Quarantine Poll

[Samw]

Originally Posted by reef_raf

Bob, I believe O2 goes in by itself quite easily once CO2 is dispelled. The skimmer does an excellent job of agitating the water that flows through it, and I believe this does in fact provide for a higher O2 level than if a skimmer was not used.
Good ciculation in a tank with the sufficient surface agitation could provide the same amount of CO2 off-gassing, but this would require a lot of water movement.
Ultimately there is a maximum and saying that a skimmed tank will always be higher in O2 is certainly not true. A skimmer will not supersaturate O2 in to solution. It does provide an easy way to remove CO2 though.
So, required? No. Helpful in this task? I believe so. Again, so supporting research, but the logic is sound.

I agree with you Brad. You would need a lot of surface agitation like running a powerhead with a venturi device. Unfortunately, to get that agitation would mean a lot of salt all around my tank. The skimmer does that for me without the salt spray. If I turn off my skimmer now and just leave the powerheads on (with lots of surface ripples), I can almost guarantee the death of some of my fish (not all) within a month. Should I try it as an experiment and see if I can reproduce the same result as I did last time?