How long to run a protein skimmer

[trido]

sometimes I plug it in and if it doesn't do anything in 10/15 minutes I unplug it.

Sometimes when I mess with my skimmer it doesnt do any thing at all for an hour or two. I run 24/7

 

[spaulr]

I run 24/7 also. Mostly to help increase gas exchange and keep my PH level. If I don't run it all the time my PH tends to dip during the night. Even with my sump light on.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

I run mine overnight since I feed at night. Im still wondering if skimmers pull out inorganics like calcium. Just paranoid about a 20 dollar bottle of calcium being extracted and dumped.

 

[trido]

Im still wondering if skimmers pull out inorganics like calcium. Just paranoid about a 20 dollar bottle of calcium being extracted and dumped.

When I had a serious calcium snowstorm last month my skimmer pulled all sorts of calcium goo out of the water. For the most part, I get about a gallon or two of wet skim mate in a week. I doubt that there is a higher concentration of calcium in that water than in the normal tank water. As someone else wrote it very recently, "If your worried about a few dollars in this hobby. It probably isnt the hobby for you".

 

[Anonymous]

all the time. even though you might not be pulling nog fro the tank your injecting a steady source of oxygen into the water.... a very good thing....

Absolutely. 8)