deciding to go skimmer-less on some days

[wschang812]

i was thinking about turning off the skimmer half a week to provide a more nutrient rich environment for the corals. does anyone have any experience in doing this? pros and cons? i will probably be doing a water change at the same rate, every 3 weeks. any input would help.

 

[jackson6745]

IMO a nutrient poor environment that we strive for is still nutrient rich in comparison to natural sea water. Unless you have an extremely powerful skimmer, and a very low bio-load, I don't see any benefit. Just about EVERY coral will do better in pristine water quality with good feeding.

 

[REEFGUY]

I agree,just feed more,corals love to eat

 

[SevTT]

IMO a nutrient poor environment that we strive for is still nutrient rich in comparison to natural sea water. Unless you have an extremely powerful skimmer, and a very low bio-load, I don't see any benefit. Just about EVERY coral will do better in pristine water quality with good feeding.

Depends on the corals, though. Soft corals, xenids, polyps, and shrooms seem to like the water pretty nutrient-rich, if not turbid. And a skimmer does suck out microplankton and algae like crazy. And, of course, a healthy population of microplankton and algae tends to turn nutrients into nutritional elements (aka critters/food) pretty quickly. So, if your waste outputs aren't too high and you don't feed a huge amount, a biological system can pick up the slack of the mechanical one.

I say give it a shot. Keep a close eye on the tank. If your critters start looking unhappy ... fire up the skimmer again. If it seems like you're having improvements in growth, stay with it. Experimentation is a large part of this hobby.