Why do you use a skimmer?

[mandingCa]

121, if you wanna dose my skimmate, just send me a shipper number.

[xdannyxrocksx]

will it make my corals grow faster? if so i want some shipped how much per ounce?

[widmer]

I would like to generically respond to both sides of the debate:

To the pro-algae scrubber crowd: If you have a system which uses a scrubber, and your aquarium is doing well, then by all means post your system so that others can learn from it. In the meantime, please don't push algae scrubbers based on hypothetical situations. And stop trying to tell people skimmers don't work or are harmful; that's just silly. I say this as a person who's planning an ATS at the center of his next build.

To the pro-skimmer crowd: It's been established by now that skimmers work great, and are a key component of the vast majority of successful tanks. So just try to ignore the strangely relentless ATS pushers. But also, please try not to go out of your way to discourage people who are experimenting with an ATS, because they can in fact work.

Here's a thread with some success stories, and a cameo appearance from our own PaulB:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1925996

The good stuff starts at the bottom of the first page.

[xdannyxrocksx]

thanks widmer

[Pallobi]

anytime PaulB has something to say based on his xp, i listen... he is probably the most established aquarist i have come across if not one of the top few...

[xdannyxrocksx]

so i cleaned my scrubber today...remember i clean it every seven days.







after the cleaning of the algae of the screen.

[Anthonius]

that sure looks like it smells like a wet gym sock... but still my skimmate could gag a maggot and cure the swine flu at the same time. this is all factual of course.

[xdannyxrocksx]

yes i know what you mean, oh how i hate thursdays at work..skimmer cleaning day..

[reef-luva]

Originally Posted by noobtothereef

an algea scrubber? Nothing mechanical about an algea scrubber...

A mechanical filter removes debris or dissolved organic material from the water,
before it has a chance to break down and become harmful tot he critters...
...just like my skimmer...an algae scrubber is an offset hinged tray, plastic mesh, algae, that fills with water, when the level reaches a certain point the tray dumps the water, the tray goes pivots back to the start position and starts all over again. I thought this thread was asking,"why do we use protein skimmers"....

[widmer]

reef-luva, that is only one type of algae scrubber, and yes it is certainly mechanical.

But among the contemporary algae scrubber crowd, that variety is no longer recommended, and instead they are using a stationary screen with a constant flow of water over it. The current scrubbers really don't have any sort of movement to them, although there still are plenty of operational concerns, like water flow, selection and placement of light, roughness of the screen.

[Camel413]

Ok maybe I am very odd or my reef is an odd ball because when I smell my skimmate I think it smells good. Its kinda like a fresh breeze in spring smell. Maybe my skimmer just dont work right not sure.

BTW I was not drunk when I smelled my skimmate or typed this post lol.

[reef-luva]

...for sure widmer, u r correct (GO WINGS) I LOVE the smell Camel!!!...reminds me of the ocean, diving, etc....and....SCALLOPS!!!...I loves me some scallops!

[samdaman]

Originally Posted by Camel413

Ok maybe I am very odd or my reef is an odd ball because when I smell my skimmate I think it smells good. Its kinda like a fresh breeze in spring smell. Maybe my skimmer just dont work right not sure.

BTW I was not drunk when I smelled my skimmate or typed this post lol.

So does mine! It smells like downy lol!