Skimmer Off At Night?

[Rovert]

I asked this in the 'general' forum but didn't really get a good answer.

It's my understanding that microfauna are most active at peak hours overnight. Would it not make sense to turn off our skimmers to coincide with that peak period rather than skim off natural foods that corals eat?

I realize that turning off the skimmer for a few hours overnight might reduce the amount of extraction it's doing, but I tend to think that would be offset by the fact that I wouldn't have to manually feed the tank (Cyclopeeze, Golden Pearls, etc.) which the skimmer would later have to remove after it deteriorates.

Thanks!

[bigclops]

would have to be a real massive skimmer to not skim at night..

[Rovert]

Originally posted by bigclops
would have to be a real massive skimmer to not skim at night..

I have absolutely NO idea what you mean by this.

[SunnyX]

Well..........I believe most fauna and phytoplankton are destroyed by our pumps. I don't have the article handy but I have read it somewhere.

The other issue is with the skimmer off you will have less oxygen going into your tank at night. Many corals, surprising, grow at night. The corals grow and surrounding bacteria absorb oxygen. Not to mention that a tank has low Ph at night. Turning off the skimmer would only depress the Ph even more so.

I say keep it running 24/7 . Even if it did help out microfauna the pros outweigh the cons for leaving it on.

[tangdiver]

Originally posted by SunnyX
Well..........I believe most fauna and phytoplankton are destroyed by our pumps. I don't have the article handy but I have read it somewhere.

When I met Eric Boreman at IMAC one year he and I chated about this and he also talked about a cardinal baby that got from one tank to another and had to go through a really bad pump, to get there. It made ith through with no issues.

Not my word, but his

just another opinion.

Grant

[Rovert]

Originally posted by SunnyX
The other issue is with the skimmer off you will have less oxygen going into your tank at night.

I don't know how concerned I should be about that. I have ample circulation in the tank and an open sump with 2-stage drain holes. But again, for a couple hours - say two or three overnight - I wonder if that would really make so much of a difference.

If you can find that article on microfauna being destroyed by pumps, I'd be interested in reading it.

[SunnyX]

Originally posted by tangdiver
When I met Eric Boreman at IMAC one year he and I chated about this and he also talked about a cardinal baby that got from one tank to another and had to go through a really bad pump, to get there. It made ith through with no issues.

Not my word, but his

just another opinion.

Grant

Well I did say MOST not all.

I remember making it through one time........There must have been 100,000 of us. They were dropping left and right while we were fighting to achieve our objective. Little by little the enemy killed my brothers off. Eventually I alone made it! 9 months later I was born.

Moral of the story, life is resilient and will always find a way.

[Rovert]

[i]Originally posted by SunnyX I remember making it through one time........There must have been 100,000 of us. They were dropping left and right while we were fighting to achieve our objective. Little by little the enemy killed my brothers off. Eventually I alone made it! 9 months later I was born.

Ugh. Ok, thanks for the visual. Need brain bleach.

That said, I think you made a point for me. That with so many, most would remain in the water column, rather than working their way to the sump.

[CleveYank]

3 thumbs up for skimming 24/7

[will16]

24/7 too

[SunnyX]

Rovert,

I think the best thing for you to do is test your theory. Turn the skimmer off at night for a month and measure the growth, health, Ph, and nutrient levels.

If you find that the experiment works for you than continue to employ it. This is the only way you will know for sure which option is better.

[Rovert]

Yeah, I could but it would be pointless at the moment because I don't know for sure when the peak activity for microfauna is. That's the missing piece here. Anyone know generally what time range it is?

Just seems silly to me to skim 24/7 (which I do now) at least in part because we're feeding tanks processed foods to extract what we put in, when perhaps a couple hours overnight might work out better.

[SunnyX]

Well, some reefers will wait an hour after the lights have gone out and then turn off the skimmer and feed. The skimmer is run on a timer and turned off for 2-3hrs.

I know from observations in my tank that my corals extend their feeding tentacles within 1 hour. With a red filter on a flashlight I can see all sorts of things floating around in the darkness. Pods and worms all come out to play and clean the tank.

Give it a shot, you have nothing to lose. Run the skimmer on a timer and have it turn off for 3 hours after the lights have been off for 1 hour. Feed the tank as soon as the skimmer is off and see what happens.

[Rovert]

Originally posted by SunnyX
...With a red filter on a flashlight I can see all sorts of things floating around in the darkness. Pods and worms all come out to play and clean the tank... Feed the tank as soon as the skimmer is off and see what happens.

I think you missed the point. The idea is to NOT manufally feed at all, preferring to let the natural spora in the water column feed the tank rather than ADDING food.

[SunnyX]

Originally posted by Rovert
I think you missed the point. The idea is to NOT manufally feed at all, preferring to let the natural spora in the water column feed the tank rather than ADDING food.

Oh, that's a tough one. Probably more trouble than its worth. I rarely add any coral food to my tank and I don't think I have a large population of Micro fauna due to intense skimming and filter socks. But, for what its worth, I have always had great success with corals.

