Skimmer on timer or 24x7

Got my first fish for the new tank, a clown and a royal gramma. The fish seem to doing fine, the gramma is hiding for now.

With the addition of fish I cranked up the skimmer, seems to be working well, but I'm not crazy about the noise. Can I run the skimmer on a timer, say only at night? Or does it have to run 24x7 to be effective?



DarkHorseMBA
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Dark Horse MBA

They are best left running 24/7 IMO
it does take a while for a skimmer to break in and produce foam consistently
thus once mine is doing so, I would not want to turn it off and start again the following day

Steve

 

Mine is Aqua-C Urchin Pro, with a Mag3 pump on it, and it seemed to have foam within a few hours. Not sure if that changes any recommendations.

 

Agreed 24/7. Mine foamed right up after being turned on but skimmate took over a week. Just remember the longer u run the skimmer the less nutrients get to break down in your tank.

 

I also agree to run it 24/7, doesn't make sense to only run it part of the time. By not running it at time, you may also experience PH issues as the dissolved oxygen could be affected.