To run or not to run....Protein Skimmer

[Avi]

I've got my 120 going and it has 120 pounds of live rock and a sump...no bio-medium. I have an Aqua-C skimmer hooked up and it's been running all the time. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not since it must be removing trace elements and I was wondering if it would be better to let it run on a timer...say, half a day instead of all day long. Any help with this question would be appreciated....THANKS

Although skimmers do remove some trace elements, what they remove as far as undesirable properties from the water far outweighs any possible negatives as far as trace elements are concerned. Personally, I would just let it run. While having a skimmer is not essential, they are a great benefit in keeping water quality high and pollutants minimal.

As long as you do some sort or regular water changes, you have little to be concerned about.

And BTW, you LR is your bio-medium.

Cheers
Steve

[evenings]

we have an aqua c also.. runs 24/7 and we re very happy with the results.

[XXFirefighter]

I run my Aqua C 24/7 and just add some trace elements weekly.