Running Skimmer 24/7...??

cmonti

cmonti

Member
I have always ran my skimmer round the clock. I have a CRP AeroForce running on a 30 Breeder with LPS, SPS, mushrooms... Bio load is 2 clowns, green chromis & a green clown goby. Various inverts.. Nitrates and Phosphates just tested at 0. I do weekly 15% water changes with Reef Crystals mixed at 1.025 SG. I have tested new water before doing a change and trace elements are great Calcuim is 400+. My problem is I cant get my trace elements in the ideal SPS range. All corals are healthy and growing but they would probably look even better and grow faster with higher levels.. I know that chasing a number isnt always the answer and stability is often more beneficial but over time, I would really love to see my Cal, KH & Mag increase. I dose everyday with this a product called Reef Results Management Calcium Carbonator. I dose at least once a day but sometimes do a morning and evening dose. Also periodically dose with magnesium, as I understand the correct magnesium level help maintain and stabilize Cal & KH..
Light is a quad T5 system..
So here is my question. Is my skimmer removing the good stuff? Anyone else have this issue? I shit it down and only plan to run at night for about a week to see if levels increase with dosing... Any advice/input would really be great.
These were my levels as of this morning..
Cal - 350
KH - 7
Mag - 700
KH and Mag are so low!!!!!!!!
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Mods frown on posting competitor links, and even though it's a typo, this is a family friendly site. Could you change that one word to "shut" so you don't get in trouble?
Anyways,...
No, skimming does not remove any more salt, calcium, magnesium or alkalinity than the volume of liquid waste that is equal to the same amount of volume of water in your display tank. (basically, no, it's not doing anything.)
Skimming does remove some trace elements, but not in vast quantities like you are talking about. Here's my thoughts:
1. Your test kits are wrong. They are old/outdated or stored incorrectly and have been compromised. This is the first thing that I would double check before moving on to step two. You can double check at your LFS (probably for free).
2. Your corals are actually USING that much per day and will continue to use that much. You just have to slowly keep increasing the amounts in equal proportions until your test numbers come up.
3. If all else fails, leave it all alone. Sometimes it's best to just keep doing what you were doing and stop trying to mess with the numbers or chase some perfect number that is never going to happen. Each tank is different.
4. If you can't keep up with regular two part dosing of ca alk and mag, I suggest looking into getting a calcium reactor - which will add calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and other trace elements to your system. With this method, the only thing you have to look out for is overdosing CO2 in the reaction chamber which would cause your pH to drop. Though, an accurately dialed in calcium reactor will not drop your pH.
 
slice

slice

Active Member
I don't know what to tell you except that I also manually dose daily just like you, except I use Seachem products. I run my CPR skimmer wet 24/7 and have not seen any problems keeping levels stable.
 
cmonti

cmonti

Member
Im using the new Red Sea test kits that have had great reviews. Love the kit!!. Package contains Cal, KH & Mag tests. Guessing kit is ok since its so new. Maybe Ill look into a used reactor. They have a hefty price tag and am really looking to get the new Aqua Illumination Vega when released.. I may change my dosing product and maybe start trying Kalkwasser.
 
cmonti

cmonti

Member
so do most people in this situation use a 2 part dose on alternating days, add kalk to top off, and separately dose mag as well?? Was also thinking of changing to the Red Sea accelerated growth salt. Im almost our of Reef Crystals. Pretty sure it wont be a fix but maybe worth a try
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
It might be easier getting a ca reactor instead of continuing to dose two part. Make sure you understand how to use Kalk before you dose it. Driping it into the system is the best method.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Honestly I see no advantage to shutting your skimmer down during the evening/night time.....As we all know skimmers are 100% efficient, so your honestly (IMHO) making your skimmer less efficient than it could be. You can't predict when the skimmer is actually skimming vs not really skimming. Yes you can look physically at it, but it's not that simple as it sounds. Running the skimmer 24/7 isn't pulling elements from your system.
As you mentioned a couple are low.....I'd also be curious to see numbers when the skimmer are running vs after the skimmer has been shut down for a period of time. I would almost bet money, that you would/will see a bit of a difference in your PH at night time as well. Again just a hunch. I have also pulled outside air into my skimmer, which I know from using meters to monitor my PH what affect it has on my systems.
With that being said, I believe 2 part dosing would be more cost efficient on a 30 gallon vs setting up a reactor. Just my .02
 
