Not running skimmer
- Thread starter suvuong7
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I hate to deal with bubble pop dust. I feel proper flow and surface agitation is more beneficial to pH levels then my skimmer is. I do run my skimmer for a few hours at night but that’s only cause I was dosing vibrate to eliminate bubble algae. So I got ride of all my chaeto and turned off the refugium. But when my refugium was in full function I had my skimmer off for several months and didn’t see any ill effects. I turned off my skimmer cause I was having a really hard time getting nutrients to stay at healthy levels.
Let’s be honest todays skimmer are not old tech they are really efficient at getting the job done. I believe that they are to good now and they are way oversized. Plus skimmer (in my thoughts) aren’t all that great. Good yes if utilized the right way. But they’re design is to pull elements out of the water column. Those elements can be bad or good. Anything that’s tiny enough to stick to a micro bubble will then get skimmed out. Nutrients, compounds, beneficial bacterias, essential elements, even harmful elements.
Let’s be honest todays skimmer are not old tech they are really efficient at getting the job done. I believe that they are to good now and they are way oversized. Plus skimmer (in my thoughts) aren’t all that great. Good yes if utilized the right way. But they’re design is to pull elements out of the water column. Those elements can be bad or good. Anything that’s tiny enough to stick to a micro bubble will then get skimmed out. Nutrients, compounds, beneficial bacterias, essential elements, even harmful elements.
Hey Emac- this makes sense to me. Being that I’m about to install an ATS on my system in the near future, does it make sense for me to have my skimmer off temporarily to allow the ATS to “break-in”? From my understanding they’re performing similar job functions, but through a different method.
The other thing to consider is that I’ll be cleaning out all the existing GHA in my refugium, which also competes for nutrients.
Not really sure if I’m derailing OP’s topic but I feel like it’s fair game lol
The other thing to consider is that I’ll be cleaning out all the existing GHA in my refugium, which also competes for nutrients.
Not really sure if I’m derailing OP’s topic but I feel like it’s fair game lol
I run ats on my old 300g and that system did amazing.
The only issue I had with a falling water algae scrubber was the sound of the falling water. If it wasn’t for that I would have put a ATS on my current 187g. So instead of dealing with the ATS I went with an over sized refugium.
I’ve always had a skimmer in the sump on every system tho. I keep them for a just in case situation.
But yea I’ve found they pretty much do the same function. But do keep in mind that even algae like the hair algae that will grow on a ATS will need certain elements to thrive. So if your having a hard time of keeping the scrubber properly growing it would be a great idea to get an ICP test done to see what really going on with your water.
I’ve always had a skimmer in the sump on every system tho. I keep them for a just in case situation.
But yea I’ve found they pretty much do the same function. But do keep in mind that even algae like the hair algae that will grow on a ATS will need certain elements to thrive. So if your having a hard time of keeping the scrubber properly growing it would be a great idea to get an ICP test done to see what really going on with your water.
“Use to be”. That’s days, months, years in the past. No mention of of cost, looks, or ease.
The original poster asked about adding an air stone for oxygenation reasons, not to drive his skimmer. I just added that’s what use to be used In skimmers.
Used to be that was all that was used before submersible pumps were readily available and inexpensive. We used them on our under gravel filters and even the HOBs used airlift for the water. I wouldn’t trade a modern skimmer for the old ones. I’d like to achieve the same bubbles that were more like foam than what we get today even in what we call dry skimming.
The original poster asked about adding an air stone for oxygenation reasons, not to drive his skimmer. I just added that’s what use to be used In skimmers.
Used to be that was all that was used before submersible pumps were readily available and inexpensive. We used them on our under gravel filters and even the HOBs used airlift for the water. I wouldn’t trade a modern skimmer for the old ones. I’d like to achieve the same bubbles that were more like foam than what we get today even in what we call dry skimming.
