protein skimmer counterproductive for a maturing reef tank?

[BeanAnimal]

now that I'm learning more about reefing and how a skimmer works, I'm wondering how do tanks actually go more mature and survive without a skimmer.? I mean, my skimmer is taking out all this yellow gunk from my tank on a daily basis. If didn't have that skimmer like a lot of people don't have skimmers then what happens to all that yellow gunk? would not having a protein skimmer just make me more of a slave to water changes? Even then, if I took out a 10% water change, I'm still leaving 90% of that gunk in my tank.

The answer to that question can be very complex. However, in general without some means of export, sequestration or conversion, all of that stuff can become problematic in the tank.

It is hard to get a handle on what the balance needs to be when you are new and without context or experience. The skimmer provides a time tested and proven method of export and will get you through the next year or so as you wrap your head around how everything fits and works together with chemistry and biology. You may one day decide to go without the skimmer or water changes, etc.

In your case the skimmer and mechanical filter (roller mat) are both exporting compounds that will build up in your system. You could arguably do without one or the other, but as a new aquarist I would NOT go without the skimmer. You may or may not want to experiment with bypassing the roller filter at some point but leave it online for now.

 

[VintageReefer]

Don’t do what I do. I don’t do water changes. And I don’t use a skimmer. I am not new though…just showing that those things aren’t absolutely needed, if you have knowledge and experience. Took a lot of time to figure out how to do this, and the tank was planned from the start to not need a skimmer or water changes.

 

[00W]

I have been running a skimmer on all my tanks since 1988. I've never gone without one.
I've used many many kinds and configurations and even made my own.
To me, it's my most important piece of equipment next to my return pump.
This is just my opinion.
With that said, there are lots of great tanks run without one and with one.
My advice always to those starting out is do your research and pick a fellow reefer you gel with, understand or is well spoken and learn from them, follow what they do and go from there.
Lots of seasoned reefers on here with many different ways they run their tanks all with success and using all kinds of different equipment to do so.
My tank is 10 years old, the rock twice that or more.

I cleaned this yesterday.
I can't tell you if a skimmer is counterproductive to a mature reef tank or not or if I left whatever this smelly stuff is be in my tank but it makes me feel just fine to dump and clean this cup twice a week.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

now that I'm learning more about reefing and how a skimmer works, I'm wondering how do tanks actually go more mature and survive without a skimmer.? I mean, my skimmer is taking out all this yellow gunk from my tank on a daily basis. If didn't have that skimmer like a lot of people don't have skimmers then what happens to all that yellow gunk? would not having a protein skimmer just make me more of a slave to water changes? Even then, if I took out a 10% water change, I'm still leaving 90% of that gunk in my tank.

it would get consumed by the Chaeto that a lot of people have in their refugiums or serve as a source of food to coral in an established tank.

 

[GARRIGA]

it would get consumed by the Chaeto that a lot of people have in their refugiums or serve as a source of food to coral in an established tank.

Funniest part being refigiums existed in the 80s. Weren't called refigiums. Just tubs with caulerpa. Don't recall chaeto back then and caulerpa had it's issues and then ATS came out but were at the time way too expensive and cumbersome. Aeration aside. Can't see a valid reason to run a skimmer. Plus the natural reduction of pollutants sends back base lost during nitrification requiring less buffer.

 

[exnisstech]

dang thats a lot of rock! lol

Do you have any sand in that sump? Was planning to run a refugium at some point so added some to mind and might now be changing my mind...

Sorry I just saw the question. I do not have sand. I was going to add it but didn't feel like buying a bag. Its all old live rock much of it from the ocean before it got so expensive.
These are my skimmers lol

 

[Ballyhoo]

Sorry I just saw the question. I do not have sand. I was going to add it but didn't feel like buying a bag. Its all old live rock much of it from the ocean before it got so expensive.
These are my skimmers lol

so many skimmers. where are the fish

 

[VintageReefer]

so many skimmers. where are the fish

It’s Skimmer Only With Live Rock tank “SOWLR”

Some people collect corals, he collects skimmers

 

[exnisstech]

so many skimmers. where are the fish

Some fish are here

Some here

The rest are in a tank in the bedroom. The skimmers use much less electricity where they are now and the tanks do just as well with them where they are I did like many when I started and thought skimmers were needed to be succesful.

It’s Skimmer Only With Live Rock tank “SOWLR”

Some people collect corals, he collects skimmers

No live rock so it's just a SO tank

 

[Seansea]

Skimmer no skimmer all depends on your bioload. Vintage uses an ats but doesnt keep many fish so a skimmer isn't needed nor waterchanges a big deal. I have 17 fish in a 75 mixxed reef that i feed heavily and use a skimmer an ats and do waterchanges. My phos stays around .1-.2 and nitrates around 20. I stop any 1 of the 3 which I have tried and tank suffers. So what filtration you need is all very dependent on the type of tank you run.

 

[VintageReefer]

Skimmer no skimmer all depends on your bioload. Vintage uses an ats but doesnt keep many fish so a skimmer isn't needed nor waterchanges a big deal. I have 17 fish in a 75 mixxed reef that i feed heavily and use a skimmer an ats and do waterchanges. My phos stays around .1-.2 and nitrates around 20. I stop any 1 of the 3 which I have tried and tank suffers. So what filtration you need is all very dependent on the type of tank you run.

This is true. I have 7 fish in my 75. If I had 17 it might be a different story. However with the anthias and tang I am feeding 4 cubes a day already

 

[Serpentman2024]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned water clarity. Skimmers remove dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) which tend to effect water clarity.

I'm a big fan of skimmers. In my opinion, skimmers also offer a bit of a safety net and let you push the envelop slightly when it comes to bioload (aka fish). Although not necessarily a required piece of equipment, I've always found their benefits outweigh the negatives, more so on a mature system (bigger fish).

