Is a skimmer needed ?

Sunshine

Sunshine

Reef enthusiast
If I am having just a few corals, mushrooms, rics, leather, hammers, frogspawn and torch, do I need a skimmer ? We haven't set up the 220 yet, but I really want more fish and not so much corals. We have a light that came with the tank and we are going to use a 75 gal as the refugium. The corals listed above is what I currently have in the 90. I'm not adding any more, except maybe mushrooms. I mainly want more fish.

Thanks .... :)
 
Most people use skimmers. I don't. I only run an algae scrubber. You can make one for less than $20. Check the DIY section here's the link...it's a long thread but it's a great read. I've never had a skimmer for my 90g or 180g tank. My Nitrates are 0, I have no algae, and I've got some big ass fish that need lotsa' food. I highly recommend the scrubber if you want to stay away from a skimmer.

Here's the link.

https://www.livingreefs.com/mega-powerful-nitrate-and-phosphate-remover-diy-t16734.html
 
PRC said:
Most people use skimmers. I don't. I only run an algae scrubber. You can make one for less than $20. Check the DIY section here's the link...it's a long thread but it's a great read. I've never had a skimmer for my 90g or 180g tank. My Nitrates are 0, I have no algae, and I've got some big ass fish that need lotsa' food. I highly recommend the scrubber if you want to stay away from a skimmer.

Here's the link.

https://www.livingreefs.com/mega-powerful-nitrate-and-phosphate-remover-diy-t16734.html
Click to expand...

Ditto,4+ years no skimmer,i too have messy fish,i feed 3 x a day everyday



and nice avatar :mrgreen::mrgreen:.......JK,:lol:
 
No skimmer for me Im running a scrubber with great success. You will need a big scrubber for a 220g or 2 smaller ones may be easier. Also there are some people that dont use either. I dont know how they do it.
 
I think this will be the route I go. Can I use the compartment in the sump that I would normally put the skimmer ? Mine has the water going from the overflow to the skimmer, refugium, baffles than pumped back to tank.
 
Piratefish said:
No skimmer for me Im running a scrubber with great success. You will need a big scrubber for a 220g or 2 smaller ones may be easier. Also there are some people that dont use either. I dont know how they do it.
Click to expand...

That's me. I don't use a scrubber or a skimmer. Although I am planning a scrubber build in the near future.
 
I made a small scrubber with a few parts at home depot, about two weeks ago. Since then my duncan, frogspawn, and zoos have all regained their color, and they open much larger now. I'll be disconnecting my skimmer soon.
 
This will be my winter project. Hopefully the tank will get set up after Christmas. I like this idea better. My skimmer has hardly anything in it. I've had it a little over a year and barely clean it. Not much in the cup. Don't know if it's working right or not.
 
you dont need a skimmer but you save yourself a lot of work by having one. My collection cup is literally black. Thats all crap that was in the water...so unless you stay consistent with the water changes a skimmer is a must for me. I will never not use a skimmer on a saltwater tank...it lets you keep more fish if you want with less work.

Whats with this no skimmer trend thats been going on lately? I highly, highly recommend a skimmer.:Cheers:
 
cthegame said:
you dont need a skimmer but you save yourself a lot of work by having one. My collection cup is literally black. Thats all crap that was in the water...so unless you stay consistent with the water changes a skimmer is a must for me. I will never not use a skimmer on a saltwater tank...it lets you keep more fish if you want with less work.

Whats with this no skimmer trend thats been going on lately? I highly, highly recommend a skimmer.:Cheers:
Click to expand...

Mine is never full. It just has green froth at the top of the cup.
 
Sunshine said:
Mine is never full. It just has green froth at the top of the cup.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the brand of skimmer. When they're good, they're good. When they're crappy, they don't work.

I wouldn't go without a skimmer either. I see the junk that mine pulls from my tank. It's gross. Because of the heat that my pump produces, I've had my skimmer shut off since May. It's just too hot to run during the summer. So of course you can get by without a skimmer. It's just more difficult to keep the water clean without one, IMO.

I do think my next tank project will be to make an algae scrubber for my fuge. But I'm still not going to get rid of my skimmer.
 
Last edited:
It's a Bubble Magus. I don't understand about the tube question. The water level is 11 inches, which is what they recommend. There is a tube that has numbers on it, I've tried turning it to different numbers, it either don't foam at all or shoots water into the cup.
 
I almost think you just dont have it adjusted right. but I could be wrong.

make sure the air line is connected to the pump, without that you will get no bubbles like you are saying.

The Blue tube on the side should move up and down and control the height of the water in the skimmer. dont expect results in seconds, wait two or three min and then move it up or down as needed. the foam should come up to the edge of the cup.

I dont know much about this brand, but people online seem to love them.

And sorry if im iteratings something you already knew. just thought I would throw in my 2 cents
 
The ocean doesnt have a skimmer it has algae that does the filtering. Skimmers will keep your water clearer than a scrubber, but if you are keeping mostly coral thats what you want. The pods that grow in the algae will feed your corals and the algae also produces lots of vitamins so you wont need to dose things like Selcon.

Dont get me wrong Im not capping on skimmers it just make more sense to me. Bottom line skimmers work great, IMO they also remove food for your coral.

I only clean my scrubber once a week and it takes about 10 min.
 
Brian_G said:
I almost think you just dont have it adjusted right. but I could be wrong.

make sure the air line is connected to the pump, without that you will get no bubbles like you are saying.

The Blue tube on the side should move up and down and control the height of the water in the skimmer. dont expect results in seconds, wait two or three min and then move it up or down as needed. the foam should come up to the edge of the cup.

I dont know much about this brand, but people online seem to love them.

And sorry if im iteratings something you already knew. just thought I would throw in my 2 cents
Click to expand...

No, you're not. I didn't know about the tube going up or down. The air line is connected. I checked. The foam comes to the top, but that's it, it never flows over into the cup. And if it does, it's not much. Thanks for the info, the directions that came with it were lousy. Didn't explain how to adjust anything. I'll mess with the tube tomorrow. Thank you !!
 

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