Idk man I think your probe aren’t calibrated right. I see two problems. First if your pH it your cal reactor is really at 6.48 your turning that media into mud. The lowest I’d go on pH in a cal reactor is 6.6.
Also it is not ideal to let marine pH go above 8.4. If your running your calcium reactor properly your pH should be running way lower. The dosing of co2 will lower the tank pH. Unless your using a pH scrubber to elevate the pH. But sense your not using a skimmer then I wouldn’t see how you’d be able to scrub the co2 out.
Also it is not ideal to let marine pH go above 8.4. If your running your calcium reactor properly your pH should be running way lower. The dosing of co2 will lower the tank pH. Unless your using a pH scrubber to elevate the pH. But sense your not using a skimmer then I wouldn’t see how you’d be able to scrub the co2 out.
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My cal reactor runs in between 6.9-7.2. But I do have an extremely large calcium reactor. It can hold up to 25lbs of media. Then another 5lbs of media on the second chamber.
I run my cal reactor a lot different then others tho. I run my cal reactor of the alk of the trident. I’ve been testing this program for 2 months now and I find it holds the alk level steadier. I use VOs triggered by the alk level to put the pH in the cal reactor at different levels to meet the demand. So if my alk goes higher then 9.50ml then a VO gets triggered to raise the pH in the calcium so the media will not melt as much. But if the alk goes lower the 9.00dkh then a different VO triggers to lower the pH in the reactor so the media will melt more.
http://www.socalireefs.com/index.ph...-controlling-via-the-trident-emoji823.107415/
This method has been holding my alk pretty steady in between 9.2-9.4dkh
I run my cal reactor a lot different then others tho. I run my cal reactor of the alk of the trident. I’ve been testing this program for 2 months now and I find it holds the alk level steadier. I use VOs triggered by the alk level to put the pH in the cal reactor at different levels to meet the demand. So if my alk goes higher then 9.50ml then a VO gets triggered to raise the pH in the calcium so the media will not melt as much. But if the alk goes lower the 9.00dkh then a different VO triggers to lower the pH in the reactor so the media will melt more.
http://www.socalireefs.com/index.ph...-controlling-via-the-trident-emoji823.107415/
This method has been holding my alk pretty steady in between 9.2-9.4dkh
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I’ll check my probes again but I don’t think they’re wrong as this is untenable. Assume that my ph is over estimating my ph. Since I switched the dt and CRx probes and verified that they are consistent (meaning they are either right are consistent wrong because when switched one would record what the other was recording and vice Versa). If they are over estimating then my CRx is not 6.5 but must be lower then my dt ph cannot go high and my media would be mush and my Alk would by sky high not the recorded 8.5 by Hannah. See the logic …
I say if your tank is thriving the way your setup is going don’t change anything as I’d learned different tanks acts differently to different methods and if your methods is thriving let it be 
but if your tank is t thriving the make moderate changes to other reefers recommendations. I would love to stabilize my ph at night but if my corals are thriving I’ll let it be
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but if your tank is t thriving the make moderate changes to other reefers recommendations. I would love to stabilize my ph at night but if my corals are thriving I’ll let it be Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I say if your tank is thriving the way your setup is going don’t change anything as I’d learned different tanks acts differently to different methods and if your methods is thriving let it be but if your tank is t thriving the make moderate changes to other reefers recommendations. I would love to stabilize my ph at night but if my corals are thriving I’ll let it be
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but if your tank is t thriving the make moderate changes to other reefers recommendations. I would love to stabilize my ph at night but if my corals are thriving I’ll let it beSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
i did the opposite; didn’t have a skimmer for about 18 months and decided to take the plunge and go for it. i’ve got a HOB skimmer on my 30g reef and it’s done wonders so far. seeing explosive corraline growth over the past few weeks.
one caveat: i use a canister filter and i think the skimmer helps remove nutrients tremendously.
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one caveat: i use a canister filter and i think the skimmer helps remove nutrients tremendously.
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