Timed Skimming??

I put my skimmer on a timer to get rid of the micro bubbles during viewing hours. skimmer is HOB at the moment, was going to get my sump going, but now i'm going to get a finnex 30 gallon tank so i dont really want to waste my time and money making a sump. skimmer is set to come on at 11 pm when the actinics shut off and go off at 10am when the actinics come on. My question is.... will this be okay with the bioload that i have in the tank?? (check signature) The skimmer doesnt produce much for skimmate anyway, and i would have to assume that 11 hours of skimming overnight would be sufficient. thoughts????

 

How much was the skimmer pulling out on an average day?

 

honestly almost none.

 

i have almost 100 pounds of LR as well

 

Hmm, well I'm no expert, but if it's not pulling out that much when it's running 24/7 then I would imagine running less would be ok. Some skimmers are sensitive to being turned on and off a lot, so check the instructions first.

 

If its not collecting that much then its one of two things, not needed or a crappy skimmer. Assuming your tank isn’t all that filled with crap (such as my colleagues are) than a timer would work just fine for you. On another note, can’t the skimmer return the water and micro’s to the sump to be dissipated prior to reentry to the display tank ?

 

put a 4" filter sock on the return--No more micro bubbles!!!!

 

then i would have a 4'' filter sock hanging in my tank....

 

A little sewing would give you what you needed easily without anything hanging in the tank. You could get a 200 micron sock and make a few of what you need. That's what I would do.

 

I run my skimmer overnight, it helps counter the reverse photosynthesis period from my caulerpa and helps stabilise my pH and DO2 at night. I occasionally run it through the day once or twice a week just to see if more skimmate is produced. It's also cheaper to run at night with my electricity provider...