englishreefer Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Im not entirely sure if this deserves this forum. Seeing as their is probably no black and white answer i feel maybe it does. My 36g has been running for 4 yrs now, being moved twice in that time. For the last 18 months the only inhabitants have been an anemone and watchman goby. Over this time i have fed the tank very little (like once a month tops) and the watchman is still very fat. Now i am back from uni i have started restocking. I did a series of large water changes to get my calcium and alk levels up and started dosing kalk (well calc, very confusing, anyway thats in enother thread if you search). My levels now are acceptable but still need raising 350/6. I have since added a largeish acro and hysterix colony, 6" each approx after having a small monti cap frag for couple weeks. I have also just added a 3-4 foxface which will be moved on once he has finished of the macro. My nitrates and phosphates have been undectable as of yet. However i now plan on starting to stock the tank I am really confused as to wether i should run a skimmer. I have a prizm skimmer which i know will far from over skim. In the time the tank has matured and balanced i have gained alot of sponge growth on my live rock, probably 5-6 diff species. I am worried that if i start skimming i might destroy the micro fauna in the tank to there demise. I would like to get a few opinions on this, as i do not have a sump or a fuge on this tank i am unsure if a skimmer is going to become a neccesity. Link to comment
Kool-cat Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 I run a cpr bakpak skimmer and I still have white sponges... Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Your HH sponge will be fine. SKIM, for the love of acros! In regards to sponges like ball, tree, blue, etc. (like that you would buy at the LFS), you need both heavy feeding *and* good water quality to keep sponges. Thus, the skimmer is ALWAYS a yes. Just turn it off for at least a half-hour when you feed, problem solved. Sort of.....Good luck feeding them enough. But back to hitch-hiker sponges.. They'll be fine. SKIM and get a GOOD skimmer, not the POS Prizm. Link to comment
shaggydoo541 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Skim... don't skim. It can work either way. I personally do not skim and have a high bioload with colorful acros, but that is not supposed to happen according to most. Link to comment
musho3210 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 prizm skimmer is definatly not over skimming, from the reviews it seems like it doesnt skim.,.... Link to comment
geekreef_05 Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Crazy suggestions. Keep doing what your doing. If the pollutions levels in your tank steadily rise, then CONSIDER a skimmer. Otherwise, whats the point? I HAD a beautiful red sponge in a FOWLR 75 gallon. The tank is well matured, etc. and runs skimmerless. I found that once nutrients are used up in the system, the sponges were the first to die. They require nutrient rich water, which you can only give them by doing water changes. A skimmer would take out material, but not put anything back, so whats the point if your nitrates are stable/zero? Link to comment
englishreefer Posted June 29, 2007 Author Share Posted June 29, 2007 Skim!!! Skim I tell you!! Skim!!! Skim I tell you!! thanks for that educated advice Choadmeyer. Yeah i have left it of for now and keeping a close eye on parameters. I think prizms are perfectly good skimmers for small tanks. They just need to set up correctly. Im not claiming they are the dogs balls, but i feel they get bad press from people who have never used one or beginners that chuck them after 3 days. Link to comment
tperkins Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 IMO skimming is never a bad thing. I think the pro's far outweigh the con's. Link to comment
fishfinder08 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 IMO skimming is never a bad thing. I think the pro's far outweigh the con's. i hate sponges Link to comment
sihaya Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 I love sponges too! I don't think skimming necessarily hurts sponge population. I skim about 12hrs/day on average and I still have tons of sponges. Here's something you might want to read: www.asira.org/proteinskimmers Link to comment
Atlantis Reef Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 I skim 24 hours aday 7 days a week and I still have sponges but I do feed also Link to comment
RL831 Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Skim!!! Skim I tell you!! thanks for that educated advice Choadmeyer. Yeah i have left it of for now and keeping a close eye on parameters. I think prizms are perfectly good skimmers for small tanks. They just need to set up correctly. Im not claiming they are the dogs balls, but i feel they get bad press from people who have never used one or beginners that chuck them after 3 days. I had a prizm skimmer on a 55 gal fowler a long time ago. It worked great untell after 5-6 months. It started to constantly overflow and needed constant adjustment. What a PITA. Link to comment
raleej337 Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Skimming is for suckers Whatever! So call me a sucker but I skim 24/7. Link to comment
Helfrichs Chick Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 No skimmer here. I thinks its just one more thing you have to mess with. PITA. I only have a pair of clowns (18g), and feed pellet by pellet and strain all my frozen foods but I am kinda OCD with my water quality. I say no skimming for now but TEST your tank once every couple weeks. If you see the trates getting out of hand and your doing water changes then add one. I would get a Remora, they are great little skimmers and not too much of an eye sore. Link to comment
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