idiosyncraticeee Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Howdy! So I've had a 90 gallon tank now for about 3 yrs, full of mostly softies (and a few obligatory fish). I have been running the tank pretty much unskimmed until a couple of months ago. When I get around to it, I'll do a 10% water change, usually every month or two. I have ~200lbs of LR. A few months back I aquired a teklight 8 bulb t5. Since then, my zoas have been growing at a pretty good clip. I figured I'd move the process along by adding in a skimmer. The progress seems to have come to a grinding halt and I haven't noticed much in the way of new growth and some of the coloration seems off compared to what it was. So my question is: do zoas hate skimming? Also, other than the zoa slow down, I haven't noticed any upside to skimming. My nitrates and phosphates were at 0 before I started skimming, and the algae level (wipe the glass every couple days) seems the same now as it did before. What am I missing here? -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerv503 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I don't think skimmer affect Zoas, you gotta run your skimmer that's the most important equipment. Vin "Keep On Reefing" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fpd4308 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Zoas and many Softies actually prefer water that is not pristine. They were probably consuming enough trates that you had a perfect balance. If things are going well in your system without the skimmer get rid of it. I guess if it ain't broke don't fix it. There are many people who don't use skimming at all and rely solely on live rock/natural filtration. I have seem some pretty amazing tanks like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Shoot a message to pledosophy if you want proof, he doesn't use a skimmer, or at least didn't use to, and has always had amazing tanks. A former member here, CA2OR ran some of the nastiest water around, and his zoos grew like crazy. And as for myself, I'm going to go completely skimmerless on our system, I've never run one, and until I can do our big system, I'm not going to bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 it is possible that the zoos were getting benefit from the extra particles and goodies floating through the system. the skimmer would have taken those out. do you spot feed at all? that might make them more happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idiosyncraticeee Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks for the responses. I don't do any spot feeding (never have). Sounds like I should turn off the skimmer and see if the zoas resume their accelerated growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks for the responses. I don't do any spot feeding (never have). Sounds like I should turn off the skimmer and see if the zoas resume their accelerated growth. turn the skimmer off for a month or two and see if the zoanthids start growing again. Interesting experiment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenReefin Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well a skimmer would remove the bio before it turns to trate, and lots of softies like a little "dirtier" water. Especially if you have a skimmer that is over rated for your water volume. High bioloads should always skim a lot, But 24/7 skimming is a good way to keep your water in check, never a bad idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Just curious, how heavy is your BIO load? If you don't have a lot of fish and you have great biological filtration (like you do) then skimming probably doesnt leave enough dissolved organics behind. If you decide to add large fish in the future you will probably need the skimmer, just a guess. P.S. Do you have a deep sand bed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idiosyncraticeee Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 Hi Gill, I have about 9 fish, 2-3" a piece. My sand bed is about 2.5" on the top and I have a 4-5" sandbed in the fuge. My biggest concern would be poisons coming off the corals because that seems hard to test for. As far as bioload goes, I figure if I have high nitrates or phosphates (which I don't) then I know I have a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltISlife Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 how do you know its skimming thats causing the decline in growth? it might be a change in something else, maybe you were using a supplement before that you arent now, feeding differant foods, lighting changed, who knows, i relly heavily on natural bio filtration with lots of chaedo and LR & LS in my sump which is a breeding ground for copepods, these are a great food source for my softies but i also run a monster Red Sea CSKIM 1200 and my softies love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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