The mysterious over skimmed aquarium.

[grouper therapy]

Can anyone provide any evidence that this is possible. Please no anecdotal I personally think it is impossible.

 

[bcavalli]

You would need a REALLY big skimmer compared to the tank if that would be possible to accomplish.

 

[ghbrewer]

Anything anyone would state about over-skimming would be anecdotal.

With that said, you can over-size a skimmer. I have experience with that happening.


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[snowmansnow]

My goal in life is to overskim my aquarium
I have VERY low NO3 and PO4
I have very bright lights..

Tank update will come soon.
hint.. there will be no bleached out.. non growing sps hehe

 

[morganatlanta]

I think there was a paper a few years ago that said only roughly 30% of the organic matter in the water was "skimmable" (attracted to the bubble surfaces), and that all of the skimmers they tested (regardless of price) pretty much got all of it.

 

[ghbrewer]

MorganAtlanta;1076972 wrote: I think there was a paper a few years ago that said only roughly 30% of the organic matter in the water was "skimmable" (attracted to the bubble surfaces), and that all of the skimmers they tested (regardless of price) pretty much got all of it.

Yep, that was the article that popped into my head when I saw this thread.


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[bcavalli]

I remember that one as well. Great article but, a long read.

 

[mufret]

What do you mean by "over skimmed aquarium"? It may be impossible to over skim with a properly sized skimmer but you can over size a skimmer, which will make it ineffective.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

SnowManSnow;1076970 wrote: My goal in life is to overskim my aquarium
I have VERY low NO3 and PO4
I have very bright lights..

Tank update will come soon.
hint.. there will be no bleached out.. non growing sps hehe

Now that is dedication. A life work made from skimming

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[grouper therapy]

mufret;1076976 wrote: What do you mean by "over skimmed aquarium"? It may be impossible to over skim with a properly sized skimmer but you can over size a skimmer, which will make it ineffective.

Only until the organics build again . no?

 

[ghbrewer]

You got it! The problem is the level of organics necessary to build a foam head my be enough to cause problems in the tank. My last skimmer was too big, it would rarely build a sufficient enough foam head to actually collect anything in the cup.


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[grouper therapy]

What was your bioload like ?
The reason I ask is I have a high bio load and I feed extremely heavy so I wanted something that skimmed fairly quickly and then if it did not until the next feeding that is ok.

 

[ghbrewer]

Moderate, but when I moved down to the right size skimmer, it took right off.


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[ghbrewer]

The larger skimmer was not effective...


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[grouper therapy]

So based on that one could adjust the organic level to the skimmer so that it functioned properly regardless of the water volume?

 

[ghbrewer]

Maybe, but is that higher bio load sustainable. To me that just means that my tank has a much higher concentration of organics all the time.


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[ghbrewer]

It's also not being efficient.


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[grouper therapy]

Unless the skimmer only comes on after a feeding. The bioload would only be there after the feeding.
With the new dc pumps one could ramp down until feeding then ramp up.

 

[mufret]

I've used and had a few skimmers in my time and have found the size of the neck is what seems to help me determine a correctly sized skimmer (along with the amount of air injected into the skimmer body, of course). I have nothing to document this so it is anecdotal, but have oversized skimmers on a few tanks and have seen many over the years. If you've looked at the head of foam that's formed in your skimmer, you'll notice a film that forms on the top of it. This film keeps the head together and allows it to rise up the neck of the skimmer. If the film is unable to form (because there are not enough organics or the neck is too wide), it doesn't rise in the skimmer and therefore is still in the system. It might eventually start working but, by then, the organic levels in the system may be significantly high.

 

[grouper therapy]

mufret;1077005 wrote: I've used and had a few skimmers in my time and have found the size of the neck is what seems to help me determine a correctly sized skimmer (along with the amount of air injected into the skimmer body, of course). I have nothing to document this so it is anecdotal, but have oversized skimmers on a few tanks and have seen many over the years. If you've looked at the head of foam that's formed in your skimmer, you'll notice a film that forms on the top of it. This film keeps the head together and allows it to rise up the neck of the skimmer. If the film is unable to form (because there are not enough organics or the neck is too wide), it doesn't rise in the skimmer and therefore is still in the system. It might eventually start working but, by then, the organic levels in the system may be significantly high.

I guess it really boils down to skimmer to bioload. That is a shot in the dark. I guess what got me to asking was some of the ratings that the skimmers are rated at. For instance 700 light bio load to 300 heavy bio load. How was that ever determined?