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Should I ditch the skimmer?

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Wayne Rowley Posted: 4-4-2008 20:25
I am starting to get a bit of cynobacteria in my tank.  I think I need more flow but I am limited by space and plug sockets.  I need to fit another Koralia nano but to do so I will need to remove either the internal Fluval (which is used for rowaphos and surface agitation) an the v2Skim nano skimmer.

Now I know that at first thought I would be crazy to ditch the skimmer.  But I have never been impressed with it.  It creates a lot of micro bubbles and the skim produced is very pale and watery.  I am not sure it is helping much at all!  So should I ditch the skimmer.  Could I get away with only water changes in such a small tank if I stock sensibly?  Or should I remove the fluval and attach the rowaphos bag to the side of the tank with a lettice grip?

Any thoughts?

Wayne

Tank1: 125L Tropical. 1 male betta, 4 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras, 4 glowlight danios, 1 candy stripe loach, 1 female bristlenose, 6 amano shrimp.Tank 2: 65L Nano reef. 6kg live rock, 96w T5 lighting, 3 x turbo snails, 5 x red-legged hermits, 1 x peppermint shrimp, 1 small pistol shrimp (hitch-hiker), two percula clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 sun coral, 1 clove coral & 1 tree coral

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Hi Wayne i personally would be reluctant to take out the skimmer myself!

If i was you i would change the fluval filter for the koralia nanoYes

Sounds like the skimmer is either set up wrong or you simply do not have anything worth taking out???? The skimmer should be taking out a Tea coloured smelly liquid - the darker the better?

As i have know personal experience with new style skimers i cannot advise on how to check/set up?

Hi thought about time i updated this! Tank no 1 = 3 retic rays,1aro,2 ompuk cats,8 angels,1 syd greshoffi{19 years old},1 syd unkown,1 stripped dora,1 plec,1 silver dat,1 pim and a soribum lima! Tank no2 = 6 auralis barbs,2 needle gars,1 molly,1 dat microlepis,1 trye track eel and 8 bristlenoses! Tank no 3 = 2 goldfish{on holiday}1 flag tail thingy{over twenty years old},4 silver dats,1 pim and a plec!
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yes wayne in theory you can ditch the skimmer IF you are prepared to do weekly water changes. you could also run some purigen in the internal.

stupid is as stupid does
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Hi James,

There is not much to adjust/set up.  The only thing I can adjust is the output and according to the instructions that should be fully open for normal operation.  You are right - there may not be much to skim out at the moment.  The skimmate is very weak green tea that smells like the sea, but concentrated (if that makes sense).  I am nervous about removing the skimmer but I am not concerned that it is doing much good.  But then six months down the line there may be more to remove.

Wayne

Tank1: 125L Tropical. 1 male betta, 4 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras, 4 glowlight danios, 1 candy stripe loach, 1 female bristlenose, 6 amano shrimp.Tank 2: 65L Nano reef. 6kg live rock, 96w T5 lighting, 3 x turbo snails, 5 x red-legged hermits, 1 x peppermint shrimp, 1 small pistol shrimp (hitch-hiker), two percula clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 sun coral, 1 clove coral & 1 tree coral

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Hi i just had a crazy ideaSurprise! If you have got a spare air pump? and a wooden air diffuser{air stone but made of wood - surprise surprise},if you put this in the tank for a short while say an hour or two -you could see if the bubbles were reluctant to 'burst' or not if they are reluctant to burst the skimmer isn't working? If they disperse quickly then skimmer is doing ok? This was how i could tell how my old air driven skimmers were doingBig Smile

Hi thought about time i updated this! Tank no 1 = 3 retic rays,1aro,2 ompuk cats,8 angels,1 syd greshoffi{19 years old},1 syd unkown,1 stripped dora,1 plec,1 silver dat,1 pim and a soribum lima! Tank no2 = 6 auralis barbs,2 needle gars,1 molly,1 dat microlepis,1 trye track eel and 8 bristlenoses! Tank no 3 = 2 goldfish{on holiday}1 flag tail thingy{over twenty years old},4 silver dats,1 pim and a plec!
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 might be a bit of a silly idea, but why don't you just replace the fluval with a bigger internal? More water flow, and there's still some where to put the chem filtration.

