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Do you use a protein skimmer?


Christopher Marks

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I have a rudimentary skimmer. I got it years ago and don't know what it's called, but it's basically a tube with a a stubby stone on the bottom and cup at the top to catch the dirty water. It's really hard to find stubby stones these days so I tried pulling it to see what would happen. What a MISTAKE. My whole tank went south in the matter of a month. :o I highly recommend skimmers of any kind.

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  • 5 months later...

Protein Skimmers are mechanized devices that are prefab to be utilised in Man Aquariums, which contain saltwater with lots of salts. You can use a Protein Skimmer in a freshwater tank. A skimmer present not pain the freshwater fish or mortify the installation degree, and the freshwater will not misconduct the skimmer.

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  • 1 month later...

i am fairly new in this hobby but i only have a ten gallon tank and my 10-20 percent water changes i do every week keep my tank perfect and keeps my water crystal clear. so i dont think its worth the money right now since those items seem to be a bit pricey for a nice one. I dont want to pull out to many nutrients in such a small tank anyways. but no i dont use one and my tank so far seems to be doing just fine and supports coral. I just found copepods too so i know thats a great sign of a healthy tank.

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I recently added an Aqua Maxx HOB-1 skimmer to my reef setup and it made a HUGE difference. The formerly partly cloudy water is now crystal clear and all of my corals are opening wider than they ever have. My PH is staying better balanced due to the increased oxygenation of the water and things are good.... I hooked the skimmer up to the timer for my moonlight LED's.. that way it only runs at night and replenishes the oxygen that is not being generated.

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Do i run a skimmer Yes & no. My 5g pico reef does not have a skimmer. My 72 bow does (will anyway, it's in the mail) have a skimmer.

 

Pro's & cons to both.

Edited by JBM
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I have ran with and without. I keep softies and lps in a 20g with a 10g fuge. I have opted to go skimmerless with this setup because i have noticed firsthand that most of what i keep opens up bigger and grows faster in nutrient rich water. I use carbon for a week out of a month to keep the water clear. And i do a water change when i feel like it. I would not however suggest anyone try this method for sps. In my opinion skimmers have their place(on larger tanks or for corals that appreciate them). Besides i hate bubbles and skimmate smells like burnt turd.

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  • 2 years later...

Reef - luva, with all respect this I can add.

 

My brother had the same view, that of consistent and precise water changes top up levels to where they need to be, and he always argued with me for a good month, why add additives ?

 

My answer is I dont add all, not trace anyway, I add calcium if needed, magnesium, strontium, iodine, potassium if needed, all these I can test for, and the magnesium, strontium and iodine is used up regularly by my corals (mainly softies and LPS)

 

If its using the stuff, add it thats me.

 

Also, when weighing it up logically, no amount of water changes can replace your useage back to "the salt buckets ingredients" anyway, he couldnt get it, that if the tanks running at say 70% of a 100 of the "salt buckets ingredients" and you do a water change, you haven't got back the 100%, he finally got it, now he's adding additives too.

 

On the skimmer front taking out to much, i'll have to disagree, overskim's a myth, my skimmer is a Skimz SM163 probably rated at 6-8 times my 120ltr tank, and even before it I had a bubble magus C3.5 running on 400 ltr/h of forced air intake, and since ive set the tank probably 3 months at least, there has been no consistent drop over my testings, say calcium and 6 others, only the use of 1 or 2 needed by corals.

 

I feed home grown phytoplankton daily, 50ml, feed flake twice daily a good amount, and frozen mysis is on the way, for me and its my personal view, a decent skimmer and light, you have won the majority of the battle, decent skimmer and feed well, I have no algae, a little dusting of red on the sand thats swirled away and hoovered every 3 or 4 days, literally a film and you can just make out the colour, I run a reactor too with Rowaphos in it, 100ml each month for now to take the worst out, and I run a UV as a form of light insurance if you like.

 

I wont say dont run without a skimmer, but to me ... well, like I say above really, it finishes the tank off nicely, and its healthy for them :)

 

This probably sounds silly, but when on holiday I look at the rock along the walkways and the crashing waves, seeing all the green algae plastering only these areas, well it will, there's a giant skimmer at work holding all the nutrients there :)



Oooops old thread :)

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When I first entered the hobby I got by with more frequent water changes. But I ended up picking up an Omega 130 during a black Friday sale one year and have never contemplated starting a new tank without one. 

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  • 3 months later...

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