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how many hours
skimmer
- Thread starter the-bubonic-one
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7 x 24 x 365
+1
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+1 as long as no kind of dosing prevents it.
The only I turn my skimmer off for a bit is when I'm feeding certain foods. Also maybe it's just me but I find it a hassle to get the thing restarted sometime I've got to blow into the air intake before it starts making bubbles. Maybe mine needs cleaning?
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Run it all the time
unless you're dosing something that needs time or filter feeding
unless you're dosing something that needs time or filter feeding
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Is this an octopus skimmer?) I had one w the same problem
caseyds7ny
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I only run my skimmer for 12 hrs a day. My tank has only leathers/zoos with a bluehead wrasse and a blenny. Having a skimmer, filter sock, carbon, and canister filter running 24hrs seems to be too much filtration in my tank. I now have been running my skimmer for 12 hours and my canister w/ carbon on opposite 12hr cycles and have seen better results in my tank. I don't dose and I have started extending my water change period from 1wk to 1mo.
Now, if I had SPS then I might run my skimmer or canister longer.
Now, if I had SPS then I might run my skimmer or canister longer.
caseyds7ny
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Don't get me wrong, my water isn't nasty by any means- no algae what so ever is in my tank, my sand is pristine, and all of my parameters are in check. Infact I don't recall the last time I have any significant algae that my CUC & Blenny couldn't handle and this is with a tank that gets anywhere from 30 min to an hour of direct sun every day.
I just feel, and seen, that removing too much nutrients restricts growth and color for softies. I rather have my filter feeders clean as much water as possible before the water gets to the skimmer. And IMHO (and most will not agree with me) I feel that you can overskim your tank. With me and my tank, if I dry skim for a week I may fill up a cup. That tells me that running my skimmer fulltime is not needed and that my tank is handling my process.
But I will say, if I was running SPS or overstocked I may skim longer then what I am doing now.
24/7 skimming is the way to go . why would you hit a point where you dont want a cleaner tank ?
sounds like you need a stronger pump or just a new one that is not getting
weak . try cleaning the one you have and if it dont work . sometimes you need to adjust the flow of air , to much air will stall the pump but will not restart cause it is full of air instead of water .
just some problems i have had before and thought i would share .
good luck :up:
sounds like you need a stronger pump or just a new one that is not getting
weak . try cleaning the one you have and if it dont work . sometimes you need to adjust the flow of air , to much air will stall the pump but will not restart cause it is full of air instead of water .
just some problems i have had before and thought i would share .
good luck :up:
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24/7/365 (+1 during leap years)
Skim pretty dry so not all nutrients are captured. I have a mixed reef and keep my Phos phates near zero and Nitrates under 0.05. SPS like it, LPS get used to it as long as you don't take down the Nitrates too fast, and Zoas/Palys don't seem to mind either. I find that what bothers Zoas/Palys more than clean water is intense lighting, so I keep the zoas, LPS (Chalices, Acans, etc) near the bottom and off to the sides of the tank away from intense lighting. Just my $0.02 worth.
Skim pretty dry so not all nutrients are captured. I have a mixed reef and keep my Phos phates near zero and Nitrates under 0.05. SPS like it, LPS get used to it as long as you don't take down the Nitrates too fast, and Zoas/Palys don't seem to mind either. I find that what bothers Zoas/Palys more than clean water is intense lighting, so I keep the zoas, LPS (Chalices, Acans, etc) near the bottom and off to the sides of the tank away from intense lighting. Just my $0.02 worth.
seth the wine guy
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Run 24/7. I dump food into the tank like I'm chumming for great whites with cyclopeze, phyto, mysis, and freeze dried. The return pump is off while I do this and let it circulate for 20 minutes. I then let the beast/skimmer pull out what wasn't consumed. Best of both worlds. Lots of food but all the pooh gets flushed.
I don't think a ton of food is bad if you can rid the tank of it quickly and effectively.
I don't think a ton of food is bad if you can rid the tank of it quickly and effectively.
