Skimmer and refugium Question (long)

[Marcel]

Hi,

I have a 150 gal tank, with a 35 gal sump and 10 gal refugium (I just set up). The main tank has 4X175 watt mh and on the refugium I use that Home Depot Power Compact (which works great by the way). I also use a top fathom skimmer (5 feet tall). The Refugium has about a 5 inch sandbed and is loaded with Caulerpa.

I have another 54 gal tank with 10 gal sump and small skimmer inside. It has a 4 inch sandbed and 3 vho lights (3 feet).

The interesting thing is, the little tank does 90% better than the big one. I took a bunch of corals from the big one which didn't do to hot, and they are doing unbelievable in the little one. The polyp extension is amazing and the Xenia are becoming a pest (started with 2. Got 30 within 4 months)

In the big one the polyps don't extend as much, and the corals just don't grow as well. I have the same maintenance routines set up on both tanks. I wasn't able to set up a deep sand bed in the big one so I decided to set up the refugium.

If anyone has a comparable setup as my 150, I was wondering if you use the skimmer 100% of the time. I'm beginning to wonder if it is overskimming. Also anyone use reverse daylight period or 24 hour daylight on their refugiums? And what kind of critters do you have running around in it?

Just interested in some input to see what I might have overlooked.

Thanks

[FishTechie]

I have a 180 with a 35g sump, in the sump there are two compartments, both with about 2inches of LS and lr rubble, in the center compartment lies the skimmer which runs for 20 hrs out of the day, from 10am-2pm, hottest part of day, i turn it off to reduce heat from pump....as it seems my tank and corals thrive, i monthly take frags of xenia to my lfs for credit, and i will soon be fragging some acro's for credit. I also use the Euroreef G force skimmer which works amazingly well, and i emtpy the collection cup every 4-5 days which is usually at about 1" of waste in it....hth

[SPasse]

Marcel,

Is it possible to over skim a tank?

This is a good topic to start a debate, even/especially with “old salt” (Experienced) reef keepers.

Reef tank husbandry is all about import and export. If the biological export mechanisms are sufficient to deal with the export requirements, less skimming or maybe even no skimming may be advantageous for a given system.

On the other hand, skim heavy – feed heavy is another perfectly viable approach.

Some people skim heavy, feed heavy, and have DSB’s and algae filtration all being used on the same system.

But make sure that you are feeding you system well, regardless of you methodology.

When is comes to skimming, don’t be afraid to experiment and determine what works best for your system, in it’s particular stage of development.

Regards,

Scott Passe

[PerryinCA]

Marcel, I think that the refugium has higher intensity light over it than the main tank and that is the reason for your refuge is looking good. Does the Xenia grow shorter in the small tank? Does it look "fluffy" compared to the Xenia in the big one? If so, I thats VERY likely your problem, not enough lighting in a tank that size for everything to prosper.

It may be possible to overskim a tank, but I doubt that is your problem.

-Perry