Skimmer for intermittent use
 

I am considering using a skimmer for short periods a couple times a day after feeding to skim off the extra food. I have read that most skimmers have poor pumps that have problems restarting after they are shut off. Are there any skimmer pumps that would be reliable running twice per day for only 30 minutes or so?

Sorry i dont have any recommendations but What is your reason for not skimming continuously?

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

I'm not interested in stripping most of the Zooplankton and other life from the water column. I also have concerns that selectively skimming off only certain types of bacteria in the tank may cause problems in the long term.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tunze also makes plankton friendly skimmers

Well I guess I stand corrected. After a bit of research it does seem that some beneficials are removed by skimming, particularly by the more efficient skimmers available these days. However, depending on your system & what you keep, a certain amount of skimming is probably better than none at all. Having done the bit of research, I'm reassured that my counter current air stone driven model is a good choice for my system. I have no sump and have successfully kept a Mandarin in there for 5 years plus. I've never supplemented the tank with plankton or other additives & he doesn't appear to be starving! I must admit that he will take pellet food when it happens to come to rest on the substrate, which is not that often. Once in a while I try to target feed him with the pellets, but that's very rare occasion these days.

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

Thanks Doug. I will check into them as well.

It's nice to hear of someone who has had long term success with a Mandarin. Far too many stories about them dying. Did he just start eating pellets eventually on his own or did you find that he would right from the start?

Here is Tunze,s website. JL Aquatics sells much of their products and can order any of them. The in tank skimmers, have a water intake that can be closed or partially closed to keep whatever from being skimmed. I believe they have an explanation on their website about such.
http://www.tunze.com/produkte.html?&L=1&C=CA
Of course it totally depends on what type of tank one is trying to maintain, so take all of it for what its worth. I used the 9010 skimmer before. Good skimmer for my in tank purpose but was not . I ordered one of the new Reefpack 200,s for my 30g tank. Not here yet.

My pair of mandarins both ate Ocean Nutrition Formula One Marine pellets. They use to find where they accumulated on the bottom in the tanks current and just pick them up at their leisure, until their little sides use to protrude. :lol: One I purchased from a board member and was eating then and the other I watched in the store when a baby and was eating brine shrimp.

However I did train one also to eat the pellets. I just kept placing them where he was always picking at food. I have seen this also done with smaller type containers that only the mandarin could get in to keep the other fish from eating them.

He was a juvenile when purchased & I was a newb so didn't know much about Mandarins at the time. It was before I learned of resources like forums & to research more prior to making a purchase. In any case, I suspect I got lucky he didn't starve because I probably introduced him a bit soon. Better likelihood of success with these when your system has been running for a year or so to get the pod population stabilised. What probably saved his butt was that my system was previously owned & the live rock was nicely matured. He was too young when purchased to have been trained to take prepared food. He simply figured it out on his own & I happened to observe him taking CycloPeeze granules off the sand one day. As mentioned he will also take pellets, (Omega One Small Marine Pellets). They're a little heavier than the CycloPeeze & are less prone to being kept circulating above the sand by the undertow of my VorTechs.

A year or so ago I purchased another small one as a mate for the original but turned out to be another male. Another mistake, this time not as a newb, but simply impatience in not observing the critter long enough at the LFS to confirm gender. They both actually did fine with only the odd skirmish, but I was fortunate to snag the new little guy one day & he has a new home. I've found the dragonet a great addition, disease resistant & actually very easy to care for provided they have sufficient food. Other fish don't bother with them & they simply cruise all day feeding.