Dumb question about skimmers

chopper320 · 06/26/2014, 08:58 PM

I've been in the hobby for a while and just recently started wondering about this and I'm not sure of the answer.

Is the amount of skimmate collected at a given setting affected by the amount of nutrients or is it just the thickness of the skimmate that's affected?

For instance if I have a high bioload with tons of nutrients being processed and my skimmer is adjusted to skim a nice thick dark skim that fills the cup every week then I reduce that to a very light bio load and low nutrient system but keep the skimmer on the same setting, what will be the effect on the skim produced?

d2mini · 06/27/2014, 09:50 AM

The way you have your skimmer adjusted (like water height in the body) should determine whether you are skimming more wet or more dry.
The bioload of your tank will determine how much skim you get in the cup over a certain period of time.

A properly sized and working skimmer should not skim continuously and should not have long periods of inactivity. It should skim well, then have short periods of downtime which means it has caught up with the bioload of your tank. If you have a light bioload, those might be tiny on/off periods throughout the day that you might not notice. Personally, I might get 2-3 days of almost no skim, and then it will fill the cup in 2-3 days. Just kinda depends on your tank and what's going on inside it.

wildman926 · 06/27/2014, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d2mini

The way you have your skimmer adjusted (like water height in the body) should determine whether you are skimming more wet or more dry.
The bioload of your tank will determine how much skim you get in the cup over a certain period of time.

A properly sized and working skimmer should not skim continuously and should not have long periods of inactivity. It should skim well, then have short periods of downtime which means it has caught up with the bioload of your tank. If you have a light bioload, those might be tiny on/off periods throughout the day that you might not notice. Personally, I might get 2-3 days of almost no skim, and then it will fill the cup in 2-3 days. Just kinda depends on your tank and what's going on inside it.

This is spot on good advice.

I like to have a high level and skim wet to ensure I get everything out, nothing left behind. Here are my AquaMaxx EM200 & 300 on my 90g & 150g respectively -

d2mini · 06/27/2014, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildman926

I like to have a high level and skim wet to ensure I get everything out, nothing

Same here.

From what I've read, you will pull more nutrients out over time skimming wet.
But for some reason people are more impressed by the thick peanut butter like consistency of a dry skim.

06/26/2014, 08:58 PM	#1
chopper320 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 626	Dumb question about skimmers I've been in the hobby for a while and just recently started wondering about this and I'm not sure of the answer. Is the amount of skimmate collected at a given setting affected by the amount of nutrients or is it just the thickness of the skimmate that's affected? For instance if I have a high bioload with tons of nutrients being processed and my skimmer is adjusted to skim a nice thick dark skim that fills the cup every week then I reduce that to a very light bio load and low nutrient system but keep the skimmer on the same setting, what will be the effect on the skim produced?

06/27/2014, 09:50 AM	#2
d2mini Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 10,344	The way you have your skimmer adjusted (like water height in the body) should determine whether you are skimming more wet or more dry. The bioload of your tank will determine how much skim you get in the cup over a certain period of time. A properly sized and working skimmer should not skim continuously and should not have long periods of inactivity. It should skim well, then have short periods of downtime which means it has caught up with the bioload of your tank. If you have a light bioload, those might be tiny on/off periods throughout the day that you might not notice. Personally, I might get 2-3 days of almost no skim, and then it will fill the cup in 2-3 days. Just kinda depends on your tank and what's going on inside it. __________________ -dennis Elos Diamond 120xl \| Elos Stand \| Radion G4 Pros \| GHL Profilux Controller \| LifeReef Skimmer \| LifeReef Sump Photos taken with a Nikon D750 or Leica M.