PDA

View Full Version : skimming a softie tank


andycook
05/02/2006, 12:12 PM
What level of skimming in a softie tank?

pasenah
05/02/2006, 12:29 PM
i prefer not to skim on my system . i had good success for 18 months on the last system.

R33f3r
05/02/2006, 01:15 PM
I only skim SPS and FO.

Brooks_McClary
05/02/2006, 05:30 PM
My leathers, Zoos, shrooms and LPS all seem to love to eat the gunk in my no skim, no mechanical filter tank. Go figure.

Nagel
05/02/2006, 06:01 PM
I skim (Turboflotor T-5000 on a 1000G system) but I must admit, I am VERY lax on the maintenance.. Pull out a 5g bucket of skimmate each week, but I am not all that attentive to cleaning the skimmer cup (monthly washes, a good 1/4" - 1/2" of gunk lines the skimmers funnel before I wash it out). My softies seem to do very well with it..

reefnewbie54321
05/02/2006, 06:36 PM
I only skim SPS i'm setting up a skimmerless tank right now

lvreefer
05/02/2006, 07:06 PM
I voted medium basically because I have an entry level skimmer producing a wet foam (CSS 125 on an 90g).

xcreonx
05/02/2006, 09:34 PM
I have a Deltec AP600 on a 35g softy / LPS tank. So I skim VERY heavily. But I feed the LPS very heavily too, so it's all good :P (btw, the Deltec was for a larger tank I just downgraded from)

andycook
05/03/2006, 06:18 AM
Seems to me that a softie tank in general would benefit from having a somewhat dirtier tank so I am going for medium skimming. Medium skimming is what I achieved even when I was trying for super skimming.

graveyardworm
05/03/2006, 06:34 AM
I voted low, my 90 g was setup with a poor skimmer for 2 years, and the softies did just fine.

Cody Ray
05/03/2006, 05:30 PM
I turned my skimmer off my 29 softies when it was running. I didn't see any change.

NorthernCF
05/11/2006, 10:09 PM
Bioload dependent.

Fat Surgeon
05/11/2006, 10:19 PM
Medium skimming due to omnivores roving the tank as well as 3 sps

swegyptian
05/13/2006, 09:34 PM
So how does my skimmer rank for my system? I think it's a bit small for an SPS tank, but okay for my purposes. It's a 125 with an AquaC EV150. Any thoughts?

andycook
05/13/2006, 09:36 PM
I'd call that medium. How is the EV150 working out for you? I haven't tried any AquaC skimmers...yet.

swegyptian
05/13/2006, 09:51 PM
It works pretty well. I'm not crazy about it, but I don't have enough experience with other skimmers to be overly critical. It pulls out really dark and smelly skimmate, but it seems to need cleaning once a week or so. It gets about 3/4" in the bottom of the cup, and then the walls in the neck of the skimmer get too dirty, so the foam won't rise up any more. So off with the cup, clean the neck, and I'm up and running again. Is there any way that I can make it easier to get along with?

So I suppose I am a medium skimmer, but probably only for about threee days, and there are two of three days of no skimming in my system.

andycook
05/14/2006, 09:56 AM
Having to clean a skimmer frequently is a good sign. Any good skimmer is going to have to be cleaned every couple of days.

Scuba_Dave
05/14/2006, 06:37 PM
I skim due to the bioload - cleaner is better IMO
My softies do just fine

PowderBlue518
05/17/2006, 10:58 AM
I have a 12gal nano and i do not use a skimmer and my corals are all looking good, I just do about 20-25% water change each week, to keep up on it and everything is all happy :)

55semireef
05/18/2006, 02:43 PM
in addition to what everyone else is saying, I heard that if you overskim you might strip some trace elements in the water that might be vital to the softies health in general. Correct if I am wrong.

andycook
05/18/2006, 03:16 PM
I expect that anything taken out by skimming should be more than compensated fo by regular water changes.

jnb
05/19/2006, 02:41 PM
I skim as much as I can - and my softies seem to be doing well

55semireef
05/19/2006, 05:27 PM
But there is a thing called "overskimming." You do realize that if you overskim that you can take important elements out of the water?

Cody Ray
05/20/2006, 01:17 AM
If you are doing regular water changes this isn't an issue.

andycook
05/20/2006, 06:43 AM
I believe there is such a thing as overskimming but it is not achievable by the majority of us reefers because of things like tank flow, plumbing design, skimmer choice, skimmer maintenance, and lack of understanding of how to dial in a skimmer.

55semireef
05/20/2006, 11:56 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7402478#post7402478 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChinChek787
If you are doing regular water changes this isn't an issue. \

Yeah as long as you are doing regular water changes you will be replacing trace elements.