removing protien skimmer

[docta09]

do you guys/girls think i'll be alright if i remove my protein skimmer.
i currently have about 60lbs of live rock , 50lbs of sand in dt and 20lbs in sump.
I'm also running a santa monica hang on glass algae.
i was thinking of removing where the skimmer is and filling that up with new live rock.
would i have enough filtration with that. oh and tank is 58g.

 

[Smitty]

Some tanks are ran without the skimmer...as long as you stay up to date with routine water changes you should be ok. But having a skimmer wont hurt neither, so it's a personal preference at this point.

 

[docta09]

Wouldn't the algae scrubber do the same thing as the skimmer

 

[Cathic]

I'm not sure they do.... I think a protein skimmer removes the waste BEFORE the breakdown and the algae scrubber just feeds the algae AFTER the breakdown. Im not entirely sure though....

Is your skimmer in sump? Whats the main reason for wanting to pull it? Is it still producing some skimmate? How much since the addition of the algae scrubber? Take all that in to account as well. but like smitty said, you can run without them if your good about making water changed and so on.

 

[little_fish]

Cathic has got it right

 

[Old_Moe]

seeing and smelling the stuff that collects in the cup... I cant imagine running my tank without one. Been running it since day one.

But, as others have said, plenty of people run without skimmers.

 

[docta09]

Its just that the skimmer is so big and I don't like the noise it makes

 

[Cathic]

I dont like the sound of my washer and dryer but they keep my clothes clean and fresh. Get my point?

 

[RockStacker]

Going back to my old symbolism,
Skimmer: Takes out the garbage and puts them in the dumpster outside the house to be collected by the truck.
Algae Scrubber/Chaeto in 'fuge: Puts garbage in plastic bags and stores them in the basement - and hope none of the bags tear before spring cleaning.

 

[Cathic]

It's close to right, but the algae scrubber does actually remove nitrates, and there isnt much fear of there being a re release, the algae consumes. However that algae would not have gone had it just been removed in the first place.

The truck/dumpster one is good.
The scrubber one needs some work. =D