 

[Ballyhoo]

Some fish are here

Some here

The rest are in a tank in the bedroom. The skimmers use much less electricity where they are now and the tanks do just as well with them where they are I did like many when I started and thought skimmers were needed to be succesful.


No live rock so it's just a SO tank

beautiful setup though. What are the bc tank dimensions of the tank on the bottom?

 

[Reeferbadness]

only coral I'm having issues with his my Xenia. It's really struggling.

you'll be glad if your Xenia struggles to death - invasive as hell once they get going and not easy to eradicate

 

[Ballyhoo]

well, I love my scammer now I mean first it was a scammer but now it's a skimmer and I love it. Only thing is I'm very low on nutrients. Apparently I have zero phosphate and I've been told to turn the skimmer off or actually keep the skimmer on, but turn the valve open, which I've been doing.

 

[Badblackdog]

at first I hated that protein skimmer, I called it the protein scammer. Firstly LFS installed it wrong and forgot to put a rubber gasket at the water inlet, so it sounded like my GT Mustang engine. it was very loud from day one and I just not knowing about reef tanks thought that protein skimmers were loud. I put a DIY gasket and now the skimmer thunderous noise is goneI just used adhesive felt to wrap around the pump/water inlet area and is now is very quiet. I don't understand how the knuckle installing my tank could've missed putting the gasket on the skimmer, but whatever. It does such a great job sucking up bad water. I have this compulsion to measure the skim waste water versus the tank water. The skim water is tested using my 10 and 1 strips and always tests high in nitrite and nitrate. And then I take the same type strip and test my actual tank, which shows very low nitrate and nitrate. Great right? But I want my tank to mature like anyone else, it's just the beginning phase, past the initial cycle of six weeks. I did everything to get it cycle quickly as I could, using live rock, live sand, and everything else they tell you to put in. And it did fine it cycled I have no ammonia no nitrates no nitrates and haven't for a few weeks But I'm wondering whether my skimmer might be scamming the maturity of my tank or may do so in the long run? could a skimmer doing its job so well make it longer for me to get Coraline? I just would like to know because I don't know, when I remove the waste water it's all yellow stuff full of nitrates and nitrates but what else is in there that might be good for maturing tank?.

I moved an 80 gallon RedSea system in march. I kept the sand bed and about half the water. I used cycled rock from my LFS. I ran the Red Sea skimmer 24/7. I was impressed with how much nastiness it took out of the tank. However, I could not get readable phosphates or nitrates. So of course, I had terrible algae problems. I turned off the skimmer completely about three weeks ago. I really think the skimmer was too much filtration for the light bio-load I have in the tank currently. This morning, my phosphates tested .8 on an Hannah checker and my nitrates are still zero on a Salifert test kit. I think I’m getting bad results from the Salifert test kit. I am buying a Hanna Nitrate checker this week. My algae issues have improved and I expect them to get better as I get the nitrates up. Also, I have been running a mean green UV filter and I do believe that has made a big difference as well. Good luck.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

well, I love my scammer now I mean first it was a scammer but now it's a skimmer and I love it. Only thing is I'm very low on nutrients. Apparently I have zero phosphate and I've been told to turn the skimmer off or actually keep the skimmer on, but turn the valve open, which I've been doing.

Skimmers do not directly remove nitrate or phosphate and are not typically a huge factor in nutrient control. I would not choose to use one or not use one based on nutrient issues.

 

[Ballyhoo]

IDK I've sampled using the API strips the skimmer waste water, and it always samples higher in nitrates and nitrites compared to the actual tank water. anyways, my main issue is low or zero phosphate based on strip testing and Salifert i've been told Hanna is more reliable.
. I don't know if you would call it an issue because I have a new tank and it's just I'm sure part of the process. what is interesting is several days ago I had a cyano, pseudo hair algae outbreak all over my live rock , (but not the live rock that I keep in my sump that had no growth ) I took out each individual live rock and scrubbed em down and brought them back into the tank. in the process, I lost a juvenile blue damsel by accident.it must've come out with one of the rocks. That's been four days and there's been no sign since then of any cyano growth. So I'm happy about that. cannot find even a strand or air of growth on any of the rocks four days later. I do have the odd string of Dino on the sand.

also, I know I am a reef forum pariah because well I was talked into or talked around into getting a juvenile purple tang by a reputable local fish shop which mostly sell corals. The rational was it would help my bioload. have at it I'm sure there will be 1000 rebuttals here. since I have no phosphates it was considered a way to increase the tanks bioload. yes I know there's already gonna be 1000 responses telling me that that was wrong, that it won't help the bioload that it should not be in the tank, etc. etc. etc.. I know that getting the purple tang officially gives me a pariah status on these forums. I don't plan on keeping her more than the to the point where she outgrows the 42 gallon tank. I will either get a larger tank or re home her. anyways, I don't think having a juvenile purple tang love in a 42 gallon tank is any different than having an adult tang live in a 100 or 150 gallon tank proportionally. But somehow people rationalize that tangs should never go in a 42 gallon tank that they are open ocean fish; but it's fine for elitist reefers to put adult tangs in 100+ gallon tanks that's OK. They're open ocean fish they need to be in at least 100 or 150 gallon tank. Kind of strange. well here is a picture of the tank today, and a picture of what the tank looks like four days ago.

 

[Ballyhoo]

The strip nearest the bottle is collected from the skimmer waste cup. The strip on the right is collected from the aquarium water.

 

[Ballyhoo]

Vintage Reeefer, not sure if I missed it in one of your posts, but did you say you do or do not have to refuge you? Or maybe you didn't say one way or the other