Skimmerless???

[Troy Valentine]

How many Maastards are running systems that are skimmerless? And if so, what kind of results have you notice(good, bad, otherwise)?

[LuckySingh]

i ran my 1st cube skimmerless for about a year........I hardly feed my tank so i didnt bother me

[justahobby]

Been skimmerless on the BC14 and happy with it.

[Pennies2Cents]

We turned ours off completely. The result has been amazing. Everthing is opening up like they should. :) Where as before, we were either loosing or none of the coral were showing their polyps. The growth has improved as well. All is good.

[Mr Cob]

I ran my 55g skimmerless since day one. It just hit a year this month and I tore it down a couple of weeks ago. I did not dose anything and did somewhat bi-weekly water changes (I would forget a lot though). The display also had a 5" sandbed.

System was T5's and LED blues, large sump with large refugium full of chaeto macro and 5" DSB.

I could not keep SPS in this system aside from Hydnophora. Softies and acans did well in this tank.

BIGGEST problem for me was hair algae....I never got that under control aside from using a sea hare. Not blaming the lack of a skimmer but I'm sure it might have helped in this system since the nutrients were so high.

This tank was just a little neglected since it took a second seat to the MCC tanks full of frags and $$$

[alton]

On my Small tanks with 25% water changes weekly I never ran a skimmer. On my larger tanks you need them unless you have a bunch of Xenia like my 158 was and I could not run a skimmer or my Xenia would not pulse.

[hobogato]

i am running my current tank (250 gallon) skimmerless and sumpless. i have and extremely deep sand bed and lots of macroalgae growing in the tank. the only drawback i have seen so far is the film that forms on the surface of the water. i do small (5 gallon) water changes twice a week, and use a container to dip the water out of the tank at the surface to get rid of the film.

[Mr Cob]

yeah, I noticed the film as well....I ran a sump so I didn't see it in the display but in the last chamber of the sump I would get a film....

[hobogato]

oh yeah, just want to add that i do have lps, softies, anemones, and sps in this tank. sps are dark in coloration, but since the tank is sunlit, that probably effects coloration quite a bit as well.

[ErikH]

I ran my old 75 skimmerless for about a year and a half. It was packed, and I never had any problems. I think skimmers are great for aeration though, as well as the added benefit of removing waste materials.

[Mike]

The small 20g hex has been skimmerless for a while. I do accasionally see white foam buildup on the top sides of the tank. We have a small Koralia pointed up at the surface to agitate the water so we don't get the film and to aerate the water. Does cause a lot of evaporation though.

[Europhyllia]

I think skimmers are great for aeration though,
I agree. I usually have a lot of CO2 in the house so that depresses the pH. I don't go skimmerless but I leave the cup off a lot (I grow and dose phyto in large amounts and don't want to just skim it back out) which seems like a good compromise for me. I still get the surface agitation and aeration (decrease in CO2, increase pH) while keeping my phyto in circulation

[CoryDude]

Troy, stop by and take a look at my 60 cube. Skimmer went out last year and I didn't have the $$$ for a new pump. The tank actually looks better without it. Of course the no3 reactor helps.

[Europhyllia]

I wish we had an area where members could park articles. I think Cory has some interesting info to share in regards to bacterial driven nitrate reduction. I want to see him write an article. I think he has a lot of info to share. (Sorry for detouring the thread for just a second)
back to skimmerless tanks! :)

[txav8r]

We do! There is a place in the library forum. Just send me the link and I'll add it.

[justahobby]

Forgot to mention I only keep softies, leathers, and lps under t5's (roughly 80w worth on bc14). Tried a monti cap but it lost color. I also haven't been dosing 2 part though.

[kkiel02]

I am semi skimmed. I have the ATS going though so I guess I am kinda cheating. Still have my smaller skimmer going but it doesn't take much out.

[justahobby]

When i had my 58g running, my tank was healthier with a bakpak skimmer than when i switched to an octo 150. That's about the time I learned to let sleeping dogs lie.

[Troy Valentine]

Thank you all for sharing, its interesting to see so many seasoned hobbiest going skimmerless or using a skimmer on a limited basis, and have positive results from it:)

I will cycle my skimmers on and off, depending on what is happening with the system. Sometimes my tank just looks so darn healthy when they are off. But it is just temporary, within a month or two the systems health begins to slowly decline. I think this is do to competing corals, and decreased water clarity. I also begin to see a skim develop on the surface. But usually with some heavy skimming, and carbon dosing it all goes back to normal within a few weeks.