Personally, I would be more concerned with keeping the water clearer to provide more light penetration for photosynthesis.

[gnarlyswine]

Moral of the story, life is resilient and will always find a way. [/B]

(say in a morgan freeman voice for maximum effect)

[humanremainz]

i run my Warner Marine AS200 Skimmer 24/7

[Rovert]

Originally posted by humanremainz
i run my Warner Marine AS200 Skimmer 24/7

Oh, geez.

PLEASE let's not start with a bunch of people piling on about how they run their skimmer 24/7.

That's not the question I asked. I just WISH that RC members would READ and COMPREHEND before reflexively clicking the reply button and responding with jibberish.

For those who just can't seem to get it right, here it is in big print:

This question is about the theory of promoting coral health by not skimming out the live spora in the water column by turning off the skimmer for 'x' amount of time during peak periods of microfauna activity.

It's not a poll about how long you run your skimmer. If that's what I wanted, that's what I would have asked.

Please forgive me if this sounds abrupt, but it's a chronic problem and it's frustrating for those of us who want an answer, take time to craft a clear question, and then get inane replies that have no relevance to the question asked.

[Rovert]

.

[Mykel Obvious]

I run my Octo... KIDDING!!!

I'm not sure when the "peak" time would be for microfauna... but from what bits and pieces I remember, they start for the surface soon after full darkness, and descend just before dawn in the wild... this can be less than 9 hours during the longest days of the year at reef locations if I did the math right

It depends on how long you turn off your skimmer IMO... dusk to dawn would be best for the microfauna, but not necessarily for your tank... pick a point right in the middle of your lights out period and bracket that by a few hours... my guess is you have sucked out most of the planktonic microfauna already, but it IS worth a try if you can still keep your pH at a suitable level (of course they may not come to the surface if there is nothing to eat there)

[Ian]

SunnyX seemed to answer it pretty clearly based on his own knowledge and the article he read. If you can't take that for what it is, like he said, try it and find the results first hand.

It seems the majority, if not all, of the people run them 24/7. If theres some huge positive impact to shutting off your skimmer at night had a huge positive impact, I imagine we'd know by now...

Maybe you stand to pioneer this idea. Get back to us with your results...

[SunnyX]

Originally posted by Ian
SunnyX seemed to answer it pretty clearly based on his own knowledge and the article he read. If you can't take that for what it is, like he said, try it and find the results first hand.

It seems the majority, if not all, of the people run them 24/7. If theres some huge positive impact to shutting off your skimmer at night had a huge positive impact, I imagine we'd know by now...

Maybe you stand to pioneer this idea. Get back to us with your results...

Well said!

My skimmer has been off for over a month and a half now and the only thing I have noticed is increased nutrients.

Its a tough topic to grapple. The only way to know for sure is try it yourself.

[Rovert]

Wasn't directed at any one person in particuar. I was just trying to avoid what I think any of us who have been here for any amount of time have seen far too much of. The "Me, too!" kind of silliness that often abounds.

Now, on to business.

Just because we haven't, as a practice, experimented with this doesn't mean it's not a good idea. For example, SunnyX said that he experienced increased nutrients. Perhaps the tank just hasn't ramped up yet to reach an equilibrium.

Simply because a particlar thing hasn't been done doesn't mean it's not a good idea. Hell, the "best practices" advice now is to mount frags horizontally, rather than vertically. Seems to be taking a while for that idea to catch on. But until now, nobody really did it. Does that mean that Borneman is wrong? Or is it that the idea just hasn't matured.

Anyway, I was hoping for some metrics to help found any decision on this. But the first step is to grapple with the concept first. For example, if my underlying premise about microfauna being active at night is incorrect, then how long to turn off the skimmer is academic.

Thanks to all for the feedback. I guess I'll wait this one out for a time until I have more information... and skim 24/7 until then.

[flyyyguy]

Originally posted by SunnyX


The other issue is with the skimmer off you will have less oxygen going into your tank at night.


. Not to mention that a tank has low Ph at night. Turning off the skimmer would only depress the Ph even more so.

.

me too


....agree with this that is...along with run my seaclone 24/7

[tacocat]

Originally posted by SunnyX
The other issue is with the skimmer off you will have less oxygen going into your tank at night. Many corals, surprising, grow at night. The corals grow and surrounding bacteria absorb oxygen. Not to mention that a tank has low Ph at night. Turning off the skimmer would only depress the Ph even more so.

I say keep it running 24/7 . Even if it did help out microfauna the pros outweigh the cons for leaving it on.

X3. Corals switch from oxygen producers to oxygen consumers at night. I observe my tank after lights out quite often. Most of the microfauna I have seen are pretty adept swimmers. They tend to hang around the lower portions of the tank, typically in the back corners where the flow is most gentle.

A point not brought up yet:

I would never turn off my skimmer after lights out because that is when my corals spawn. All it takes is one massive spawning to kill everything.