Thoughts on over skimming

[golf nut]

I would pick the single biggest thing that might bring the turnaround, you think the skimmer is too big, cutting down on running time should have quite a difference, you have run skimmer less before I believe and know what to look for in water parameters, that's likely where I would start.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by mr.wilson

You could just de-tune (lower water level & or restrict air intake) your skimmer so it's always on but skimming less.

I read that dry skimming and wet skimming produces similar results and I worry that restricting air flow will decrease the effectiveness and make the chamber too turbulent, you know the whole unstable vs stable protein thing. I'm thinking just reducing the duty cycle will be the most efficient and beneficial way of decreasing the skimming effect.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Mr OM

I would pick the single biggest thing that might bring the turnaround, you think the skimmer is too big, cutting down on running time should have quite a difference, you have run skimmer less before I believe and know what to look for in water parameters, that's likely where I would start.

Well I don't know exactly what to look for in water parameters, should I be aiming for a low concentration of nitrate? Should such levels still be undetectable?

I will start with the skimmer today and maybe just add some amino acids next week. Other things like the phyto maybe a week or two down the road depending on what I use. The water change will probably be a minor change and beside possibly having to dose more Ca and Alk won't result in significant changes in the immediate future.

[mr.wilson]

I haven't tried vitamin C dosing, other than a bit in the food for lateral line disease, but this thread is pretty thorough. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1602494

I'm surprised your nitrate and phosphate is zero and your calcium is 400 and alk 8, considering you have so many stony corals and you don't use carbon, phosphate remover, algae or coral harvesting, much in the way of a sand bed, ozone or UV sterilization. You also seem to have modest feeding practices (no phyto, baby brine, or rotifers). Usually coraline algae is a probiotic way of outcompeting nuisance algae, but you have stated that you discourage its growth. You don't have a calcium reactor or a balling system, not even a two-part system. Maybe it's a lot easier to maintain calcium with no coraline algae to compete against.

Your old tank looked like it had the works, and the new one is pretty minimalist. What do you attribute your success to?

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by mr.wilson

I haven't tried vitamin C dosing, other than a bit in the food for lateral line disease, but this thread is pretty thorough. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1602494

I'm surprised your nitrate and phosphate is zero and your calcium is 400 and alk 8, considering you have so many stony corals and you don't use carbon, phosphate remover, algae or coral harvesting, much in the way of a sand bed, ozone or UV sterilization. You also seem to have modest feeding practices (no phyto, baby brine, or rotifers). Usually coraline algae is a probiotic way of outcompeting nuisance algae, but you have stated that you discourage its growth.

Your old tank looked like it had the works, and the new one is pretty minimalist. What do you attribute your success to?

Thanks for the link.

I could try different test kits, mine are fairly old (Salifert Nitrate and Elos Phosphate) but they're not expired so I assume they're accurate. I'm always wondering what my clams are doing for me, perhaps I should look more into it.

Yeah my old tank went through about every kind of equipment available and it did get overly complicated in the end even when I tried to simplify things. I contribute my success to stability more than anything and just sticking to the basics. I believe most of what I was doing in the past was not necessarily needed and the goal with my new tank is determine the bare basics and keep things as simple as they need to be. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them in my build thread, the tank is still a work in progress.

[hillegom]

From the tunze 9010 skimmer manual, I copied the following text.

"For operation in surroundings which tolerate a
very low noise level only (living room, bedrooms,
et cetera), the Comline DOC skimmer can be
connected up to a time switch (7). The unit may be
put out of action for eight hours a day, for example.
The missed protein skimming action is caught up
almost after the unit has been switched on again.
The Comline DOC skimmer has the advantageous
property of not changing its setting when switched
off. In this mode of operation, the skimmer should
not be run at the lower limit of the recommended
output for the aquarium."

Might just be propaganda, but it seems to say if you shut the skimmer off for a while (8hrs) then whatever skimming was missed, will be caught up.

[golf nut]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Well I don't know exactly what to look for in water parameters, should I be aiming for a low concentration of nitrate? Should such levels still be undetectable?

I will start with the skimmer today and maybe just add some amino acids next week. Other things like the phyto maybe a week or two down the road depending on what I use. The water change will probably be a minor change and beside possibly having to dose more Ca and Alk won't result in significant changes in the immediate future.

I am no expert in water parameters either but there enough people on this board that will give suggestions I am sure, I just don't like the idea of changing too many things at the same time, sometimes they cancel each other out and give false results,

Put it this way, you are trying to find .0005 on a 2" bore to get an RMS of 16, you try different inserts, maybe different coolant or feed rates, but you only change one thing at a time.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Mr OM

I am no expert in water parameters either but there enough people on this board that will give suggestions I am sure, I just don't like the idea of changing too many things at the same time, sometimes they cancel each other out and give false results,

Put it this way, you are trying to find .0005 on a 2" bore to get an RMS of 16, you try different inserts, maybe different coolant or feed rates, but you only change one thing at a time.

Cool thanks, I wish this biology stuff was as simple as the mechanical world, things would definitely be a lot simpler.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by hillegom

From the tunze 9010 skimmer manual, I copied the following text.

"For operation in surroundings which tolerate a
very low noise level only (living room, bedrooms,
et cetera), the Comline DOC skimmer can be
connected up to a time switch (7). The unit may be
put out of action for eight hours a day, for example.
The missed protein skimming action is caught up
almost after the unit has been switched on again.
The Comline DOC skimmer has the advantageous
property of not changing its setting when switched
off. In this mode of operation, the skimmer should
not be run at the lower limit of the recommended
output for the aquarium."

Might just be propaganda, but it seems to say if you shut the skimmer off for a while (8hrs) then whatever skimming was missed, will be caught up.

Thanks for the info, kinda what I figured.

[fishytime]

Just a thought but, I noticed in your pic that you have a relatively large leather mixed in there....I noticed quite an improvement will all my remaining corals after I removed all my leathers (xenia and toadstool) and started running a carbon reactor....I wouldnt think of doing a mixed reef without running carbon to help absorb any toxins that may be being released. Im not positive if the improvement was due to an increase in available nutrients or a decrease in "chemical warfare"