Is a skimmer really needed?

[urban79]

I know this has been talked about before. But, Im really hating my skimmer right now. One min. it dont skim, the next its take all the water out. I have a 55g fuge. With a good amount of sand and plants. I run carbon pads too. But I guess the question would be how long would you think it would be ok intill I get one?


And The other one. How do you set one? Maybe Im just doing it all wronge.

thanks

[Jeff]

if you want one or not depends on your bio-load, if it's high then you need a skimmer if it is low then you don't need one.

[caferacermike]

I'd say it depends upon how large a tank, and was mentioned, how few in habitants. Not to mention if you can perform regular (maybe even weekly) large water changes. The skimmer has gone a long way to making sub-par hobbyists into successful reefers due to extending the time necessary for acceptable water changes.

You didn't mention what type of skimmer, this would make any advice about the skimmer difficult to give. I prefer the simplicity of a good Euroreef or better yet a Deltec. Injector skimmers seem complicated and fussy.

[ismvel]

Or if you are on a budget, look at some ASM skimmers or Octopus Skimmers. They are both very good skimmers for the $$...I owned an ASM G-2 when I had my 135 gallon and LOVED it. It was roughly $240 bucks (www.saltwaterfish.com (http://www.saltwaterfish.com)) and rated for 200 gallons. The one I will probably end up with on my 220 gallon is the Octopus Dual Recirc 250 ($500) unless I find a better deal elsewhere.

www.octopusskimmer.com (http://www.octopusskimmer.com)

[Bill S]

You can try having Ace build you one...

[erikharrison]

Is it dirty? :) I would dismantle it and clean it throughly first. What I do is this:
Before I turn my skimmer on, I make sure it is at it's lowest setting. Then, I plug it in and let it fill. I raise the water level (with the knob) and let it fill up to the clear portion of the skimmer's neck, right below the collection cup. Let it sit that way for an hour or so, then come back and you should start to see some good foam bubbling up. Raise it again, very, very slowly. I turn the knob just a little, let it set for a second, and then raise it again, let it set, until the level is proper. It could be you have a big skimmer for your bioload and that it skims, but not to where you see alot of it since it skims so little for it's size.

[mathias]

if you seen the stuff my skimmer pulls out... you would say its a must have...

[crossxfire2]

just...try to get one as soon as possible. They are probably one of the most useful things you can have!

[urban79]

Well No big fish. I have 3 damels, 1 yellow tang, 1 spotted goby, 3 Pajama Cardinal and a six line. But, ALot of sps and one leather..

the skimmer is coralifes I think..

[glennr1978]

if you seen the stuff my skimmer pulls out... you would say its a must have...
X2. I have a very low bio-load on my tank with only 3 fish, that combined only total about 7" or so. I have a 45g tank with a 20g sump/fuge. The sump/fuge probably holds about 12-15 gallons of water. My total water volume is probably somewhere around 40-50 gallons (subtracting for LR and sand), and I run a CSS65 rated for tanks up to 65g. I don't over feed, honestly I probably don't feed enough!! Anyway all that being said my skimmer pulls some really nasty crap (literally) out of the water day in and day out. Keep the skimmer, you just need to figure out why it's not working for you.

[tony]

i had a coralife skimmer as well and mine was just as finnicky. apparantly they all are.

[glennr1978]

i had a coralife skimmer as well and mine was just as finnicky. apparantly they all are.

Mine works just fine.

[txstateunivreefer]

ok with my CSS i noticed that if my ATO fails or something resivor is empty, cat turned it off etc. the waterlevel in the tank and skimmer fall = no more skimmate make sure your h20 level stays constant

[kaiser]

How big of a tank is it?