Skimmerless..............WOW!

[danmhippo]

I have just gone skimmerless since last Thursday. I have to say there is a big difference. All polyps seems to have opened up! I have 6 carnations. It used to be that these stretches the most during the night and polyps seldom opens during the day. Now skimmerless, all carnations are stretched up and all polyps fully opened. Instead of drooling downward, these are all upright and erect. I am even worried that I need to move one or two lower afraid it will be exposed to air pretty soon. The most excitment is to see the chili coral polyps opened during the day. The Chili coral is placed up high (Oh, yeah, plenty of 400W MH light exposure) with moderate direct current. This is the first time I see its small red polyps during the day! I don't know what to say! I am sure glad I moved toward the skimmerless way.

Oh, just to add, since I am going skimmerless, I will be doing water changes now. I am looking to make about 15% monthly.

 

[Moti Mo]

Way to go hippo. I've heard a lot of skimmerless succes stories on this site, and plan on doing so when I set up mine. Keep us posted on any side effects.

 

[chris_h]

I am thinking about going skimmerless. Do you now use an alternate source to oxygenate the water?

 

[danmhippo]

I have a 6 foot drop for the built-in overflow, 4 maxijet in main tank, plus 2 refugium/sump lit 24/7. All the above mentioned is already in place before going skimmerless.

 

[Paul A. Ifkovits]

Please keep us posted! This sounds promising. I have been considering going half and half, leaving the skimmer off during the day...?
_________________
how to roll a joint

 

[Jase]

Paul
I would be more inclined to leave the skimmer off at night, when mor corals are feeding...

 

[jamesw]

And when oxygen demand is highest in the system??? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

HTH
James

 

[Anonymous]

Is there any way to go skimmerless without a refugium? I have a sump with live rock in it, but no refugium.

Peace,

Chip

 

[tim000]

so would one of those sea clones do the trick for my 35g reef?

 

[Jase]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cheese Sandwich:
<STRONG>A nice compromise would be to get an undersized skimmer. That way you won't overskim, yet you'll get some aeration, and also have a "safety valve" in case anything big dies in your tank & needs to be skimmed out.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Precisely the way I do it...Super reef devil on a 120

 

[SPC]

Dan, is this the tank you talk about on the overstocked thread? If it is I sure would be worried about a crash, but of course I'm not the rebel you are either

Steve

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: SPC ]

 

[slimy]

Pardon the stupid question, But when people say they use powerheads to get oxygen to the water, do they mean using an air tube to get bubbles in the tank, or do they just mean pointing the PH toward the surface of the water? Is the latter sufficient?

 

[danmhippo]

Steve, Soooooooo, guess I deleted the thread toooooo late, Huh! Yes, that is the one. Thus far, this is the fifth day after, I have not seen any side effect yet, other than the water is a bit yellow. I just dug up an old whisper-2 that I had from the Freshwater days and run it with charcoal. Oh boy, bucket and water changes again after so many years.....!

Slimy, yes its the latter, I use the PH to increase the surface agitation which is the speeding up the gas exchange.

Also, for those of you that are concerned with depleting O2 level, I would suggest either 1. run an airstone in the sump for the first few days to monitor the tank reaction, or 2. Go with part-time skimming. Better to be safe than sorry! & make sure you won't be taking trips for the next few days.

[ October 09, 2001: Message edited by: danmhippo ]

 

[dbman]

If you already HAVE a skimmer and want to stop skimming you could just de-tune the skimmer so no skimmate collects in the cup, but it still oxygenates the water.

Funny after all these years it might turn out the Seaclone and Skilter were actually the best solution...

 

[DarwinTheDog]

Funny, I was thinking about starting a similar thread. About two weeks ago I pulled the plug on my skimmer. This was on a small lightly stocked reef (30 gallons). The tank has a DSB and a custom HOB refugium. I originally turned off the skimmer because I was tired of seeing the little bubbles in my tank that my hang on skimmer always caused. I really only planned to keep it off a day or so, but a day turned into two turned into three and so on. Here I am at two weeks and this tank has never looked better.

It is funny I set up two similar tanks at the same time. On this tank the skimmer pulled out thick gunk every week the other tank the skimmer didn't work very well, and seldom pulled out much. Funny thing the tank with the dysfunctional skimmer always looked better (had better coralline algae growth, less problematic algae growth, etc). I actually had better equipment and spent more time working on the tank with the good skimmer (this was my tank the other was my girlfriends, but I set up both), yet it never looked as good.

Three weeks ago I was battling hair algae in this tank, today it is gone! Nothing else has changed!

Anyway I don't know if I am going to keep going skimmerless, but right now I am THRILLED with the results. I few weeks ago I would have never considered doing this, but I could soon be a believer! Of course I emphasize my tank is stocked lightly, I don't know if I would try this in a heavily stocked tank.

 

[dawgfish]

Slimy,
I believe the real way water is oxygenated is by breaking the surface tension, so by using bubble method will work, pointing a powerhead to the suface might be more effective. I have 3 maxi jets on my 75 gallon on a wave maker. At night all but one turn off and that one is pointed slightly upward to break the surface tension. BTW i have been skimmerless for 18 months, everything is going great.

 

[esmithiii]

For those of you who are going skimmerless:

"One week doth not a successful reek make."

Report back in 6 months and again in a year.

I believe my skimmer is primarily responsible for keeping nusance algae under control. That and my RO/DI unit are probably my best purchases. I applaud your decision to try to go without it, and I hope you are succesful. I am eager to hear your results when enough time has passed to be a real test.

My message to newbies: Don't think that just because a few individuals have been successful without a skimmer you can save some dough. Plan on it.

E

 

[esmithiii]

Sorry, should be "Reef" not Reek. Must be a freudian slip, though.

E

 

[Anemone]

I agree with James - if you're going to go part-time on the skimmer, running at night is a better bet (due to decreased oxygen levels in our tanks at night, running the skimmer at night helps compensate for it). But, if your tank is lightly stocked, turning the skimmer off at night is okay too (I have one of my tanks working this way - but only because the skimmer is noisy and was bugging my wife at night).

Hippo,

Even with water changes, expect to use carbon for a few days every 6-8 weeks due to water yellowing. It took me a while to recognize why my skimmerless tank wasn't looking quite a good as it used to, then I used carbon and it cleared (and brightened) up. Took the carbon out and a couple months later the tank was looking dull again. Now, I have carbon on my calendar so I remember to put it in, and the tank looks a lot better.

Kevin

 

[Anonymous]

A nice compromise would be to get an undersized skimmer. That way you won't overskim, yet you'll get some aeration, and also have a "safety valve" in case anything big dies in your tank & needs to be skimmed out.