Why do you use a skimmer?

[bobbychullo]

i think teesquare's problem is with your general tone and lack of tact when approaching a group of people on a internet forum...

everyone here is mature, thoughtful and respectful.

the vibe i get from your original post is condescending and know-it-all.... and a bit immature.

 

[121]

Ok. Sorry about that

Back on topic (AKA out of the box), what marine zooplankton can be cultured and fed to corals? Brineshrimp, daphnia and other currently available zooplankton are freshwater species. Why haven't we isolated and cultured a free swimming marine zooplankton yet?

Anything that might exist in our systems are being skimmed out before they have the chance to be part of the natural food chain. The polyps need feeding, not the just zooxanthellae within the coral that feeds off the excess in a closed system.

 

[teesquare]

Ok. Sorry about that Accepted here!

Back on topic (AKA out of the box), what marine zooplankton can be cultured and fed to corals? Brineshrimp, daphnia and other currently available zooplankton are freshwater species. Why haven't we isolated and cultured a free swimming marine zooplankton yet?
What about phytoplankton?

Anything that might exist in our systems are being skimmed out before they have the chance to be part of the natural food chain.Not altogether...And in order to prove that - it would mean that every ounce of water must be processed before it cold pass by any coral. Doesn't happen. Additionally, it would have to be so processed by a huge skimmer to the point that no plankton could escape it, again - not going to happen The polyps need feeding, not the just zooxanthellae within the coral that feeds off the excess in a closed system.

You are correct! (Borneman - 2008)

 

[samdaman]

If he gets on RC while drunk I think he has a love for the forum, Idk there are many post i've seen that where written under the influence. Id think this is tha last place a drunk person would visit..but who knows.

 

[teesquare]

Well - let's allow him the opportunity to make a mistake - he did apologize. I hope that when I goof up,(just hang around a minute...:lol2 that someone will allow me to apologize and move on.

Now - back to your regulary scheduled skimmer disscussion!:thumbsup:

T

 

[RcToners]

1 week with skimmer barely on, air valve is as low as I can set it. I dont skim wet although from this image it would appear that I do

 

[bobbychullo]

1 week with skimmer barely on, air valve is as low as I can set it. I dont skim wet although from this image it would appear that I do

omg that must smell unbelievable!!!

 

[cloyd A.]

This is my second response to this thread and I agree that this thread is pointless. The thing that I don't understand is why, after the first half page when we all agreed it was pointless,are we still here on page three? ( including myself )

 

[teesquare]

Apparently - after the hangover eased up - 121 actually got around making a bit of a point....but just a bit:strange:

So - hoping it will either pick up pace - or completely de-rail.

Can't tell if people hope more for a happy ending...or a train wreck!:wavehand::lol2:
T

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

very very intresting topic...last time i checked all that stuff you are removing corals love to feed on..been running my new tank from day one without a skimmer. I went the algae scrubber route for this one, no skimmer been up for 8 months water parameters couldnt be better, both corals and fish are great. Koraline is comming up amazing. In reality its just a personal choice, skimmers in my opinion allow alittle bit of relief of maintaning your aquarium. I keep up with my weekly water changes every week and clean up my algae scrubber so my tank its fine. Skimmers do indeed remove alot of the nutrients that coral like to feed on.

 

[Hocky]

I skim because I don't like to do water changes. lol

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

exactly like i said its allows a bit of relief from all that hassel..even though i do mine sometimes im like uhhhmmm i guess its time for a water change lol..

 

[teesquare]

very very intresting topic...last time i checked all that stuff you are removing corals love to feed on..been running my new tank from day one without a skimmer. I went the algae scrubber route for this one, no skimmer been up for 8 months water parameters couldnt be better, both corals and fish are great. Koraline is comming up amazing. In reality its just a personal choice, skimmers in my opinion allow alittle bit of relief of maintaning your aquarium. I keep up with my weekly water changes every week and clean up my algae scrubber so my tank its fine. Skimmers do indeed remove alot of the nutrients that coral like to feed on.

