Is over skimming possible? Are there negative any effects?

Are there any ill effects associated with over skimming? Can your skimmer be too large?

I have *heard* that over skimming can quickly remove a lot of the trace elements out of your water, causing you to have to do more frequent water changes.

Are there any other negative effects that one should know about before purchasing a skimmer that is rated for a much higher volume of water then they have?

 

its true that you can suck more elements out of your water with an oversized skimmer but i have never heard any problems with people having oversized skimmers

 

Fisrt Ryan you have to understand the purpose of skimming.

Skimmers are there to help remove debris ( heavy/light materials i.e waste products such as amonia and other waste products given off by your fish and uncurred live rock too )

There is a method people employ such as "wet skimming" this technique when employed will help catch the lighter materials such as algae spores and the more lighter waste made by the fish as well.

As far as over skimming is concerned iv'e not really heard of any one doing this, It will remove such things such as vital trace elements like Stronium,iodine,etc.

But skimming the water far out weighs the minute trace elements you will lose in the long run.

I'd rather "over skim" if thats a term to use here, than "under skim" and have algae problems and poor water quality.
But choosing a proper sized skimmer for you size tank would be in your best intrest.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Can you elaborate on choosing the "proper" size skimmer?

I currently have a AcuaC Remora that I haven't even run yet. It was the first item I purchased (and regret) when I started buying parts to set my tank up. At the time I wasn't planning on a sump, so I chose a HOB. I have since modded it to run in sump since I now have a sump.

I honestly don't even want to use the AcuaC. I feel like it is inadequate for the stock levels I plan on for my tank, and would much rather start with a sufficient skimmer, even if it were overkill.

I plan on keeping my current tank for approximately 2 years, then upgrade to a 125. I would like to get a skimmer that would sustain the 125 when I upgrade.

I know a skimmer that size would be over kill for the 42 gallons of water I currently have in my system, but would there be any negative unwanted side effects?

 

other than perhaps dosing a bit more than usual no

 

Its very possible to over skim. Skimmers remove DOM (dissolved organic matter). A lot of soft and lps corals like some nutrients in the water that over skimming can remove.

Skimmers are not needed as much as what people think. If you're going to have a lot of SPS corals, then yeah, a skimmer is a must have cause they like pristine water. Zoa's on the other hand, if you have pristine water, they will wither away and die.

If you have a light fish load, and dont have a lot of SPS corals, a skimmer is a waste of money IMO. Now if you overfeed or have 20 fish in a 55g, then a skimmer is a must have.

 

can you overskim???? yap you can. I do it purposly in my 50 gal sps tank. With the sps I keep they like the tank to be pristene so I yank everything i can out of the water except for salt and then I replace with amino acids, and 2 part solution. As far as sps and softies, if you aren't skimming and keeping the crud out of the water, you are going to have algae problems. yeah your softies will like it but the rest of the tank won't. As far as saying zoas will wither away and die in a pristine sps tank..............these are in the same tank


as these



You can't say zoas can't live in pristene water.

 

WOW! Great pics!

How much total water do you have in your system? What skimmer?

 

I should have prefaced that those are not my corals. They belong to a really good friend of mine who I would say is my mentor in this hobby. His tank is a 225 gallon with a huge sump.(not sure of total volume) The system is set up strictly for sps with 3x250 watt mh with luminarc reflectors. Those pics and colors you see are with 10k bulbs too so those are the true colors of the corals and not "fabricated" blues you get from actinics or 14 k bulbs. He frags and sells alot of corals online and grows fast enough to sell on a steady basis. Even though this is an sps dominated tank and set up for such, zoas do great in the tank and ricordia do well in there also. Just some food for thought.

 

Oh and he is running an ATI bubblemaster skimmer