Skimming - Borneman's comment - your thoughts?

[Ivan]

["I would also opt for daylight discontinuance (of protein skimming) since oxygen is less of a problem when photosynthesis is occurring, and since most aquarists tend to feed fish and other products like phytoplankton during the day. This way, residual foods will not be removed for at least several hours. Some aquarists may even find that they can discontinue skimmer usage entirely (I think this likely, especially if activated carbon is employed)."

This commentary was made by Eric Borneman in the latest edition of Reefkeeping (third installment of Myths). This has been a long debated subject, and I am split on the right thing to do. What do YOU all feel about 24-hour protein skimming? I do reduce the skimming rate when I am feeding, but do any of you have a "schedule" when you skim? I've never heard the comment on not skimming during the lighted hours since photosynthesis is already going on. It kinda makes sense. . .

I've also wondered if it made sense to continue to skim after you've just completed a water change. After all, the change is to reintroduce nutrients into the tank, but the skimming just hastens the reduction of beneficial nutrients/additives.

BTW, does anyone know of a link that explains the biological/chemical reactions related to protein skimming?]

 

[Timesailor]

[And along the same lines: Not having a sump, where my water "drops" into another body of water thereby facilitating oxygen exchange, I feel that my skimmer is my 'airstone'

Comments on this would be appreciated.]

 

[dvups1]

[I run a high output skimmer 24/7. I always have and I always will. My simple reason is that I get great coral growth and my fish seem happy. The overall health of my tanks have always been great so I for one wouldn't stop. Just my 2 cents.]

 

[Rick]

[Not that it's a contradiction but he has also said he feels most people tend to starve their corals, and just hope they will survive from photosynthesis. He feels corals need to fed and he has put out a list for a food he uses and it is pretty high in nutrients. And I totally agree with him on this and I tend to feed both my corals and fish heavily which I feel also keeps up my other critter population. But without the use of a good skimmer running continously I think I would be in trouble with excess nutrients in the tank. At one time I used to shut off my skimmer when feeding the corals after dark. But I found that it was unnecessary because adding the stuff to the tank would make my skimmer stop working for hours. Thats pretty much happens when I feed the tank during the day also, though not for as long.]

 

[melev]

[Whenever I feed, day or night, I turn off the skimmer for 60 minutes. Even when it restarts, it doesn't skim for a while anyway as it takes a while to build up the foam head again.]

 

[nvillacci]

[I think I may qualify as using no skimmer? I use a little Prizm in my 100 gallon system. I know its working, but not all that much. When I feed, well, I like the cloudy tank effect, it stays that way for about 45 minutes, but I know the food is staying in the water column and visitors and users of my food can attest, SPS corals send out them mucas strands to try to capture whatever they eat.

Ivan, pm me and let me know how the food worked for ya.

Lata,
Nick]

 

[mmiller40]

[I think if you have a DSB you need to skim 24/7. The last thing you want is all those nutrients building up in the sand bed.

I agree with rick, I never turn it off because any type of food will collapse the foam for a few hours.]

 

[cpalmist]

[Interesting...
I run the Garf method. My DSB is maybe 1". But then I'm not running any fish that need to burrow.
Garf suggests turning off the skimmer for 30 minutes or so during the addition of the different SeaChem addivitives. I think it is suggested to turn off the skimmer when feeding live plankton also...I know I turn the skimmer off while I'm doing that baster thing to spot-feed different corals.]

 

[mmiller40]

@cpalmist wrote:

[1 inch is not a DSB, unless that stands for deco sand bed

I have read some of Garf's Ideas IMO some of them are pretty screwy. (they tell people to pull their halides and install VHO's).

As far as turning off skimmer before adding phyto; it says on the bottle of DT's that skimming does not pull out any substantial amount of phyto. As soon as the DT's hits the water my skimmer stops foaming for an hour or two. I do turn off the pumps to spot feed but not the skimmer, it just runs in the sump untill the main return is turn back on.]

 

[Rick]

@mmiller40 wrote:

[I hate to laugh, but that was darn funny :wwww: :laugh long:]

 

[cpalmist]

[I agree - it was a great one!
HoJo's has 39 flavors of ice cream and reefkeeping a whole bunch more so you makes your pick and pays your dime...Garf's ideas may seem a bit strange (that plenum thing, go figure - I don't do it) but they do work and work well and
for me, have the time fussin' over the tanks pretty much down to fresh water tank-keeping standards - throw in some food, do a partial water change occasionally, throw in some additives with make-up water and mainly sit on butt and enjoy tank. Oh, I forgot, and check chemical levels once a year or so if you are bored enough or setting up new tank...I like that about their method as it was getting to be a second job otherwise...
Now to find some Avacado Green tank stands and some Coral Pink powerheads and hoods to match my Deco Sand Bed! Flamingos, anyone?]

 

[Timesailor]

[Hot dang, yeah! And I'll bring the rum and margaritas! You got a good sound system for the Buffett, or do I need to bring an OSHA HEARING PROTECTION REQUIRED boom box?

<hr class="bbcode_rule" />
"I know I don't get there often enough
But God knows I surely try
It's a magic kind of medicine
That no doctor could prescribe"

Bubba - "One Particular Harbor" :cool grin:]

 

[Old Stoney]

[If anyone has been to the beach and seen the foamy muck that is carried in on waves has seen "mother natures" version of protein skimming. The amount you see varies from place to place...go to a port area and you will see alot more muck..go to a pristine south pacific island and you will see very little on the waves...

So skimming for your tank is the same way....pollute it up with lots of organics and you need it alot...feed lite and lower waste and need it less. Like most things in this hobby, there are way more variables than any "RULE" can answer. You have to take an objective look at your tank and make an educated decision..For me, I would prefer to have a skimmer that can handle anything I want to throw at my tank and under use it most of the time than have a wimpy one that I have to walk on egg shells with.

Having an under skimmed tank is usually a much bigger problem to deal with than an over skimmed one...you can always put more food in.


Hope this opinion helps someone somewhere...]