New Skimmer, Corals look Great!!

[2quills]

Flower,
How much skimmate are you removing on a regular basis?
How much macro do you already have in the system.
What you need to consider is that other peoples situation may be different than yours.
A week in not long enough to see any major difference if your skimmer isn't carrying a large load to begin with.

 

[pegasus]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/397050/new-skimmer-corals-look-great#post_3538013


I have to ask...Did you even read the article I posted? Can you produce an article that says a skimmer can reduce your nitrates, and how it does it?
Yes, I read it. It was an interesting article about the nitrogen cycle and how nitrates are created, BUT... it never touched on the subject of filtration nor removing organics BEFORE they start adding to the nitrogen cycle. Obviously, removing dead plants and animals will reduce the amount of nitrogen being created, as well as not overfeeding. The CUC adds to the cycle, so even if they are cleaning up excess food and detritus, they expel waste of their own.

I found the article particularly interesting when I got to the Dissimilation section. I had a rough idea of how a DSB works, but not all the fine details. Since I have an RDSB (remote DSB) for the reduction in Nitrates in my system, it's good to learn that it's also removing Nitrogen. All this time I thought it was converting Nitrates into Nitrogen gas. In the article, it states:

"Denitrification is the terminology used to describe the conversion of nitrogen oxides (NO[sub]2 and NO[sub]3) back into gaseous nitrogen (N2[/sub], N2[/sub]O, or NO). Denitrification results in nitrogen being lost from the local environment (e.g. water) to the atmosphere. This process, as most processes are in the nitrogen cycle, is accomplished primarily by bacteria species. However, unlike nitrification, denitrification is an anaerobic process, meaning it occurs in the absence of oxygen. Denitrifying bacteria metabolize nitrogenous compounds (with the assistance of the molybdenum-containing enzyme, nitrate reductase) in the reverse way that nitrifying bacteria does: they turn oxides back into nitrogen gas or nitrous oxides for energy generation. These gases then volatize, returning back into the atmosphere."

Nitrogen gas bubbles form in the deep sand bed, then eventually make their way into the water column. The nitrogen gas bubbles rise to the sufrace of the water, burst, and the nitrogen gas is released into the atmosphere. This means that Nitrogen is being removed from the system. That's comforting to know, since Nitrogen recycles and more is constantly introduced into the system.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/rhf/index.php states: Organic compounds are generally defined by chemists as those that contain carbon and hydrogen atoms, but can contain other atoms as well. They often contain nitrogen and phosphorus so skimming and the export of organics tends to have the very useful attribute of exporting these molecules before they can be broken down into nitrate and phosphate. Many organisms, from fish and people to bacteria, for example, take in organic materials as a source of energy and release the excess nitrogen and phosphorus not needed for growth. In many cases in an aquarium these excreted materials end up as nitrate and phosphate, either by direct excretion, as in the case of phosphate and nitrate, or as ammonia, urea, or other nitrogen-containing compounds that through additional bacterial processing can end up as nitrate.

http://saltwateraquariumhobby.com/aquarium-filtration/protein-skimmers/: Protein skimming, or foam fractionation, removes dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) from the aquarium water before it gets a chance to break down into ammonia.

http://www.reefs.org/library/faq/skimmer.html: Skimmers strip dissolved organic particles from the water before they can decay to ammonia and convert to nitrates through the nitrogen cycle.

If I had a little more time I'd post more, but lunch break's almost over.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pegasus http:///t/397050/new-skimmer-corals-look-great/20#post_3538099
Yes, I read it. It was an interesting article about the nitrogen cycle and how nitrates are created, BUT... it never touched on the subject of filtration nor removing organics BEFORE they start adding to the nitrogen cycle. Obviously, removing dead plants and animals will reduce the amount of nitrogen being created, as well as not overfeeding. The CUC adds to the cycle, so even if they are cleaning up excess food and detritus, they expel waste of their own.

I found the article particularly interesting when I got to the Dissimilation section. I had a rough idea of how a DSB works, but not all the fine details. Since I have an RDSB (remote DSB) for the reduction in Nitrates in my system, it's good to learn that it's also removing Nitrogen. All this time I thought it was converting Nitrates into Nitrogen gas. In the article, it states:

"Denitrification is the terminology used to describe the conversion of nitrogen oxides (NO[sub]2 and NO[sub]3) back into gaseous nitrogen (N2[/sub], N2[/sub]O, or NO). Denitrification results in nitrogen being lost from the local environment (e.g. water) to the atmosphere. This process, as most processes are in the nitrogen cycle, is accomplished primarily by bacteria species. However, unlike nitrification, denitrification is an anaerobic process, meaning it occurs in the absence of oxygen. Denitrifying bacteria metabolize nitrogenous compounds (with the assistance of the molybdenum-containing enzyme, nitrate reductase) in the reverse way that nitrifying bacteria does: they turn oxides back into nitrogen gas or nitrous oxides for energy generation. These gases then volatize, returning back into the atmosphere."