cmonti

cmonti

Member
My goal was to run a system as "natural" as possible. Replenishing trace elements with frequent water changes only. Oh well. it was a thought.. If this system is consuming a lot now, what's going to happen when my 2" SPS frags really start to grow.. maybe ill do an automatic top off with a kalk drip
 
cmonti

cmonti

Member
still relatively new.. understand the whole automatic dosing pump theory but have never set up. guess it shouldnt be too hard. would I need a pump for each or can one pump dose multiple additives?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
one pump per additive. There's this one dosing system that comes with two pumps for $99.99 I think. A quick search should find it. It would set up automation for you so that you wouldn't have to worry about dosing it yourself every single day. The problem though for you right now is figuring out exactly how much to dose every day to get your ca and alk levels up.
Could you post a FTS?
 
cmonti

cmonti

Member
Ya that wall hammer is pretty big. Guess I have more than I previously thought. Definitely plan to get a doser. Is there an auto top off/doser on the market?? More automation would make my life so much easier but depends on cost for everything/ really have my heart set on High end LED's. I can always dose myself, just need to dose better additives maybe more often at a higher quantity???
 
jerth6932

jerth6932

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmonti http:///t/389746/running-skimmer-24-7#post_3446685
Ya that wall hammer is pretty big. Guess I have more than I previously thought. Definitely plan to get a doser. Is there an auto top off/doser on the market?? More automation would make my life so much easier but depends on cost for everything/ really have my heart set on High end LED's. I can always dose myself, just need to dose better additives maybe more often at a higher quantity???
I manualy dose Reef fusion 1&2 on my 90 and my 24.
I tested (I use Hanna calcium and Alk tesk kits, love them) my system, got my numbers, went to http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html (this web site will tell you how much to add to get to your desired levels) pluged in my numbers and dosed to my desired levels.
I did that for 4 days streight, got an avrage dose and dosed that for a week, and now I just check that level weekly and add any extra needed.
90g
Reef Fusion 1- 8 ml Daily
Reef Fusion 2- 24 ml Daily
24g
Reef Fusion 1- 1 ml Daily
Reef Fusion 2- 8 ml Daily
Only my 24 has fluctuations that I usually have to address weekly...............
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
The real question IMO is how new is the system/tank. If you start dosing 2 part it actually gives you a good hands on as to what the tank is actually consuming from week to week and so on, and as the system matures those requirements are going to change. There could be times when the system might slow down it's consumption or vice versa. If you try to automate at an early stage at some point once you do dial in and the requirements change your out of the loop per say figuring the reactor is taking care of things. My thought would be find what the consumption rate is and then when things seem to be consistent/steady and as you progress then look towards a reactor.
 
slice

slice

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerth6932 http:///t/389746/running-skimmer-24-7#post_3446694
I manualy dose Reef fusion 1&2 on my 90 and my 24.
I tested (I use Hanna calcium and Alk tesk kits, love them) my system, got my numbers, went to http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html (this web site will tell you how much to add to get to your desired levels) pluged in my numbers and dosed to my desired levels.
I did that for 4 days streight, got an avrage dose and dosed that for a week, and now I just check that level weekly and add any extra needed.
90g
Reef Fusion 1- 8 ml Daily
Reef Fusion 2- 24 ml Daily
24g
Reef Fusion 1- 1 ml Daily
Reef Fusion 2- 8 ml Daily
Only my 24 has fluctuations that I usually have to address weekly...............
You and I are on the same page, except I do weekly tests with Salifert. It irks the crap out of me that I now have to dose different amounts. I was able to dose 10ml of both parts 1 and 2 for quite a while, now I need to dose 10ml of Part 1 (Calcium) and 15ml of Part 2 (Alkalinity). Do you throw out the excess calcium additive or use it as a mouthwash?
As hard critters grow, dosing amounts grow accordingly. You didn't mention dosing for Mag, do you? I now need to back off dosing Mag (Seachem Advantage Mag) independent from the 2 Part: its a bit high (1470+).
 
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