Experiment to increase skimmer efficiency

[dakota9]

Niether of my two skimmers seem to be doing a great job. One skimmer is built in to the sump and does a so-so job even with a Maxi-jet, and the other is a HOB Aqua-C Remora that I have hanging on the side of the sump which even with an AquaClear 70 (400gph) it is not doing that great a job, as I'm only getting 1/4 cup of yuck-yuck a day out of the collection cup.

I got an idea from a mistake I made a few months back, when I put a quarter cup of Aquaeon Water Conditioner in my 30g tank. My skimmer over foamed for 2 weeks afterward. Three water changes, and a good cleaning to the skimmer, and it still over foamed. (you can see where this is going, huh?)

I'm now turning 80g (65g tank, 10g refugium and sump) and added about 10 drops of Aquaeon to the tank. I think it will cause the water to foam slightly better, while I believe the skimmate will remain of the same so-so quaility.

If no effect is noted, I'll up it 10 more drops tomorrow morning, and will continue slowly until an effect is noted.

 

[mufret]

Have you cleaned the injector on the Remora? That is usually the culprit when they stop skimming effectively. As for the one that is built in, what pump are you using with it? There are some mods that can improve them.

 

[wbholwell]

I have a feeling that your skimmers will just skim much wetter, and not really remove more DOC from the water. Let me know how it works, though.

 

[paul692]

if you get a downdraft skimmer you will be much more successful at skimming, especially if you drip kalk over the pump.hob's and skimmers that use a spinning wheel to chop the water are not very good at skimming. unless of course it is a deltec skimmer. just my 2 cents worth

 

[james s_]

Why are you adding water conditioner? If its not food or fresh water I tend to not put it in my tank.The skimmers you have are not "great" to start with ,so adding something to increase there efficiency is not the cure. Is your tank inhabitants happy? If so spend less time worrying about the skimmer and more time enjoying your tanks.Ive had my 125 running for 10 months now with no skimmer,and it is doing just fine.

 

[dakota9]

Skimmers are running wetter. No great change in the out put, but maybe they are picking up smaller particles.

Big change in my tank today! I don't think </em>I can contribute the great water clarity and overall great appearance of my tank to 10 drops of Aquaeon, but for the first time in the 3 weeks I've had this tank, the tank looks great and every coral is openned. Even the BTA looks completely happy.

Who knows why? I've done so many changes to this tank in a week. Hopefully its the new slow flow fuge.....

 

[blind1993]

i did the same thing you did dakota but when i came home from school i found 5gs of water on the floor from the skimmer running wetter.

 

[dannybradley]

It's an interesting idea, Dakota, and kudos for trying it out.

You're increasing the viscosity of the fluid by adding a thicker agent to it. This will give the water a higher surface tension, giving your bubbles more resistance to popping, which in turn gives you wetter skimate if the skimmer is not adjusted down. Eventually it will even out once the thicker agent has been skimmed out.

Now the question I can only speculate on is, 'Will this cause more organics to be pulled out?'. I can only assume that you'll see a reduction in DOC because of you topping off more to replace water lost by wetter skimming, thereby diluting the what remains in your tank. Think of a continuous slow drip water change. You'll definitly skim more with the agent in there, I doubt though, that it will make your skimmer more efficient.

 

[dakota9]

OK, early this morning I tried the 10 drops of Aquaeon in the tank. While I was gone to Simon's house, the built in sump skimmer apparently skimmed pretty wet, with only slightly green tainted skimmate, that skimmer isn't adustable, so you get what you get.

The Aqua C Remora is somewhat adjustable, so before I left, I raised the cup from a lower (wetter) setting, to a higher (drier) setting, infact, about the highest it could go. Thats somewhat a quandry, as today (post experiment) I got just as much skimmate as I usually do at the lower setting, with just as good, if not slightly better skimmate than usual.

Danny, what would these results mean to you? I'm completely aware that there's no big fantastic pay off in this one way or the other, as an extra ounce of dark skimmate means nothing in an 80g system, but just for arguments sake.

I still stand behind my first observation that my tank looks better today than it ever has before, but certainly not ready to credit the Aquaeon for that.

Thanks for reading....

 

[dannybradley]

It means my speculation could be incorrect. Other factors may be that Aquaeon Condition is basically Amqeul. So if you had leftover NH3 from your setup, neutralizing would have had a very postive affect on everything in your tank. That small difference is pretty debatable, though. Maybe your corals slimed in response to the conditioner? Maybe you gave the fish a little more food. There are many causes for an increase in skimming.

 

[reeferjw]

Cool experiment Dakota! Any updates?

 

[pfritzbelly]

I picked up an established 40-gallon tank from a friend with an integrated sump/skimmer. Think it was a Custom Sea-Life unit. It was mostly a tube with a small side mount pump and an aeration tube that slides down along one corner. The bottom is open and allows water to be pushed back out into the system, while the skimmate collects in the cup above. It did a pretty good job and could fill the cup with rich, brown effluent in a couple of days; none of this diluted stuff that makes you re-add saltwater. It just seemed to simple to me.

I tried a Coral Life hang on and was not impressed by the volume of skimmate it created.

The one change that I made that made ALL of the difference in the integrated skimmers's output was the addition of a Coral Life limewood diffuser mounted just below the inflow column of the skimmer's pump. I attached it to an old Marineland adjustable pump and can fine-tune skimmer. Now it runs as wet or dry as I prefer and I can even crank it up between cleanings of the pump filter to keep it where I need. It is fantastic. Its all about the bubbles. Slow water also helps a LOT.

 

[dakota9]

I've been adding about 1 drop per 5 gallons of water in my system.


Everytime I do this (maybe 3 times a week) the next 24 hours or so afterward, my corals do seem to open larger. The effect seems to be short lived....

Could someone else try this and report back?

remember, 1 drop per 5 gallons seems to be about the best balance to positively affect the tank versus minimizing the over bubbling of the skimmer.

 

[blind1993]

i am doing the exact same thing and my corals have been huge all day so far. if you want i can snap some pics of them.