DamageInc Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Recently, I almost crashed my 24g. My firefish goby crawled into a hole and died, never to be seen again, I added some garf grunge and have been feeding my coral alot. This caused mini-cycle and a nitrate spike. My corals looked horrible. I did some emergency water changes and added temporarily a hang on protein skimmer. Within 1 day of adding the skimmer my corals looked better than ever. My zoanthids which barely opened since I got them were now fully open all day. My plate was looking much better as well as the rest of my corals. I think the added oxygen to the tank really helped everything out. I'll never go skimmerless again!!! Nick Link to comment
kgbenson Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 sooooo - what brand of skimmer are you in love with? Keith Link to comment
DamageInc Posted August 1, 2005 Author Share Posted August 1, 2005 I'm not in love with the brand. I bought a seaclone 100 as an emergency. I now believe any skimmer would make a big difference in the health of the coral. Nick Link to comment
Bobbozr2 Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Amen, I totally agree. My corals have never been happier. The benefit of increased oxygenation is often overlooked in the to skim/not to skim debate. I run a AC Remora about 2-3 times a week. Link to comment
TEPOZ_AZTLAN Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Just of curosity or ignorance, Are this skimers on the outside of your nanos if so are you keeping your lits open, if not will you please tell me how do you have your hang on skimer, I like to get one as well but no clue where to place it Link to comment
calvin Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Damage, just curious: what makes you think it was the added oxygen that made your corals healthier? I'm sure that could be it, but I would think it was the overall improved water quality from skimming, not just improved oxygenation. Link to comment
embryoguy Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 your 1 day turn around was due to your massive WATER CHANGE, not your skimmer. your skimmer will make your quality better but not in 1 day. and its not your oxygenation. that would turn around that quickly also. you even said why you have a problem. overfeeding etc etc. when i notice anything wrong with my reef. the first and best thing i do is water changes.!!!!!!! its the key to many problems. Link to comment
xsamx Posted August 6, 2005 Share Posted August 6, 2005 Originally posted by embryoguy your 1 day turn around was due to your massive WATER CHANGE, not your skimmer. your skimmer will make your quality better but not in 1 day. and its not your oxygenation. that would turn around that quickly also. you even said why you have a problem. overfeeding etc etc. when i notice anything wrong with my reef. the first and best thing i do is water changes.!!!!!!! its the key to many problems. ill have to disagree, heres the skimmate after 8 hours. last water change was on wed.. tank looks crystal cleaer and my corals are going nuts! Link to comment
DamageInc Posted August 7, 2005 Author Share Posted August 7, 2005 Alright fellas, here are the answers: Tepoz, the skimmer is outside of my cube on the right side. I have the hood propped open just enough to so the skimmer can fit. I cut some small legs to keep the hood open. Calvin, I know it was the oxygen because the added oxygen because the skimmer was brand new and did not pull any skimmate for almost 3 days. After the 1st day of putting on the skimmer there was a huge change in the health of the corals. embryoguy, see my above reply to calvin. Also, I always used to do about 2 10% water changes a week normally, prior to adding the skimmer. The water changes never affected my corals health in the way the skimmer has done. I do agree with you that water changes are a great help though! Any questions, let me know. Nick Link to comment
DKreefkeepers Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 the color of that skimmate is a joke, although it is obviously skimmate it is barely a tea color. The home made jobbers I am making right now are pulling DARK skimmate out of the water.... Let me guess that skimmer in the pic is ran by an airstone right? Link to comment
steelhealr Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 You know....I'm with embroguy (but this starts the skimmer argument all over again)....my skimmate doesn't look bad at all and it's with the highly touted AquaC Remora. I barely do it now. I think that skimming will definitely help when you get into a situation like Damage's. In fact, I think it takes situations like that to start skimming (Damage, I was there too). I got my skimmer when I had a brain die in my tank and then it was overcome by cyano, similar to Damage. All the skimming, water changes, media inserts got things back to normal again, and now, it almost seems like I have no use for the skimmer. After 8 hours, my skimmate looks a little like xsamx, but, I think it's mostly diatoms and doesn't have a foul odor. I tried a wet skimmate and dry skimmate. My corals still seem to respond to water changes more. I still think water changes are the key. Certainly if one gets into trouble or is heavy handed with feeding, I think skimming helps. I'm not anti-skimmer, I don't think it hurts, but, I think you could be fine with water changes. JMO. Link to comment
xsamx Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Originally posted by DKreefkeepers the color of that skimmate is a joke, although it is obviously skimmate it is barely a tea color. The home made jobbers I am making right now are pulling DARK skimmate out of the water.... Let me guess that skimmer in the pic is ran by an airstone right? yeah its ran by an airstone. But, keep in mind. This skimmer is for a 12DX.. That sees 40-50 water changes every week.. So, theres not much waste in the water to begin with. Not to mention its only been running for 8 hours, maybe less. I think thats a pretty good amount of skimmate. Link to comment
calvin Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 40-50 water changes every week?? why in the world would you do that? Link to comment
DKreefkeepers Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 I think he meant 40-50% Link to comment
xsamx Posted August 7, 2005 Share Posted August 7, 2005 Originally posted by calvin 40-50 water changes every week?? why in the world would you do that? LOL! I meant 40-50% water changes per week. Wow, I know im anal about my tank, but geez I couldn’t imagine doing that! Link to comment
JayReefer Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 I agree with steelhealr on this. The water changes are the key IMO. The skimmer will not hurt, but I think i would add a fuge and not a skimmer. The reason you skimmate is so light is your water changes are doing what they should do IMO. Link to comment
audiocontrol Posted August 15, 2005 Share Posted August 15, 2005 yes, the skimmate should look like some real key $#i+ Link to comment
sNEIRBO Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 My "home made job" has been running 24/7 for about 6 days now. This morning I pulled about a cup of brownish green stuff that stunk to high heaven! Thankfully I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, or it would have been lying next to my Cube! WHEWIE! Water is crystal clear, corals are extended like I've never seen before. I'd much rather have the skimmer running, instead of the fuge. IMO - I think it's doing a MUCH better job! Or at least I can actually see / have proof that it is working . . . Link to comment
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