Can your protein skimmer be too efficient?

[Carloskoi]

i am upgrading to an established 260 gallon BB tank with sps, lps, and some softies. a few fish.

the current owner is keeping the protein skimmer so i just upgraded to a AquaC EV400 said to do up to 800 gallons i think.

can i get more fish? will i skim out to much good stuff?

Carl

 

[wrightme43]

I have only heard one person ever say that maybe just maybe my skimmer is too efficent.

 

[cheeks69]

IMO it depends on what you want to keep. If it's going to be an SPS tank then I would say no but if you want to keep a mixed tank with plenty of softies and LPS then I would say it's possible to overskim.

 

[DonW]

Most skimmers are so over rated. You can get your water to clear to fast and experience bleaching, overskimming of a sps tank is unlikely.

Don

 

[Carloskoi]

i am plumbing the skimmer in a closet next to the tank.

is it better to take the pickup before the filter sock or after, then return the water just before the return pump to the tank?

Carl

 

[MikeS]

Can your protein skimmer be too efficient?

Nope....

MikeS

 

[clayswim]

If you perform regular water changes it's not possible to overskim in my opinion. Water changes add back some of the beneficial nutrients that skimming takes out. Some of these can be replenished by additives as well.

I use a DIY skimmer on my 5 gallon nano tank that stands two feet high, made out of 3" pipe. The skimmer holds damn near as much as the tank Between it and the carbon I run the water is exceptionally clear, as one would only hope.

Clayton

 

[cheeks69]

it's not possible to overskim in my opinion.

I disagree. It really depends on what your keeping and IME softies and many LPS will actually do much better in a higher nutrient tank then a tank with aggressive skimming.

 

[Carloskoi]

doesn't that mean that i could have more fish and feed more and that would support the softies and LPS corals?


Carl

 

[wrightme43]

My opinion is this, if you ever were able to overskim this skimmer would just stop producing. I dont think the skimmer removes very much if any benevolent helpful things from my tank. I think carbon has a much greater chance of removing helpful stuff than a skimmer.

 

[cheeks69]

Well maybe overskim isn't the proper term but I've had some corals actually decline since I've started with SPS and much lower nutrient levels in my tank.

 

[clayswim]

Skimmers don't remove absolutely everything, which is why foam production starts out slow when you're setting a tank up. Skimmers begin to work when waste production reaches a reasonable amount; they won't polish your tank like some chemical and mechanical filters will. Again, I really don't believe in overskimming; only underskimming. If your skimmer can't keep up with the bioload of your tank it's time for a larger skimmer. Huge skimmers won't likely remove anymore than an appropriately sized good-quality skimmer. The reason I go overboard with my skimmers is the what-if factor. As in what if I drop something into my tank that shouldn't be there; or what if something large in my tank dies and begins polluting my tank? Mediocre systems just don't cut it in those cases.

Clayton

 

[mojoreef]

I am also a believer that its almost impossible to overskim. Skimming will remove both particulate and soluble organics/ect. That is something you really need to do and concentrate on doing to have a healthy tank. Now I can see that this might have an impact on one of the sources of food for soft corals and simular. If you end up in this boat I would consider continuing with the heavy skimming and then just directly supplement feed the corals being affected.


Mike

 

[cheeks69]

Corals like Catalaphyllia, Gonioporas,Trachyphyllia and Fungia come from turbid Lagoons with a high level of nutrients so they will not do well in a tank with aggressive skimming. Mike makes a good point about supplementing but even then as you know some of these corals will continue to deteriorate. I had a Catalaphyllia that did very well for a couple of years in a nutrient rich small tank but declined and perished with a new tank and much lower nutrient levels even target feeding it didn't save it from doom.

 

[mojoreef]

Yea Robert and that leads to what I always say, and that is to design your system to create an enviroment that the corals you keep can thrive in. Some of the corals you mentioned are pretty hard to make happy in any kind of system, so definately they would be affected the most, man with a couple thier we dont even know what they eat for sure.



Mike

 

[cheeks69]

which is why foam production starts out slow when you're setting a tank up

I'm not sure what the break-in period has to do with it, you could have a tank loaded with organics that's not going to change the fact that the skimmer has to break-in.

I know people who had Catalaphyllias years ago and you just couldn't kill them they thrived in tanks overstocked with fish and poor equipment and poor lighting.

 

[clayswim]

I was referring to the low efficiency of skimmers at low organic levels when compared to other filtration methods like activated carbon. A properly setup tank in the beginning has a low organic waste level; unless you're curing rock that is. When all you have is cured rock, snails, hermits and odds and ends of other creatures the waste output is often too low to see much dark foam. Activated carbon, however, is effective at virtually any level. The point of all of this is that skimmers are incapable of removing every bit of waste in the water. Promoting an environment for our corals that is rich in organics isn't something we ought to be doing, because in all but the rarest of cases it's not the best approach.

I really don't think there's much of a disagreement here. Are there any negative effects to overskimming? Possibly, but you're talking about extreme cases at best. For the most part oversized skimmers will work on almost any system, especially when other conditions are met (lighting, feeding, etc.)

Clayton

 

[cheeks69]

I think we agree to agree

 

[Skimmy]

i think if your going to mix softies, lps and sps that if anything, it becomes more paramount to skim heavily, not less. there is so much more alleopathy when you mix corals like that, you want an oversized skimmer to suck out the turpenoids the corals produce for defense. and dont forget the carbon!!!
im sure your aqua c will be great!

 

[btuck]

Corals like Catalaphyllia, Gonioporas,Trachyphyllia and Fungia come from turbid Lagoons with a high level of nutrients so they will not do well in a tank with aggressive skimming. Mike makes a good point about supplementing but even then as you know some of these corals will continue to deteriorate. I had a Catalaphyllia that did very well for a couple of years in a nutrient rich small tank but declined and perished with a new tank and much lower nutrient levels even target feeding it didn't save it from doom.

I agree with cheeks on the softies, after adding a recirculating Deltec skimmer at work our trachyhpyllia have began a slow downward spiral. Nothing else changed but the skimmer (and can those things skim).