface agitation to draw oxygen into the water. Your HOB filter will be good insurance, as well. A lot of people successfully run tanks that are sumpless and skimmerless. If you are really worried, just run the airstone, and make sure it is secure and that any resulting salt creep isn't going to threaten anything electrical.

One thing you might expect without the skimmer is a drop in pH, particularly if you have a tight house.

Oh, and yes, good idea to duck!

 

[peppie]

It doesnt take much to hook up an overflow tube to your skimmer cup. I did it for mine

 

[dzfish17]

I dont see a problem either. With your light bioload you are in good shape with the powerheads and HOB filter.

 

[Denbf58]

can you dial back the skimmer to run dry? how offen do empty your cup now

 

[MarcoPolo]

Though for efficient usage skimmers should be cleaned daily, if properly used, ie fined tuned, the skimmer should be able to hold in the cup dirt which accumulates in a 10 day period. Said differently, you should be able to go away for1week and be fine. You are probably over skimming if you are concerned about been away for 1 week and having to shut the skimmer down

 

[b0bab0ey]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Makes me feel better if I do have to shut the skimmer down for a week. And thank you for the pics of your overflow, peppie, I'm gonna experiment with that this week.

The main problem is this is a homemade skimmer that my dad made himself years ago (probably needs to be replaced) so it's kind of erratic. Sometimes I can go almost a week without dumping the cup, sometimes I have to do it every morning. Of course, that also depends a lot on what I fed the tank that day. Still, don't want to take any chances and come home to a mess.

 

[Rybren]

I've got the line from my skimmer cup running into a 2 litre container. If, for some reason, the skimmer goes crazy, then the container overflows into the sump.

Here's a pic of the container and the overflow tube - yeah, at 3/4", it's over kill, but I used what I had on hand.