I for one - would love to see a picture of water you remove from your tank, and place it in a white bucket.
It is the yellowing/green water from the release of chlorophyll, as well as other compounds that I have found to be coral irritants - and just not real attractive.
Would like to see if anyone has figured that on out yet.
As well - algae are far better consumers of trace elements than any skimmer. That is not at all bad - but to say that they do not remove teace elements is to not understand that aglaes are plants.
And plants have been used even in waste water treatment for exactly this purpose, in adsorbing heavy metals, and many chemical wastes.
T

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

yes indeed chemical wastes, but skimmers dont only remove heavy metals they remove any free floating particle..and i will post a picture of the water i remove tommorow when my water change is due.

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

i run skimmer on my other aquarium what i will do is remove a bucket from each and we can compare.

 

[Pallobi]

no skimmer here, wont ever have one. why? too expensive that and, its just one more thing to clean and one more thing that can break, which will frustrate me even more....

this is the wrong hobby to be in if your lazy...

and jus a thought to add, one time on my old 150 i had, which had fish and inverts, i was out of town for a couple days and somehting happened to cause my skimmer to overflow... when i left there wasnt much waste in it at all. the collection cup is quite large however. with jus the small amount of waste that was in there, with it getting back into the system (didnt have a external drain), well jus maybe a half a cup worth of "pull" polluting the water pretty much killed everything but my tangs... snails, crabs, shrimp, and some fish... thats how toxic the stuff it pulls out is

so yea, i guess some people here are right, skimmers are pointless...

and yes, that was sarcasm lol

and if anyone is worried about their corals food being taken out of the water as well, and yes, some of it is, try using some oysterfeast or one of those coral foods... very very beneficial for your corals and your "problem" is solved... also proven to be beneficial

skimmers are proven to help with water quality in many many ways... i really wish some of you would realize this and not let your fish swim in their own fecal matter and urine and everything else previously mentioned here... skimmer are a proven and vital peice of equipment...

there is no 2 ways around it... period

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

Q: What are algae scrubbers?

A: Scrubbers are devices which use light and flowing water to remove the "bad" things (nutrients) from aquarium water, while leaving the "good" things (food, nutrition) in. Unlike the scrapers/scrubbers that you use to clean your glass, an algae scrubber does not physically clean anything. Instead, the "scrubbing" is when the "dirty" water passes through an algae scrubber, and then the "clean" water comes out. The water is thus "scrubbed" clean of nutrients (nutrients are “bad”, but nutrition is good).

 

[Pallobi]

i run skimmer on my other aquarium what i will do is remove a bucket from each and we can compare.

compare to the naked eye all you want... again, skimmers are proven, and the one with the skimmer, given its not junk, utilized and setup properly, will have cleaner water...

 

[xdannyxrocksx]

Q: What are algae scrubbers?

A: Scrubbers are devices which use light and flowing water to remove the "bad" things (nutrients) from aquarium water, while leaving the "good" things (food, nutrition) in. Unlike the scrapers/scrubbers that you use to clean your glass, an algae scrubber does not physically clean anything. Instead, the "scrubbing" is when the "dirty" water passes through an algae scrubber, and then the "clean" water comes out. The water is thus "scrubbed" clean of nutrients (nutrients are “bad”, but nutrition is good).

Q: Will a scrubber harm my corals?
A: No. Matter of fact, corals grow best with lots of food particles (nutrition) in the water, and corals also like low levels of nitrate and phosphate (nutrients). That's exactly what scrubbers provide. This applies especially to SPS corals.

Q: I've heard that going "skimmerless" is only for experienced aquarists.
A: That was correct before August 2008. But it is now known how to easily build and use a scrubber to do all your filtering for you (just like algae does ALL the filtering and feeding in the ocean). It is cheap, easy, and best of all there is NO possible way for something to "go wrong" with a scrubber which would cause it to kill your whole tank (skimmers, however, can overflow the cup and kill everything because of the ammonia build up). So scrubbers actually are now the entry level (beginner friendly, and cheap) way to start out.


and to add on..can somebody show me what size skimmer the ocean uses??

 

[Pallobi]

i dont know much about algae scrubbers, but i seriously doubt they physically remove feces from the water... what happens to it then? jus "poof" and its gone? i doubt that...

maybe someone can chime in and tell me how they work exactly... if i am wrong, i will admit i was humbly...