To skim or not to skim that is the queston!

[Brando457]

I am changing my tank over from reef to fish only with liverock and a few zoas that are still alive. I took my biopellets off line and also my skimmer off line with plans to sell them. Now I am thinking is it maybe worth running the skimmer?

Tank is a 60g deep blue 48 x 24 x 12 reef ready
Sump: 75g halfway full w/ a center fuge and big ball of cheato
Live rock: approximately 75 lbs + 25 lbs of rubble
Sand: 2-3" of sand in main tank approximately 100 lbs I'd say

I have my gfo and carbon offline at the moment, but plan on putting them back on the tank soon.

I was slacking with my water changes, but plan on being aggressive and doing 10g minimum a week!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[jose7878]

I would say if you stay on top of a 10gal water change weekly you could probaly get away without a skimmer.

 

[9supratt4]

Not to be a knock on your or a jerk, but let's face it...I don't think anyone stays on exact target with their water changes. It usually starts well, but then fades away.

I'd keep it and run it...it'll keep the tank cleaner.

 

[ThatGuy]

How heavy of a bio load are you going to have? If you get aggressive messy eater fish(puffers) I would say run the skimmer, but if you get a couple of small fish that just eat pellets you could go without.

 

[downbeach]

I would continue running the skimmer, GFO and GAC. You could probably decide between the fuge and/or bio-pellet reactor, since you most likely don't need both. I opted to take the fuge off line when I started running bio-pellets.

 

[NikkiT]

I would keep the skimmer. It will give you more options in terms of fish selection, and (as noted above) if you are a few days late with a water change it will buy you some time before the water parameters get horribly out of wack. Don't forget, our skimmers also play a role in oxygenating our water, and big fish means a big demand for oxygen (as well as more waste).

 

[Brando457]

Ill put it back online tomorrow jeez now i feel guilty!