Dino’s & Pods - Agressive skimming???

[niccumec]

I am 30 days into my cycled tank which went pretty much textbook with fishless Dr.Tim's. On day 21, I added benthic copepods from @Reef By Steele and they seem to be flourishing in the DT (and hopefully the refugium, although it is harder for me to see in there). I dose 190 ml Phyto daily (190gal system volume).

I am seeing light brownish material in my skimmer and settling in lower flow areas of my sump. I am assuming these are diatoms? I don't see any on the sand or rocks in the DT. DT is a high flow rate return of ~ 1600 gph. Perhaps the high flow rate is keeping diatoms from settling in DT???

I had turned down my skimmer as I thought that perhaps I was skimming out the pods, but now I am thinking it is all diatoms.

Question: should I go back to more aggressive skimming? I was afraid of skimming out pods, but the pods seem to be doing well in DT…

 

[niccumec]

Additionally, I sucked up some of the light brown material and looked at it with my phone - I do not have a microscope (yet ). Looks like there is a pod in there eating it in the bottom of my sump?

 

[Dan_P]

I am 30 days into my cycled tank which went pretty much textbook with fishless Dr.Tim's. On day 21, I added benthic copepods from @Reef By Steele and they seem to be flourishing in the DT (and hopefully the refugium, although it is harder for me to see in there). I dose 190 ml Phyto daily (190gal system volume).

I am seeing light brownish material in my skimmer and settling in lower flow areas of my sump. I am assuming these are diatoms? I don't see any on the sand or rocks in the DT. DT is a high flow rate return of ~ 1600 gph. Perhaps the high flow rate is keeping diatoms from settling in DT???

I had turned down my skimmer as I thought that perhaps I was skimming out the pods, but now I am thinking it is all diatoms.

Question: should I go back to more aggressive skimming? I was afraid of skimming out pods, but the pods seem to be doing well in DT…

You can examine the skimmate for pod bodies if you are concerned. To see diatoms you will need a microscope.

 

[Reef By Steele]

It is my belief that generally you won’t skim out too many pods. For one I think they tend to move away from suction. At least when I’m siphoning them out of a culture I can see them moving away. Plus if they have structure, for the most part they will stay in that shelter. In refugium, sand, mud, rubble, macro algae etc. plus they are reproducing in the DT as well. If you are getting diatoms in the fuge and skimmer, then the phyto must be really doing its job in the DT because the picture looks incredible.

Plus, thanks for the shout out. Looking great.

 

[Formulator]

Its probably just detritus. Your tank is going to get "brown stuff" and if its accumulating in the skimmer and in the sump then those two pieces of your system are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing. Pods and phyto don't live that long. As the pods digest phyto, they generate detritus. When pods and phyto die their decomposing bodies generate detritus. Its just like the dust in your house that comes from all the stuff we humans are constantly shedding. Just need to siphon it out from time to time. Or just leave it alone and it will be a nitrogen and phosphate source for your future corals. You are going to drive yourself insane if you think the tank and your equipment will stay spotless like that for any prolonged period of time. It does look great though. Good luck!

Edit: Sorry I just noticed you were asking whether to turn the skimmer back on. I'd say yes. Especially with no predators you won't even notice if you do lose some to the skimmer. I run a roller mat and heavy skimming and still have a healthy pod population.

 

[niccumec]

You are going to drive yourself insane if you think the tank and your equipment will stay spotless like that for any prolonged period of time. It does look great though. Good luck!

Haha, I know. I am prepared (not so sure about the wife) for the uglies! Was just concerned that I was skimming out all of the live pods and photo that I am spending $$ on. I will examine the skimmate with microscope - mostly to learn at this stage. Probably a combination of diatoms and pod waste as you state. If it’s all pod detritus and decomposed pods, that is a lot of dead pods!!! They seem to be thriving in DT.

My 2 clowns come out of QT next week and will have a nice clean tank all to themselves! - for a bit.