How long to run a protein skimmer

[The_Orca]

I just converted a wet/dry into a reguim for my 95 gal tank. My protein skimmer is in the sump. I'm curious to know how long each day you should run the skimmer? all day?? Couple hours?

 

[Anonymous]

24/7..........Mine never goes off unless I'm cleaning it.

 

[Anonymous]

All the time.

 

[shavo]

I disagree with that all the time 24/7 business. I haven't had my skimmer on for 3 days and then I turned my skimmer on and it only pulled stuff out for about an hour or so. I don't think is it necessary to run it 24/7.
what's the point of runing it 24/7 ????

 

[LA-Lawman]

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....

 

[shavo]

is this is a moderator gang up NRF style???? don't you think we get enough air from just the return line going into the fuge??? Call me crazy but I don't run it every day, sometimes I plug it in and if it doesn't do anything in 10/15 minutes I unplug it.

 

[The_Orca]

I heard that running it 24/7 is unnecessary and may remove to many Trace elements. A couple hours a day or even a few times a week I think would be sufficient.

 

[Anonymous]

We should do a poll and see the consensus.

 

[The_Orca]

Ok. Sounds good to me. I'll run it 24/7 if necessary but if I'm wasting electricity and putting unneeded hours on my pump I'll run it less.

 

[shavo]

well it would be fun to post this poll, i would like to see what people do, crissy can you post it? I haven't a clue how to get a poll going, anyhow, this poll won't prove or disprove anything. it would just be what people do, whether right or wrong. I just feel it would be a waiste of time to run a skimmer all day long. I am waiting to see what chrisRD says about this subject.

 

[Anonymous]

is this is a moderator gang up NRF style???? don't you think we get enough air from just the return line going into the fuge??? Call me crazy but I don't run it every day, sometimes I plug it in and if it doesn't do anything in 10/15 minutes I unplug it.

Not ganging up just people with experience giving their opinion. If you are just running the skimmer for 10 minutes or so you are not giving it enough time for a head funk to form. Having the extra air from the skimmer if certianly not going to hurt anything.

 

[Anonymous]

I heard that running it 24/7 is unnecessary and may remove to many Trace elements. A couple hours a day or even a few times a week I think would be sufficient.

Unless you are runnig super wet or the trace element is an organic I think your are not going to skim out a significant amout. If you are doing a regular water change them any little amout removed will be replenished.

 

[Anonymous]

K, will do right now.

 

[dnorton1978]

interesting to see all the different opinions.

 

[shavo]

hey wazzel i was only being sarcastic, I didn't think you guys were ganging up on me, I like the fact that i am going against the moderators lol !! just kidding, anyhow I don't run my skimmer for 10 minutes, but when I turn it on if I run it for 10 minutes and nothing is skimming out I turn it off and wait till the next day. that's all, I have a reliable skimmer that does a great job and if nothing is being pulled out why run it?

one more thing the head funk is usually up and going in less than a minute, 10 minutes is plenty for my skimmer to show me something. just my expirience

 

[mr_X]

you don't need to skim all the time. i skim about 2 hours a day actually. i have no troubles at all. it's just a waste of electricity, and it will also remove the trace elements you just added to the water, which seems like nonsense to me.
if you turn your skimmer on and it is pulling scum like crazy, then you have issues that need to be addressed. i turn mine on and it pulls stuff for a while, then stops (this is the opportune time to shut it off IMO).
watch your tank and pay attention to it. you'll know what you need to do in a short time. check your parameters regularly, and you'll know when, and how much to skim. after all, you may feed alot more or less than me, or i may have a larger bio load than you, so, it's an individual thing, but all in all, i really don't think you can humanely stock a tank enough to warrant using a skimmer 24/7. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

For the record, I totally agree with Wazzel.

 

[ChrisRD]

I like to feed my fish very heavily so I generally run a skimmer that's rated for about double the tank size. The only time I turn it off is to clean it. I've never noticed any evidence of trace element depletion in my tanks over years of continous skimming. IMO most of the skimmers on the market aren't all that great to begin with, so running them less than full time will just handicap them even more.

Also, don't overlook the benefit of aeration that a skimmer can provide for the system. Running one continously can really help stabilize pH levels. This is particularly true for those using Ca reactors and/or dosing Kalk which can depress/increase pH levels beyond the range normally associated with seawater.

They're also a nice safety net if something dies or you have a spawning event. If the skimmer is off, it won't be of much help... :wink:

 

[SnowManSnow]

constantly here. never goes off.

 

[shavo]

you have me thinking about it now! maybe I will turn it ona timer for my night cycle which is 14 hours.
think that is better than whenever i plug it in?