Skimmer for intermittent use

[Proteus]

Cheap skimmers have cheap parts. The csc skimmers run sicce pumps which is a quality pump.

And in my case most skimming is done when I'm not looking which is only periodical. Lol

[Reefgoat]

Originally Posted by Titus99

Cheap skimmers have cheap parts. The csc skimmers run sicce pumps which is a quality pump.

And in my case most skimming is done when I'm not looking which is only periodical. Lol

Thanks, I will check into them. Maybe I will contact Sicce to see if their pumps would hold up to being turned off and on multiple times a day.

[mike31154]

Go old school with a simple wooden air stone job & run it 24/7. A small powerhead to circulate the water & an air pump to produce bubbles. Very 'gentle' way to skim since there's no venturi or needle wheel chopping the water to produce bubbles. I've been running one for years on my system, it's cheap & works fine.

Not sure I've ever heard about skimmers stripping zooplankton or other life? I think generally all they do is remove proteins which is 'dead' material (detritus etc.) & even the most efficient ones only get about 40%, but I could be mistaken.

[Reefgoat]

There does seem to be evidence suggesting skimmers remove planktonic microbes from the water column. It is well accepted that they remove bacteria, albeit selectively. I just assumed, possibly incorrectly, that if skimmers remove food particles and detritus they would also remove a variety small microorganisms. Perhaps most Zooplankton are too large or aren't regularly removed via the overflow. I also wonder how harmful multiple passes through a skimmer is on copepods for example. I am going to try to maximize my pod population for a future Mandarin as well as for my coral.

I do currently have a skimmer, I'm simply not using it. The design you mentioned does seem quite gentle which is what I would prefer so I will try to find some information on it.

[sphelps]

A skimmer will need to run for longer than 30min to do anything. You could skim during daylight hours only which I use to do without issue but it was due to my skimmer being too large for the tank. Zoo-plankton is most active at night you'll minimize the amount removed by the skimmer.

[Reefgoat]

Originally Posted by sphelps

A skimmer will need to run for longer than 30min to do anything. You could skim during daylight hours only which I use to do without issue but it was due to my skimmer being too large for the tank. Zoo-plankton is most active at night you'll minimize the amount removed by the skimmer.

That's a good idea. If I decide to try the skimmer maybe I will start with only during the day.