constant skimming

we just recently purchased a 110g tank with sump and were currently getting it started. some of the supplements that were putting in the tank say not to skim... when should we start skimming and should we leave the skimmer running constantly to prevent build ups?

 

welcome to 3 reef mdaigle

I believe you mean food type supplements?
and they often indicate you should turn off skimmer in order to prevent what you added being removed to quickly

I run my skimmer 24/7 , even though I do use many food based supplements
I prefer to target distribute using a pipette in the vicinity of the coral rather than just adding x amount of mils to the aquarium water
that way I am confident the corals do obtain the benefit, but have not had to turn of my skimmer to achieve this

if its other chemicals you are referring to? please describe which ones?

 

its called microbacteria

 

Microbacter7 Brightwell? good product IMHO

Some bacteria would be skimmed off
but not enough to interrupt the cycle

and as skimmers can be a pain to get going properly on occasions
when mine is running properly, I do not want to interfere with its work

 

so it would be safe to hold off for a little while before adding the skimmer but i should definately do that in the next couple of weeks?

 

I have a tank that i set up about 5 months ago and I am just now going to install the skimmer. I know of a number of people without one. I think the important thing is to let the tank cycle before adding a skimmer but I could be wrong

 

you do not need it at all really until you have higher life forms in the tank
waiting for your 1st fish or coral stocking would be a better idea than stop/ starting it now IME

 

I had a skimmer on my tank and havent used it for about the lasst 3-4 months with no ill side effect so if you leave it off for a few months or a few weeks IMO you should be fine

 

thank you for the help. im sure well be fine for now without a skimmer.