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good point nic.

 

or buy a bigger korallia.

stupid is as stupid does
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Bigger Korallia sounds the easiest solution unless 1 is leaving dead spots. At least that way the rest can stay the same. 

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Thanks for the advice.  I have replace the Koralia nano with a Koralia 1.  My LFS is doing the Koralia pumps for £22.99!  Lots more flow!! :-)  I will keep the nano if I need more flow, or if I go for another tank at some point. :-)

Wayne

Tank1: 125L Tropical. 1 male betta, 4 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras, 4 glowlight danios, 1 candy stripe loach, 1 female bristlenose, 6 amano shrimp.Tank 2: 65L Nano reef. 6kg live rock, 96w T5 lighting, 3 x turbo snails, 5 x red-legged hermits, 1 x peppermint shrimp, 1 small pistol shrimp (hitch-hiker), two percula clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 sun coral, 1 clove coral & 1 tree coral

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Hi Wayne, where is your LFS, i would be interested in a couple of those Koralia 1's.

 

Matt 

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In Poole, Dorset. If you can't get down here (bit of a slog from Norfolk! ;-) ) we can always pop in during the week and get 1/2 for you and post it?

Tank1: 125L Tropical. 1 male betta, 4 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras, 4 glowlight danios, 1 candy stripe loach, 1 female bristlenose, 6 amano shrimp.Tank 2: 65L Nano reef. 6kg live rock, 96w T5 lighting, 3 x turbo snails, 5 x red-legged hermits, 1 x peppermint shrimp, 1 small pistol shrimp (hitch-hiker), two percula clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 sun coral, 1 clove coral & 1 tree coral

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Wayne if you could get me two that would be marvelous mate as £22.99 is very cheap. only thing which concerns me is postage! 

Could just bt you or pp you the money.

How much do you think postage is likely to be?

 

Thanks

Matt 

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Here is the tank with the new Koralia - does not look too big, but delivers a lot more flow!



Tank1: 125L Tropical. 1 male betta, 4 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras, 4 glowlight danios, 1 candy stripe loach, 1 female bristlenose, 6 amano shrimp.Tank 2: 65L Nano reef. 6kg live rock, 96w T5 lighting, 3 x turbo snails, 5 x red-legged hermits, 1 x peppermint shrimp, 1 small pistol shrimp (hitch-hiker), two percula clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 sun coral, 1 clove coral & 1 tree coral

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Hi looking good WayneYes,these new koralia pumps certainly do a good job! I was looking at them in my lfs the weekend and they are quite efficent little pumpsBig Smile

What is your turn over per hour now Wayne?

Hi thought about time i updated this! Tank no 1 = 3 retic rays,1aro,2 ompuk cats,8 angels,1 syd greshoffi{19 years old},1 syd unkown,1 stripped dora,1 plec,1 silver dat,1 pim and a soribum lima! Tank no2 = 6 auralis barbs,2 needle gars,1 molly,1 dat microlepis,1 trye track eel and 8 bristlenoses! Tank no 3 = 2 goldfish{on holiday}1 flag tail thingy{over twenty years old},4 silver dats,1 pim and a plec!
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Around 1700LPH in total.  That is about 27x tank volume per hour.

Tank1: 125L Tropical. 1 male betta, 4 scissortail rasboras, 3 neon tetras, 4 glowlight danios, 1 candy stripe loach, 1 female bristlenose, 6 amano shrimp.Tank 2: 65L Nano reef. 6kg live rock, 96w T5 lighting, 3 x turbo snails, 5 x red-legged hermits, 1 x peppermint shrimp, 1 small pistol shrimp (hitch-hiker), two percula clowns, 1 neon goby, 1 sun coral, 1 clove coral & 1 tree coral

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