Cons of turning off skimmer at night?

[weaglereefer]

I just moved my Aquapod24 frag tank into my room. It has a Coralife Super Skimmer 65 on it which is quite loud when running. I know one of the functions of the skimmer is oxygenation, and am worried about CO2 build up at night with the skimmer off since photosynthesis stops as well. Will having the skimmer off from 12am to 8am or 9am have major negative effects?

 

[weaglereefer]

Cool. I have a hydor rotating deflector on the return pump (MJ-900), there's a little splashing in the overflow. but it's quiet enough. There's also a Koralia pump in the display so plenty of surface movement.

I was just checking. The tank is still empty, but wanted to make sure before it's loaded down with frags.

 

[schwaggs]

Your breathing in the room will likely have a bigger impact on tank pH than turning off the skimmer...

 

[snowmansnow]

if its a decent skimmer the biggest con will be a third less skimming

 

[weaglereefer]

Haha, like I said, it's a Coralife SS 65 on a 24 gallon tank. Not the best skimmer in the world, but it was cheap, didn't feel like springing for a Tunze or Aqua C just yet. I plan to feed fairly heavily since I'd like to have stuff grow large enough to frag and to form colonies before going in the main tank (tired of looking at plugs in there).

Turned it off last night before bed and the noise from the overflow is the only noise, and it's minimal.

 

[weaglereefer]

Yup. I do changes on my nano with water from my 90, so this will just be another step.

 

[snowmansnow]

dawgdude;398176 wrote: Haha its actually almost the opposite. If you have a crummy skimmer that isnt very efficient then you will have the issue that its time it could be skimming. My old skimmer I just sold was rated at 480g and it was on 130g. It would literally just lose its head of foam half the day because it had removed all the organics it could from the water. I turned my skimmer off every once and a while for a while just because I knew I didnt need it on, I would turn it back on and it might skim for a day straight before running out of stuff in the water.

I've never had a skimmer run out if stuff in the water ... Ever

 

[jaandgc]

I would think it would also wear a little more on the motor. Might not last as long. I guess that would also depend on what type of pump is running it to.

 

[snowmansnow]

Does everyone here use mrc skimmers?

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

SnowManSnow;398241 wrote: Does everyone here use mrc skimmers?

Not me....I'm poor and can't afford the Mercedes! I'm stuck with my old Berlin skimmer.

 

[weaglereefer]

Turned it off last night, no side effects that I can see this morning (no livestock though).

I put it on a mechanical timer to run from 9am to noon.

Picking up the eggcrate tonight to construct the frag shelves. I'll have around 430 squares (don't know how many frags fit in a certain area) but comes to a total of 4 shelves and some space on the sand for misc stuff. I've already drawn them out on paper, just need to make them. I really NEED to study for a mid term tonight, but get the feeling I'll be doing this instead, lol.

 

[weaglereefer]

dawgdude;398236 wrote: Huh? Im confused.......

When I do water changes in my 90, I take that water and put it in the nano, take the water from the nano and pour it down the drain. Instead of making 23 gallons every 2 weeks, I make 20, and just take 3 from the 90 for the 10, I'll just bump it up to taking 8 from the 90, 3 for the 10 and 5 for the Aquapod. Basically I only have to make 20 gallons per 2 weeks.

 

[snowmansnow]

dawgdude;398243 wrote: No, I also run a Deltec as a back up. However any large tank I have will have an MRC skimmer on it. Period. Ive seen their facility. Know the employees and have seen the build quality. I sold my MRC-2R just last night, That will be the third owner of it and it still looks brand new and performs like a champ.

Ya great guys. I got the grand tour when they made my tank

 

[weaglereefer]

Well I don't dose anything on my nano, therefore the water is depleted of nutrients. I run a kalk reactor and generally keep a better handle on my 90. When I'm doing a water change, I take the first 3 gallons out of the tank, don't siphon the rocks or anything, and perform a change on the nano. I then finish the water change on the 90. I don't think it defeats the purpose, just recycling.

 

[weaglereefer]

Thanks, I will.

 

[weaglereefer]

No, not mis understanding, it's not fresh clean water, but it's cleaner than what's in the nano and has worked well since the tank was set up to keep my pH, alk, and CA in check with limited corals. It's not water off the rocks or from the sand, I take it out of the 90 before I stir everything up to do the water change, so it's as clean as the water in there. If I had low numbers or algae problems, I might reconsider doing fresh water changes, but since I have none of those problems, and everything is growing, I'll stick with my regimen.

 

[snowmansnow]

Use fresh clean water 4 both