Part-time skimmer?

dannonlayne

dannonlayne

New member
I have a HOB skimmer from an old tank and I want to use it on my 13g reef tank. It fits BUT it's a little tall so it is both noisy (trinkly) and causes bubbles.

BUT I get a film on the top of my tank even with frequent water changes.

Would it be worth setting the skimmer on a timer to skim for 12 hours overnight when I am not around it? Or is it not worth it?
 
As long as you don't have a real heavy bio load the 12 hr cycle like that should work out just fine. just keep an eye on your parameters for the first few days to see how the tank reacts. if it stays stale then your fine, but if it starts to spike then you know you need to run it more.
 
The film on your water is from lack of surface agitation. If you increase water movement at the surface this will help break up that film. But yes you can run a skimmer on a part time cycle, it won't work quite as efficiently since the slime coat in the skimmer neck would dry up during the off time, but yes doable.
 
FishBeard said:
The film on your water is from lack of surface agitation. If you increase water movement at the surface this will help break up that film. But yes you can run a skimmer on a part time cycle, it won't work quite as efficiently since the slime coat in the skimmer neck would dry up during the off time, but yes doable.
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+1 on surface agitation. that also helps keep the water oxygenated
 
Have you tried pointing a return or powerhead upwards towards the surface to break up the organics? Running a skimmer for half the day would be good and would certainly be better than nothing. Many people do it becasue they are trying not to overskim their tanks.
 
Thanks for the help. I think I'll see how the skimmer works PT but I'll also move the powerhead. Hopefully that'll just make everything better.
 
If you are going to run your skimmer part time, I would run it at night. Helps keep your tank aerated while possibly slowing any ph swings at night.
 
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