afraid of shutting off the skimmer

[redadeath]

i have mature scrubber with green hair algae running now for more than one year my nitrates and phosphates is zero

i am afraid of shutting down the skimmer so the ph may drops and less aeratation and oxygen for the tank will result

give me some advice please

[RkyRickstr]

Its a scary step but once u take it u will never go back.

Remember the scruber, overflow and surface movement will.provide all.the aeration you need.. by skimming all this time you have been depriving your corals of precious food.

[kerry]

I was worried about it to, I will never run a skimmer again!!! Thank GOD!!

[RkyRickstr]

Lol... I sold mine a bought a vortech.. not to mention all the money i save od salt

[Ace25]

IMO if you are afraid to remove the skimmer, and you have no real need to remove it, then don't. There is nothing wrong with running a skimmer. It may not be a very efficient tool, but it is still a useful tool. I was in the same boat... removed my skimmer once I had a good ATS, but then got tired of seeing a $300 skimmer just sitting there not being used so I put it back in. One tank I have ATS+skimmer other tank I have ATS+carbon. Skimmer doesn't really do much, takes about a month to fill the skimmer cup now a days, but like you said, it does aerate the water really good so why not keep it if for no other reason than aeration. Skimmers are probably the best tool for doing that.

[redadeath]

so for those guys working without the skimmer .... do u see any good results?

also can i make the skimmer running with no skimming .. like lowering the level of water inside the skimmer?

also is there any ph drop happened after going skimmerless

[mrbncal]

Just do it for a month and if you dont like the results you can turn it back on. In the mean time you can clean it and get it ready to sell. ;)

[redadeath]

In the mean time you can clean it and get it ready to sell

lol

so do u feed as recommended or less with no skimmer?

[RkyRickstr]

No ph fluctuation here..

I dont agree that its a good tool.. why would you want to remove food from the tank so then you can go a dose it.. its plain dumb imo.

[redadeath]

i tried removing skimmer before

i got smell out of the tank

also the water turned aliitlte bit brown

so i am afraid to repeat that step

[dtyharry]

i tried removing skimmer before

i got smell out of the tank

also the water turned aliitlte bit brown

so i am afraid to repeat that step

Take skimmer off and try using carbon for a while. It will not remove any tiny particulate food like a skimmer can and will keep dissolved organic carbon at natural levels.
You could try gradually reducing the amount of carbon you use while the system gradually adjusts and may then be able to stop using it altogether.
I know much is made on this site about how much corals eat but just like any living organism there is a limit to how much a coral requires. Just look at ecoreef zero, a 6 gallon tank with just one elegance coral in it. Just a pinch of food a day and it has grown 300%!

[SantaMonica]

Smell can be from putting too much liquid food in water.

Brown is from not cleaning screen soon enough.

[Ace25]

I dont agree that its a good tool.. why would you want to remove food from the tank so then you can go a dose it.. its plain dumb imo.
Take the cup off the skimmer or turn the skimmer down to where it doesn't collect anything.. problem solved and still provides superb aeration of the water. :D
For me I figured I spent $300 on the thing, don't really want to sell it because I like having a stock pile of parts on hand, so why not keep it running. It does seem to help with ORP levels.

[redadeath]

can lowering level in skimeer would be good choice
my skimmer is not good brand anyway it also fill the cup after 3 weeks

[mrbncal]

In the mean time you can clean it and get it ready to sell

lol

so do u feed as recommended or less with no skimmer?

I feed what the fish load can handle, about 4 cubes right now. The scrubber grows algae accordingly. Never had an issue.