Skimmer or not?
- Thread starter cchung718
- Start date
tangs_in_pacifica
Member
CChung,
How long has your tank been established?
What is your water quality like?
Bioload?
Substrate (CC or LS)?
To skim, or not to skim... My shot from the hip would be to add the skimmer. You might want to seacrh this board a bit to find out the actual service(s) the skimmer can provide your tank. Regardless of your answers to any of the above questions, a skimmer will help to remopve raw waste from your water. It will do this before the waste is converted to Ammonia, Nitrites or nitrates. Your w/d filter, on the other hand, will rapidly convert your waste to Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. Thus, a w/d is often referred to as a "Nitrate Factory."
So you might do better ditching your w/d. You will do better, regardless of the w/d, adding a skimmer.
One alternative method to skimming is to build a refugium. While refugiums may be used either in tandem with or in leu of a skimmer, some hobbyists feel the skimmer is counter-productive in a refugium-filtered system. You'll want to reseacrh refugiums quite a bit, as this is a relatively new approach in the hobby. Again, some refugium hobbyists still use skimmers anyhow.
Having said all of this, make a decision based upon your tank.
Hope this helps...
How long has your tank been established?
What is your water quality like?
Bioload?
Substrate (CC or LS)?
To skim, or not to skim... My shot from the hip would be to add the skimmer. You might want to seacrh this board a bit to find out the actual service(s) the skimmer can provide your tank. Regardless of your answers to any of the above questions, a skimmer will help to remopve raw waste from your water. It will do this before the waste is converted to Ammonia, Nitrites or nitrates. Your w/d filter, on the other hand, will rapidly convert your waste to Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. Thus, a w/d is often referred to as a "Nitrate Factory."
So you might do better ditching your w/d. You will do better, regardless of the w/d, adding a skimmer.
One alternative method to skimming is to build a refugium. While refugiums may be used either in tandem with or in leu of a skimmer, some hobbyists feel the skimmer is counter-productive in a refugium-filtered system. You'll want to reseacrh refugiums quite a bit, as this is a relatively new approach in the hobby. Again, some refugium hobbyists still use skimmers anyhow.
Having said all of this, make a decision based upon your tank.
Hope this helps...