Nitrogen gas bubbles form in the deep sand bed, then eventually make their way into the water column. The nitrogen gas bubbles rise to the sufrace of the water, burst, and the nitrogen gas is released into the atmosphere. This means that Nitrogen is being removed from the system. That's comforting to know, since Nitrogen recycles and more is constantly introduced into the system.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/rhf/index.php states: Organic compounds are generally defined by chemists as those that contain carbon and hydrogen atoms, but can contain other atoms as well. They often contain nitrogen and phosphorus so skimming and the export of organics tends to have the very useful attribute of exporting these molecules before they can be broken down into nitrate and phosphate. Many organisms, from fish and people to bacteria, for example, take in organic materials as a source of energy and release the excess nitrogen and phosphorus not needed for growth. In many cases in an aquarium these excreted materials end up as nitrate and phosphate, either by direct excretion, as in the case of phosphate and nitrate, or as ammonia, urea, or other nitrogen-containing compounds that through additional bacterial processing can end up as nitrate.

http://saltwateraquariumhobby.com/aquarium-filtration/protein-skimmers/: Protein skimming, or foam fractionation, removes dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) from the aquarium water before it gets a chance to break down into ammonia.

http://www.reefs.org/library/faq/skimmer.html: Skimmers strip dissolved organic particles from the water before they can decay to ammonia and convert to nitrates through the nitrogen cycle.

If I had a little more time I'd post more, but lunch break's almost over.


LOL...I think we can officially be called SW tank nerds...I love these discussions.

 

[silverado61]

Quote:
Originally Posted by lbannie http:///t/397050/new-skimmer-corals-look-great#post_3538088
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!???? This thing is so loud! I'm letting it run (on the front of my tank) for a while to see if it quiets down. Hopefully. But the pump itself is loud and the air "silencer" is loud too!!
I wanna pull my hair out!
Not to mention the in and outlets seem huge in my tank.
If your talking about the Reef Octopus there should be two connections on the silencer. Switch to the other one. I made the same mistake too when I first set it up. What a difference. lol

As far as the inlet/outlets go, if you have the back of the tank painted black or dark blue you won't notice them near as much when you move it to the back of the tank.

Here's what mine looks like:

This is what my silencer looks like.

And this is what my inlet looks like.



If this is what yours looks like, I suggest you turn the inlet arm so that it points straight down instead of up like this. Otherwise, when the water level drops even a little, the inlet will start a whirlpool and start sucking air in. Even if it's one inch away from the surface of the water. See how close mine is to the rim?

 

[pegasus]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/397050/new-skimmer-corals-look-great/20#post_3538100


LOL...I think we can officially be called SW tank nerds...I love these discussions.
We are nerds... lol! The beauty of these discussions is that in the process of teaching others, we accidentally learn something ourselves!

 

[pegasus]

Quote:
Originally Posted by lbannie http:///t/397050/new-skimmer-corals-look-great#post_3538088
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!???? This thing is so loud! I'm letting it run (on the front of my tank) for a while to see if it quiets down. Hopefully. But the pump itself is loud and the air "silencer" is loud too!!
I wanna pull my hair out!
Not to mention the in and outlets seem huge in my tank.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lbannie http:///t/397050/new-skimmer-corals-look-great#post_3538088
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!???? This thing is so loud! I'm letting it run (on the front of my tank) for a while to see if it quiets down. Hopefully. But the pump itself is loud and the air "silencer" is loud too!!
I wanna pull my hair out!
Not to mention the in and outlets seem huge in my tank.

Quote:
Originally Posted by silverado61 http:///t/397050/new-skimmer-corals-look-great/20#post_3538107

If this is what yours looks like, I suggest you turn the inlet arm so that it points straight down instead of up like this. Otherwise, when the water level drops even a little, the inlet will start a whirlpool and start sucking air in. Even if it's one inch away from the surface of the water. See how close mine is to the
Make sure you have purged all the air from the pump. You can do this by covering the inlet valve on the air silencer (or tubing) with your finger or sucking on the air line and let the water level rise almost to the top of the skimmer. Do this at least a couple of times. Also, make sure there are no air bubbles entering the pump as this will cause cavitation which is very loud and can damage the impeller. As I mentioned earlier, there is a breaking in period for new pumps, and it should quiet down after has run for a week or two.

On another note... if your skimmer came with a surface skimmer, you definitely need to use it. If not, you need to make sure the surface of the water gets agitated enough to break up the surface film that would otherwise hinder gas exchange.