To Skim or Not to Skim "General Questions"

[Layer3guru]

I have a 55 gallon that has been up for 5 months all this reading seem to be
confusing me. I have read that you should leave your skimmer running 24x7
and I have also read you should only run it a few hours a day. So which is
correct to keep from over skimming, how do you know if your over skimming?
The gunk that comes out of my cup is a dark green almost brown stuff that
smells horrible, I usually have to take my tank only sponge and wipe the
walls of the cup because it is very thick with a little water in the bottom
of the cup. I am cleaning it about twice a week with it running 24x7 now.

Also how much water circulation do I need right now I have 1 MaxiJet 1200
and a Powerhead 641 at seperate ends of the tank pointing to the surface to
try and help with gas exchange.

55gallon
80 pounds of Live rock
40 pounds of live sand
2 175Watt MH
2 110 Watt VHO
1 MaxiJet 1200
1 Powerhead 641
CPR Bak PAK2

1 Yeallow Tail
1 Clown
1 BTA anemone
Cleanup Crew with 2 shrimp 1 Mithrax forceps_Red-Ridged Cling Crab He has
not bothered anything yet but keeping a close eye on him.
Pictures http://www.digitalrage.org/tank/index.html

[Marc Levenson]

Can you overclean your house? Not really. I've never worried about
overskimming a tank ever. The more crap I can pull out, the better. And once
there is nothing left to pull out, the skimmer stops producing skimmate.

There are some corals that need nutrient laden water, and overskimming a tank
would cause those corals to starve over time unless you fed with the pumps and
skimmer off, for at least one hour.

Overall, your setup sounds fine at this point, but personally I'd have more
pumps circulating water. Even a closed loop hanging over the back of the tank
would be a good choice to really get some current in there. I remember when
there was a time when I had 5 powerheads in my 29g. LOL

Marc


Layer3guru wrote:

> I have a 55 gallon that has been up for 5 months all this reading seem to be
> confusing me. I have read that you should leave your skimmer running 24x7
> and I have also read you should only run it a few hours a day. So which is
> correct to keep from over skimming, how do you know if your over skimming?
> The gunk that comes out of my cup is a dark green almost brown stuff that
> smells horrible, I usually have to take my tank only sponge and wipe the
> walls of the cup because it is very thick with a little water in the bottom
> of the cup. I am cleaning it about twice a week with it running 24x7 now.
>
> Also how much water circulation do I need right now I have 1 MaxiJet 1200
> and a Powerhead 641 at seperate ends of the tank pointing to the surface to
> try and help with gas exchange.
>
> 55gallon
> 80 pounds of Live rock
> 40 pounds of live sand
> 2 175Watt MH
> 2 110 Watt VHO
> 1 MaxiJet 1200
> 1 Powerhead 641
> CPR Bak PAK2
>
> 1 Yeallow Tail
> 1 Clown
> 1 BTA anemone
> Cleanup Crew with 2 shrimp 1 Mithrax forceps_Red-Ridged Cling Crab He has
> not bothered anything yet but keeping a close eye on him.
> Pictures http://www.digitalrage.org/tank/index.html

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Kelly]

With that much current how do you keep the sand down?
"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
> Can you overclean your house? Not really. I've never worried about
> overskimming a tank ever. The more crap I can pull out, the better. And
once
> there is nothing left to pull out, the skimmer stops producing skimmate.
>
> There are some corals that need nutrient laden water, and overskimming a
tank
> would cause those corals to starve over time unless you fed with the pumps
and
> skimmer off, for at least one hour.
>
> Overall, your setup sounds fine at this point, but personally I'd have
more
> pumps circulating water. Even a closed loop hanging over the back of the
tank
> would be a good choice to really get some current in there. I remember
when
> there was a time when I had 5 powerheads in my 29g. LOL
>
> Marc
>
>
> Layer3guru wrote:
>
> > I have a 55 gallon that has been up for 5 months all this reading seem
to be
> > confusing me. I have read that you should leave your skimmer running
24x7
> > and I have also read you should only run it a few hours a day. So which
is
> > correct to keep from over skimming, how do you know if your over
skimming?
> > The gunk that comes out of my cup is a dark green almost brown stuff
that
> > smells horrible, I usually have to take my tank only sponge and wipe the
> > walls of the cup because it is very thick with a little water in the
bottom
> > of the cup. I am cleaning it about twice a week with it running 24x7
now.
> >
> > Also how much water circulation do I need right now I have 1 MaxiJet
1200
> > and a Powerhead 641 at seperate ends of the tank pointing to the surface
to
> > try and help with gas exchange.
> >
> > 55gallon
> > 80 pounds of Live rock
> > 40 pounds of live sand
> > 2 175Watt MH
> > 2 110 Watt VHO
> > 1 MaxiJet 1200
> > 1 Powerhead 641
> > CPR Bak PAK2
> >
> > 1 Yeallow Tail
> > 1 Clown
> > 1 BTA anemone
> > Cleanup Crew with 2 shrimp 1 Mithrax forceps_Red-Ridged Cling Crab He
has
> > not bothered anything yet but keeping a close eye on him.
> > Pictures http://www.digitalrage.org/tank/index.html
>
> --
> Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

