FarmerTy Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 'Tis the age old question huh? I was wondering what everyone on ARC thinks? I've been in the hobby for 5 years with a nano and recently moved to a 60 gallon w/sump. I skim, producing about a cup of skimmate every 5-7 days. It gets me thinking, my coral were perfectly happy in my nanocube with a modded refugium in the back chambers with chaeto in it and a sponge I would use for mechanical filtration and rinse out every week. Now that I have "moved on up" to a 60-gallon w/sump and skimmer, I've beginning to wonder if I should skim at all and if I should, how often? Meaning should it run all the time or only after I feed? I have noticed my ricordeas aren't as full anymore and my clove polyps have withered away (mostly species that like high nutrient water) but my zoas are starting to look really good, as well as my LPS and SPS. I have a mixed tank with LPS, SPS, softies, and filter feeders (not to mention dendros and sun polyps that require heavier feeding and 2 small gobies and a mandarin). So, I leave it out there to the opinion of others. A poll for us ARC'ers, to see what each person does with their tank. I definetely don't want algal growth because of high nutrients but I don't want low nutrients either because I can see it's effect on the ricordeas and clove polyps. What do you do on your tank? -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doktorstick Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 This fellow does not skim. I think it speaks for itself. Personally, I run a skimmer because I'm a newb, but I would like to get to the point where I don't have to skim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+lewk Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Although I do run a skimmer, I'm also running a scrubber and my nitrate and phosphates have been at 0 for some time now. You may want to look into that route. Tank is probably 4 months old, and I have run into very little, if any, algae blooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexKilpatrick Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I have heard of a few lucky people who have been able to get by without skimming, but I am not one of them. Almost universally when my tanks starts to look bad, it is because something is wrong with my skimmer. I fix the skimmer, and everything quickly starts looking good again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simon Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 The short answer is no you do not need a protien skimmer. However you need some other form of nutrient export from the tank whether that be a large water changes, algae turf scrubber, refugium with macro, soft coral that is grown and harvested etc etc. The reason most people use a protein skimmer is it is one the easiest and quickest forms of nutrient export (well large water changes are probably the quickest). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Simon Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 This fellow does not skim. I think it speaks for itself. Personally, I run a skimmer because I'm a newb, but I would like to get to the point where I don't have to skim. Right but if you read his site he is using macro algae and coral growth as his main forms of nutrient export/sequestration in addition to a 25% water change every 2 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 I guess just from my previously skimmerless setup in the nano and my transition to a larger volume of water with a skimmer, I am weighing out the different systems. Optimally, I would prefer a skimmerless system with a large refugium in the sump to counteract waste products with biological filters. I think what my plan is with this system optimally is to run without a skimmer and have a large sump with a refugium so that there is plenty of natural biodiversity (which will help the mandarin) and a light nutrient load and only run the skimmer for a few hours after I feed the coral (since the sun polyp and dendro require heavier feedings). In this way, the skimmer is more of a tool to help control spikes of dissolved organic materials instead of a maintenance system that the tank has to rely on or else it will crash. I appreciate the input from everyone. Keep it coming. I'm always curious to the many different ways people can maintain their tanks. It's not a one-size fits all application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 ya, and he doesnt seem to have any SPS, I do 10% water changes every weekend on my total volume of 150g. So every month i change a little over half of the water volume. I have a skimmer and refugium with mangroves anf chaeto. At this point my chaeto and mangroves are doing such a good job the skimmer hardly pull out anything. Just my little tid bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troypt Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 I have not run a skimmer in 3.5 years. I have no mechanical filtration. I don't do water changes. I do run a fuge with 3 separate chambers, one has macro, one is a DSB, one is full of pebble sized coral rubble. I have tried to provide different habitats for lots of diversity. I do have an anemone, SPS, LPS without problems. The last time I had my water tested, nitrates were less than 10. I don't have any algae problems either. I do run carbon and try to have different herbivores. Troy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 Troy, That's real interesting. Do you dose anything at all? That's pretty cool that you went the with more of a natural approach. Do you have any pics of your tank? I'd be real interested to see. That's amazing... no water changes... it's like the holy grail or something. -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troypt Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 I top off with kalkwasser. That's the only thing I add. I also feed heavy. I will try to get some pictures. Troy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 The ocean skims. That's the frothy stuff you see sometimes in waves. If something with that much volume needs to skim than my tank needs it too. One whiff of the stuff it pulls out and I know I don't want that in my tank. I think it really depends on what you want to grow. As you mentioned, the corals that like more nutrients are not doing as well and the ones that like lower nutrients are doing better. I have seen a few skimmerless setups and have never been that impressed. The water is not as clear and the tank seems to have more film algae. my .02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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