Can you skim too much?

[ShAgMaN]

Just wondering if your skimmer can be counter productive. Some of my xenia, acans, and two leathers were shrunk up tonight. The leathers are normal, they shrink then blow up again, but my xenia and acans are always good until the lights go out. It’s prolly nothing, but the only change lately has been my skimmer working at full efficiency. This got me wondering if too many nutrients were being pulled out. My parameters are normal other than salinity being slightly high at 1.027 and ph down around 7.8.

[Gseclipse02]

xenia loves dirty water

edit

i notice my tank loved it when i didnt skim but i dont do water changes to often so i figured i should skim

[sharkboy]

we could use some more specifics regarding the tank...equipment, how long its been up and running...and other parameters...but my question is what do you mean by the skimmer running at full efficiency? is the stuff its pulling out a dark brown and thick stuff or more clear? is it a new skimmer? i personally believe that skimmers are essential...on another note, have you had any temp swings?

[ShAgMaN]

Sorry I wasn't more specific. My skimmer had been broken for a month or two and skimming real weak. Fixed it last week, and it has been running well but nothing out of the ordinary – no sludge or goop. Anyway, no swing in temps – really everything is the same as it’s always been. One thing I can’t test accurately for is nitrates – I lost my test card but took a sample and color is a darker shade of yellow (like the color of pee when you dehydrated) – still I doubt nitrates are a factor. I have a 150 gal. with octo skimmer, 2 k4’s, uv sterilizer, heater, 15 gal. fuge, and LED lights.

we could use some more specifics regarding the tank...equipment, how long its been up and running...and other parameters...but my question is what do you mean by the skimmer running at full efficiency? is the stuff its pulling out a dark brown and thick stuff or more clear? is it a new skimmer? i personally believe that skimmers are essential...on another note, have you had any temp swings?

[ShAgMaN]

Well my lights went out and the acans and trumpets are feeding. Pretty sure everything is cool but I fed some phyto and killed the skimmer for the night. We'll see how everything looks manana.

[CoryDude]

Are there any microbubbles escaping into the aquarium, since the skimmer is working better? I've seen things shrink up for a day or two if there's a lot of microbubbles in the main tank.

Agree with JT, those softies like a dirtier tank. I kept my softie tank between 10-20mg/L.

[Rychek]

My zoas and palys would shrink and close up in my 90 gal if I ran my Octo NW150 for too long. A day or two with it off and they would all start to open up like normal.

[ShAgMaN]

Nope, no microbubbles. Everything looks fine now. Well, the xenia is still a little tweaked but coming back after I killed the skimmer. I think I'm going to alternate skimming now. I really think they got used to the excess nutrients - hence the reason why they were taking off.

Are there any microbubbles escaping into the aquarium, since the skimmer is working better? I've seen things shrink up for a day or two if there's a lot of microbubbles in the main tank.

Agree with JT, those softies like a dirtier tank. I kept my softie tank between 10-20mg/L.