Effects of Food on Skimmer Performance

[guyduquette]

If you have a new skimmer and your trying to set the correct water level then you probably already know that sticking your hands in the tank or feeding the fish can affect the bubbles in the riser tube!

.....But the fish have to eat.....

And they're always looking at you with sad eyes, wanting food !!!

But I've noticed that different foods have varying effects on the skimmer performance. So, I was hoping to gather opinions from others on which foods have the least effect on skimmer performance.

Here are my thoughts:

Dry pellet food - (Ocean Nutrition Brand) formula one/two
--------Very little effect
--------1-2 hours of skimmer dropout

Frozen food - (San Francisco Bay)
-----Marine Cuisine
--------Big effect
--------12-18 hours of skimmer dropout
--------Can make it VERY difficult to dial in a skimmer

-----Angel & Butterfly
--------Average effect
--------4-5 hours of skimmer dropout

------Squid
---------Little effect
---------2-3 hours of skimmer dropout


P.S. - I've noticed that now my ETSS 800 produces waste continuously (and Constantly) now. Feeding or putting my hands in the tank are the only things that cause it to dropout. Whereas I've heard that they only work for a rare couple of hours in the night. Mine is golden now that I finally understand the effects that different foods have on the skimmer.

 

[stingythingy45]

Interesting,
I would say that the volume of water in the system would change things also.Personally,I have never noticed any difference in skimmer performance after feeding.But I also have 160 gallons of system volume.At least 1/2-3/4 of my return goes directly through a recirc. modded ASM G-2.

 

[Liam]

Different skimmers will behave differently with each different food also.
I have used many different skimmers over the years and certain foods shut down certain skimmers while others will either keep running or will only shut down briefly.

I look at it this way,i use a powerful a powerful skimmer that runs great all the time i am not feeding the tank and the skimmer keep everything in check nutrient wise.Therefore i wan't it to shut down for a while when i feed,that way the inhabitants get more chance to eat the food before the skimmer does.
This is especially important with small foods like cyclopeeze,oyster eggs,artemia etc.

 

[guyduquette]

my display is 265 with a sump/refugium of about 30 gallons. skimmer throughout put is also about 1/2 to 2/3 of system volume.

I use a Reeflo Dart for a return pump (dialed down quite a bit) and a Blueline 55 for skimmer pump (also dialed down)


Maybe because you have a recirc skimmer and mine is a downdraft. hmm....Something to keep in mind.

 

[guyduquette]

Good point Liam!

 

[Liam]

A good way of cutting down the time the skimmer shuts down for is by thoroughly thawing and rinsing frozen foods.Fish goo also add a lot of unwanted oils and nutrients to the water column that will shut a skimmer down excessively

 

[stingythingy45]

"Maybe because you have a recirc skimmer and mine is a downdraft. hmm....Something to keep in mind."

True,the recirc keeps pulling existing bubbles from the skimmer body and adding more through the venturi.Until it's finally expelled through the gate valve.

 

[delta]

"Maybe because you have a recirc skimmer and mine is a downdraft. hmm....Something to keep in mind."

True,the recirc keeps pulling existing bubbles from the skimmer body and adding more through the venturi.Until it's finally expelled through the gate valve.

One needle valve will work differently from another as well as all skimmers react differenlty. In the end the they all work on the same principle to remove organics, difference is how they accomplish this.

The important point to make here is that food should not be changing the way people tune there skimmers. But maybe perhaps how they use the skimmer and feed their tanks.

One of the largest problem I see on the boards is Nutrient issues. The easy one to fix is water supply based one. Feeding based ones can be hard to diagnose as it is ones interpetation of what heavy feeding is. Liam laid out a few nice tips on stretching you skimmers ability to perform. I would add one more clean it more often. Set it and forget it is term based on tuning it not using and maintaining it.

Skimmer debates don't hold a ounce of weight, even with pictures. They lack side by side and placement comparisons. In the end if it does what you need it is a fine skimmer. But at a certain point a skimmer can't make up for poor habits of the reefkeeper.

 

[chew*]

downdraft skimmers are notoriusly finicky with anything you add to the tank and or when you put your hand in the tank.