If doing 40% water change weekly will skimmer not produce - Aquarium Advice

jasno999 · 03-04-2006, 10:05 AM

I am wondering why my skimmer is not producing any skim. I have a 10 gallon tank:

1 damsel
1 brittle star
1 turbo snail
lots of naseriuth snails
1 bubble coral
1 small sand polyup comunity
1 rock with mushroom coral on it

I am wondering if the skimmer is not producing anyhitng due to the fact that I am doing about 40% water changes each week. Was doign that because of an algae issue I had. It is not turnign around.

My skimmer is a piece of crap Seaclone but I have moded it out a little. It was produsing a few weeks ago but has since stopped givign me anything. What do you all think?

reefrunner69 · 03-04-2006, 11:02 AM

You don't really have alot of bioload to produce much skimate without doing such large waterchanges, doing that much weekly would definitely reduce skimate production.

**melosu58** · 03-04-2006, 04:20 PM

I agree that your PWC at 40% will not leave much to skim. Try doing half that much.

GinaD · 03-05-2006, 09:53 AM

I have two 10-gal. tanks more populated than yours, and only do 2 gal. WC every week. My skimmer is producing just fine. I am not familiar with your filter, but I have a Skilter250 on one of my tanks (Bio-Wheel filter on the other). The only thing I don't like about it (besides the noise) is that it dumps millions of micro bubbles in the tank. I haven't been able to find a way to stop that without changing the way my skimmer skims.

I agree with the others in that 40% WC is not necessary for your bioload. Do you have a DSB? How much LR do you have? Those can really help with the filtration as well.

How old is your tank?

Here's a thought if you cut back on the water changes and still get no skim:
If the tank is fairly new, maybe it was skimming before because of the inballance in water quality; but now that it's older the water quality has stabilized, so there's nothing much to skim anymore.

jasno999 · 03-05-2006, 10:07 AM

Tank is not new. Skimmer is a real piece of junk. Tried modding it but it has nto helped all that much.

The tank is over a year old but has only had coral in it for about 2 months now. I was havign algae issues so I purchased a RO system. However I did more testign and found out that the RO system was not takign out enought phosphate. I had a DI canister on the system but still read levels of phosphate at .5ppm.

So I started running phoshate remover in the filter with some carbon. And I decided to do massive water changes to get things stable. HAs worked so I am goign to do one more big one and then move down to smalller changes.

03-04-2006, 10:05 AM	#1
jasno999 Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: King of Prussia, PA Posts: 527	If doing 40% water change weekly will skimmer not produce I am wondering why my skimmer is not producing any skim. I have a 10 gallon tank: 1 damsel 1 brittle star 1 turbo snail lots of naseriuth snails 1 bubble coral 1 small sand polyup comunity 1 rock with mushroom coral on it I am wondering if the skimmer is not producing anyhitng due to the fact that I am doing about 40% water changes each week. Was doign that because of an algae issue I had. It is not turnign around. My skimmer is a piece of crap Seaclone but I have moded it out a little. It was produsing a few weeks ago but has since stopped givign me anything. What do you all think?

03-04-2006, 11:02 AM	#2
reefrunner69 Aquarium Advice Freak Moderator Emeritus Join Date: May 2002 Location: Cedar Key, FL Posts: 311 Images: 109	You don't really have alot of bioload to produce much skimate without doing such large waterchanges, doing that much weekly would definitely reduce skimate production. __________________ Kevin Visit Nature Coast Photography Join the Central Florida Aquarists Regional forum or the Southeastern States Aquarists Regional Forum or the N. FL (North Florida Hobbyists) Regional Forum!

03-04-2006, 04:20 PM	#3
melosu58 SW 10 yrs and over Community Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Richmond Va Posts: 12,756 Images: 80	I agree that your PWC at 40% will not leave much to skim. Try doing half that much. __________________ View My Tanks http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...8/melosu58.jpg Click here to Visit FantasyReef

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03-05-2006, 09:53 AM	#4
GinaD Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 130 Images: 4	I have two 10-gal. tanks more populated than yours, and only do 2 gal. WC every week. My skimmer is producing just fine. I am not familiar with your filter, but I have a Skilter250 on one of my tanks (Bio-Wheel filter on the other). The only thing I don't like about it (besides the noise) is that it dumps millions of micro bubbles in the tank. I haven't been able to find a way to stop that without changing the way my skimmer skims. I agree with the others in that 40% WC is not necessary for your bioload. Do you have a DSB? How much LR do you have? Those can really help with the filtration as well. How old is your tank? Here's a thought if you cut back on the water changes and still get no skim: If the tank is fairly new, maybe it was skimming before because of the inballance in water quality; but now that it's older the water quality has stabilized, so there's nothing much to skim anymore.

03-05-2006, 10:07 AM	#5
jasno999 Aquarium Advice FINatic Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: King of Prussia, PA Posts: 527	Tank is not new. Skimmer is a real piece of junk. Tried modding it but it has nto helped all that much. The tank is over a year old but has only had coral in it for about 2 months now. I was havign algae issues so I purchased a RO system. However I did more testign and found out that the RO system was not takign out enought phosphate. I had a DI canister on the system but still read levels of phosphate at .5ppm. So I started running phoshate remover in the filter with some carbon. And I decided to do massive water changes to get things stable. HAs worked so I am goign to do one more big one and then move down to smalller changes.