Skimmer without mechanical filter?

Hello, all! I'm new hear & have a question about skimmers (obviously). I've seen mentioned a couple of times that some are running their systems with only skimmers & LR, no mechanical filtration, & I just can't wrap my head around it. Do any larger "chunks" get pulled out in the skimmer? & is the water as clear as with a charcoal (etc.) filter? Thanks for the input... my Skilter (I know!) went out today & I'm trying to decide what to replace it with. : LOL

 

I have a nano reef with a sump and about 20 lbs of live rock in it. I have no "large chunks" at all in my display tank.

In my sump I have a deep sand bed with cheato and my protein skimmer. I do have quite a few snails and crabs to help with the clean up.

My levels are always consistent and my corals are all thriving.

 

Welcome to 3reef sunshine I run my system with out a sump but with reactors one carbon and GFO and a skimmer. Normally with a good clean up crew I havent had any issues but over this last week my CUC slow died off and I got some cyano now. lol

 

Hmm... I find the idea interesting, as I have no room for a sump & HOB space is at a premium as well. The more I can do with less stuff, the better!

 

I run my system without Mechanical filtration. I have some stuff in my sump that settles (chunks if you will), but nothing but crystal clear water in the DT! I also run Carbon and GFO in a reactor.

 

Question number one-- Was the Skilter working for you? If so, then replace it with the same or an equivalent filter.

The main problem with mechanical filters in SW is that most of what they trap is food for something in the tank. Even waste gets eaten by certain CuC members. When it gets trapped in the filter, it breaks down much more quickly than in FW and releases DOCs back into the tank which can lead to high nitrate levels and uncontrollable algae blooms.

OTOH, carbon does the same thing as a skimmer- it removes nutrients and organic compounds from the water, and IMOPE is a better option for smaller tanks.

So, can you use a mechanical filter in a SW tank? Yes, absolutely. The trick is frequently checking/cleaning/changing the media, although if the livestock in your sig is all you have in the 44g, I don't see that being an issue.

 

Sorry I won't be contributing much here but asking a question. I use a Eheim cannister on my 75 gallon that I started ~ 2 months ago. I also use a HOB skimmer. I cleaned the filter pads in the cannister twice and both times I was expecting to see a lot of cr*@ on the pads but they were reasobaly clean. Makes me wonder what this unit does. Currently all I have is 5 chromies and one coral beauty, and one BIG leather coral. I cleaned the top pan of the skimmer for cosmetic reasons but that had a lot of gunk compared to my filter pads. I had also emptied that cup with d brown water a few times.

 

You basically have two possibilities-

1) a small school of chromis and 1 pigmy angel in a 75g is not going to keep you busy scrubbing filter pads and dumping the skimmer cup. I see quite a few that think their equipment isn't performing properly, but they just don't realize that the need for maintenance will be consistent with what they have for livestock and how much they feed.

2) perhaps the skimmer is in a better position (in relation to the direction of flow in your tank) to collect waste than the intake for the canister.

 

Well, Mr. Bill... I'm torn on the skilter. I did have to add an airstone to it to enhance the skimming ability but this tank has had nitrate issues from almost day one, 2 years ago. I cycled it properly and all but after the initial nitrate drop, BOOM! It's been an ongoing problem. As in, I could do a nearly complete water change with either my own or LFS water (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate tested 0) and within a few hours it was back to totally unreasonable levels (80 - 160 ppm). & I clean my filters AT LEAST twice a week. The skilter helped, but that's why I carry such a light bio-load. This has been going on for 2 years... I think I got some defective rock! LOL & guess what?! Now it has GHA! LOL I've reached the point where I just laugh at whatever new thing comes up & go on. I have two small kids so I don't have time to agonize over it. It's lucky to still be getting it's 2/week filter cleaning. ;D

 

Oh, & this is the second filter I've had on this tank... it was an upgrade from freshwater & the first was a Penguin (I think) Bio-wheel. When it went south I decided to try the Skilter & see if the skimming part helped. I don't know if it actually did, or if I just chose to think it did.