[Jimmy Chen]

> So which is
> correct to keep from over skimming, how do you know if your over skimming?

Unless you use some skimmer that can process your whole tank's volume many
many many times an hour (ie, 20 plus times as a while guess?), you have
nothing to worry about in turn of over skimming. Besides, the other side of
this question is are you overfeeding your corals? If your answer is not,
based on the gross wet weight of what corals get in the ocean reefs, then I
would say your skimmer is most likely underskimming your system.

jc

[Marc Levenson]

I had crushed coral. <g>

In my 55g I have a DSB and it is a real trick blowing stuff around without
affecting the same. My Tunze Turbelle moves 700gph and it was tricky but I
think I've got it nailed now.

Marc


Kelly wrote:

> With that much current how do you keep the sand down?
>

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Kelly]

So you just keep moving it slightly until it's in the right place then? I
was hoping there was a trick to keeping the sand down. I got a 5" bed so I
don't want to cover it.
"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
> I had crushed coral. <g>
>
> In my 55g I have a DSB and it is a real trick blowing stuff around without
> affecting the same. My Tunze Turbelle moves 700gph and it was tricky but
I
> think I've got it nailed now.
>
> Marc
>
>
> Kelly wrote:
>
> > With that much current how do you keep the sand down?
> >
>
> --
> Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

Go with what you want, and run the pumps to see if it works for your specific
setup. You may have to make some minor adjustments, but overall, your sand
should stay in place for the most part. Especially on an established tank.

Marc


Kelly wrote:

> So you just keep moving it slightly until it's in the right place then? I
> was hoping there was a trick to keeping the sand down. I got a 5" bed so I
> don't want to cover it.
>

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[C]

125 with a 40 sump I have around 1500 gph 3-5" Agronite base.
10 x total tank turn over perhour
Your skimmer should be rated dbl your volume - displacement of LR.
running it 24/7 wont over skimm at all. Adjust for a nice dry foam and
keep your hands out of the tank. Even the oils on your hand will stop
the skimmer from working. Let it fill up 1/2-3/4 before you clean it.


On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 21:31:08 GMT, "Layer3guru" >
wrote:

>I have a 55 gallon that has been up for 5 months all this reading seem to be
>confusing me. I have read that you should leave your skimmer running 24x7
>and I have also read you should only run it a few hours a day. So which is
>correct to keep from over skimming, how do you know if your over skimming?
>The gunk that comes out of my cup is a dark green almost brown stuff that
>smells horrible, I usually have to take my tank only sponge and wipe the
>walls of the cup because it is very thick with a little water in the bottom
>of the cup. I am cleaning it about twice a week with it running 24x7 now.
>
>Also how much water circulation do I need right now I have 1 MaxiJet 1200
>and a Powerhead 641 at seperate ends of the tank pointing to the surface to
>try and help with gas exchange.
>
>55gallon
>80 pounds of Live rock
>40 pounds of live sand
>2 175Watt MH
>2 110 Watt VHO
>1 MaxiJet 1200
>1 Powerhead 641
>CPR Bak PAK2
>
>1 Yeallow Tail
>1 Clown
>1 BTA anemone
>Cleanup Crew with 2 shrimp 1 Mithrax forceps_Red-Ridged Cling Crab He has
>not bothered anything yet but keeping a close eye on him.
>Pictures http://www.digitalrage.org/tank/index.html
>