how long should i turn off my protein skimmer??

[mattgeezer]

hi ,

just wondering, how long should i turn my skimmer off when i dose trace element, a couple of hours or a day or so ??

matt

[Tangster]

I'd never turn the skimmer off that is another one I never knew where it came from.. Skimmers do more then remove stuff from the water the keep the water saturated with oxygen. What are you dosing I really never saw the need to replenish many elements and most get into problems with their usage. I'd say use 1/2 as much and 1/2 as often of as the manufacture suggest that you use. Iodine being the leading trouble maker.

Skimmer's like carbon will remove some elements from the water but not all of them and the animals will get what they need and what they don't want or need will be removed to some extent and thats a good thing in that by the excess elements being removed the substrate and rocks will not hold or bind them up and then at some point they can't reverse osmosis on you..

[monkey]

+1 that. i have mine running 24/7 minus cleaning.

[coral reefer]

I can understand where tangster and monkey are coming from and their reply is certainly a popular and reasonable one.
However, I choose to follow the other side of the equasion! You have to remember their are three types of filtration:Chemical, Mechanical and biological. Obviously the mechanical part of that (protein skimmer) is a very important one as it removes particulate matter, DOM etc. It also acts as a oxygen provider due to the tiny bubbles that form to aerate your water.
That being said, you also have a very crucial and powerful biological filtration community! The heterotrophic and autotrophic bacteria living in your substrate, and in/on your live rock provide a superb means of filtration. Moreover, worms, tridacna's, sea stars,microscopic crustaceans, coral, sponges etc. all play a crucial role in absorbing and adsorbing nutrients from the pelagic and benthic areas of your tank.
Because of this, I choose to leave my protein skimmer off all day and have the skimmer timed to come on at 5:00pm til 6:00 the following morning with no ill effects at all. This way I am assured, when feeding my livesotck, that proper nutritional uptake is being achieved to the fullest without much of the food/supplements being removed by my skimmer!!!!!!!
The nice thing about using this system of leaving the skimmer off during the day and turning it back on at night is the issue of oxygen depletion!!!! As I mentioned above, skimmers help to aerate your tank, much in the same way as an airstone connected to an air pump(which by the way is one of the best things you can invest in in the case of a power failure>battery powered air pump and airstone to ensure vital oxygen is being supplied to your water). At any rate during the day, your algae, plants and zooxanthellae are photosynthesizing(turning co2 to o2) thus oxygen is being produced and released into your water for your livestock elliminating suffocation. At night, this process halts, unless you are running a reverse daylight configuration on a refugium/sump. Photosynthesis has stopped and thus carbon dioxide starts to build up in your tank (respiration from fish and bacteria) which in excess is bad for many living organisms found in your tank. By running your skimmer at night, and also by having a powerhead or fan running across the air/ water interface you will ensure that dissolved oxygen(DO) will be continually administered to your water column.
So water aggitation and aeration at night are crucial to ensure enough DO is transferred to your tank and carbon dioxide is removed to eliminate the chances of suffocation.
My Tridacnas, and corals feed on nitrogen, nitrates, phosphates, ammonia etc. from my water column, so again by turning my skimmer off for a period of time enables my livestock the opportunity to absorb the required nitrients for them to prosper.
Again the way that Tangster and monkey described is another choice available that is NOT an incorrect way to maintain a successful tank.

[mattgeezer]

im dosing (essential element - kent) for my gbta .

thankyou guys youve all made it alot clearer.

since i dosed 4 days ago the tentacles have gotten alot more puffy and the colour has gotten alot deeper ,

[Birchell]

I always thought you did a water change to replace trace elements. Ive never doesd anything and my corals and bta seem happy. I feed them photoplex, and marine snow, but never suplement them. I also leave my skimmer on 24/7. Im a stong beliver in using the skimmer as a airater. Even if you have a cheap skimmer, it will to alot more than you think. Running a skimmer in the cycle is a good idea too. It will help the bacteria, and help the skimmer break in. Im glade your bta is doing better Mattgeezer, it is always nice to see your animals feel better.

[mattgeezer]

yes i have only added it in water change not to supplement.

[Tangster]

IMO people get themselves into most algae problems with additives and if you are adding it for an anemone then its a waste of time and money not much is needed by them and if you do any water change thats all you need I never change water and all I ever add besides the Kalk is some turbo strontium. and maybe a cap of Kent's essential elements about every couple of months in a 180 about full of sps corals and a few clams.. I use Carbon and skim 24/7 with a ETSS down draft pro Bio tower skimmer. So I after yrs of skimming with big skimmers and running about 1/2 cup of carbon per 100 gallons of water 24/7 and replacing the carbon at about 5 weeks I have never had an issue with element depletion.

[mattgeezer]

im pretty much seem to be fighting cyanobacteria all the time. just noticed that the protein skimmer picked up the essential element in the cup .

why i bought essential element to see if the water was lacking anything
im trying to knockout all possbilites why the gbta has lost its puffy look , and pale looking color when everything else is great , 4 days after water change and essential element its starting to look up, all other levels are fine

[Tangster]

Lighting is where I'd look also how long have you had the anemone ? And also with a constant cyano problem I'd look to currents and water movement and lack of oxygen in the water;