'Nuther question on filtration

I don't think my skimmer is big enough to handle my system all by itself. I dump and thoroughly clean the collection cup twice daily, and I'm still having issues keeping my water clear...I even had another small bloom of diatoms (oh, the freaking joy of diatoms). I've looked into getting another small skimmer to run along with it, but until I can afford it I have this question:

Can I run my emperor 400 without the bio wheels or filter pads and maybe just use a couple of the filter media bags with activated carbon in them instead? I would put a bag of it on each side of the E400, so that way there shouldn't be all the gunk trapped like there is by the filter pads, but I can still get the benefit of extra filtering until such a time as I can get another skimmer....

Thoughts? Ideas? HELP!

what size skimmer is it? what brand? if you dumping clean water you need to adjust it till it's a nice foam consistency, I mentioned in another one of your threads that you are skimming too wet, user error plain and simple.. you need to raise it just to the point that the foam is at the top on the verge of falling into the cup.

My skimmer cup is raised all the way up and I still get very wet skimmate. Any ideas on why? The skimmer is an aqua c remora.

My cup is as far up as it will go.... I don't know the size, but, mine too is an Aqua C Remora. It came with my set up along with the E400 and the power heads.

I have TONS of foam too...don't get me wrong... but also quite a bit of dirty water in the bottom of the collection cup. I don't let the cup get completely full, either. I learned that if I only dumped it once a day, it would foam clear up and out the little hole in the top by the next day! LOL!
I'm just excruciatingly anal about keeping things clean.

Mine came with the drain fitting on the collection cup. The bucket it drains into had about 2 gallons of water in it yesterday and another gallon this morning. If it didn't have the drain I would have foam/water everywhere.

Oh WOW! Mine just has the lid so I have to keep up with it, or like I said, foam pushing out the little air hole in the top! LOL!

The "O" ring that was around the cup (can it really be an O if the cup is square? ) was broken when I got it, so I used VetRap so I am actually able to hold the cup up a little higher than I could with the original O ring.

How big is your tank? Mine's just a 55g, so maybe that's why I don't have 2 gallons of water coming out of my skimmer! hehehe!

Are the Remoras an older type skimmer? The ones I always see are round with the conical tube leading into the catch cup.

The remora is supposed to be one of the best hang on skimmers made. I have a 40 breeder.

lots of things factor in like how long has the skimmer been running?
sometimes it can take up to 6 weeks maybe even longer "as in my case" to fully break in also additives will cause your skimmer to freak out and over skim resulting in a flood, like Phyto, Selcon. epoxy etc.. if you use these turn the skimmer off while you feed or medicate and leave it off an hour or so after feeding/medicating. the higher the cup the less the skim. also make sure you don't dump what you think is clean water back into the tank lots of people do this and it just causes the the process to start all over again. I've had 3-4 Remora's in the past and they all worked great after getting them broken in, make sure your skimmers are level and not hanging tilted on your tank. did you wash your skimmer and pump with warm water prior to installation? This will help remove any oils and manufacturing residues, which can prolong the break in period. I have no idea how old your skimmers are or what pumps you are using? what pump do you have? the Reo, Maxijet, Mag drive? the Reo's don't preform as well.
try setting the skim box to the highest level (Below the drainage fitting) and see how it does. you need patients... as you probably know I bought the RSM 250 back in April and 7 months later I finally have the skimmer producing a nice thick coffee colored foam that I empty once a week but it took lots of adjusting on my part and getting to know my how my particular skimmer works to get to this point now my tank is crystal clear, its even hard to tell there's water in the tank..good luck and don't give up..

As always, AWESOME info Cindy! Thank you!!!

My pump is a Maxi-Jet 1200...couldn't tell you exactly how old it is since it came with my tank and everything else. I've been running it since Sept. 12 (which is 15 days after I got the tank set up).

Other than water conditioner for top offs and water changes I haven't added anything else to the tank (except the reef crystals when I do my w/c). OH, I did use Reef Accelerator until I could wean my tank onto the Reef Crystals from the regular IO sea salt. The change-over is complete now, so I'm not adding the reef accelerator any more, though.

So, in essence, you think the Remora is capable of filtering the tank on it's own and running the E400 with just activated carbon is unnecessary? The pump says it moves 295gph, so I would think it would be.

Just don't know why the diatoms decided to re-join the party. >:/
There shouldn't be a nutrient load as I only feed the fish twice daily and only enough that they eat it all in about 2 minutes time. I'm feeding the TetraMarine flakes since they stay suspended longer and the fish eat them before they can sink.
The pellets I have drop to the bottom pretty quick, so I only add about 4 of those after lights out for the hermits and the shrimp every night.
I also have the Chaeto out of the little mesh baggies and situated in my rock work...I thought that might help. Did that a week or so ago.
Other than the diatoms, everyone in the tank appears to be quite happy! The button polyps are even expanding their colony. :)

water conditioners will also mess with the skimmer, you should think about getting a better water source for your tank..I know, I know but water quality makes a huge difference between success or failure that's probably where your Diatoms are coming from if you can't afford an RO/DI = about 150.00 for a 50 gpd unit you can always buy the big jugs of distilled at walmart for your water changes and you would slowly improve the water quality with regular w/changes over time. you can run carbon if you would like but I would suggest sticking with regular carbon because activated carbon has been linked to HITH Disease I stopped using after the article in Advanced Aquarist came out. you can also cut the feeding back to once a day the fish will be fine they just act hungry all the time, even fast them one day a week won't hurt. my Tangs are 8-9 inches and they get a pinch of new spectrum once daily and Nori then once a week their spoiled with Mysis and Rods food:) whats you light schedule? and how bout the dwarf ceriths have you added anymore to your cuc? they eat Diatoms I'm in need of restocking my cuc as well..

If I use the distilled from Wmart for top offs and water changes, I won't have to use the water conditioners? I was always uncertain about that and wasn't sure if they added minerals for flavor enhancement or whatever, so I never thought about using it...but if it will help get my water quality up, that would be awesome!
Being in the boonies, we're on rural water, so I believe you when you say it could be the water supply, but that's all I've had available.

My light schedule is 12 hrs on, 12 hrs off with a half hour dawn/dusk period of the blue lights prior to turning them on and off.

I still have my ceriths, but they would rather congregate at the front of the tank or climb the glass instead of mess with the diatoms on the rocks and substrate. I've had to distribute them several times throughout the tank to get them to work on the problem areas, but eventually they all make it to the front of the tank again.
I haven't added any more of them but probably should. What is their life span?

Now, I did add the 4 little hermits to help with some of the algae that is trying to grow. Some is definitely coralline, but some is just a (really cool) neon green. Figured if anything they would keep it in check if it turned out to be something I didn't want. Of course, the diatoms have now covered up the algae on the rocks. Gah! I'm so frustrated with them...and me!

Thinking about maybe getting one or two of the larger cerith snails instead of more little ones, and maybe some sea lettuce to help filter and to offer a snack for my veggie favoring critters as well. I would also like to add some pods and I'm hoping to get some of the phytoplankton from James too.

Would you suggest me doing maybe a 20%-30% w/c using the distilled water, then, of course, use nothing but the distilled water for top offs from now on? Would that be too much of a shock for the system to do that much at once?

yes you would eventually replace the buffered water with much purer water, the last 25 gallons in my 180 was Distilled lol I got impatient with my RO/DI system:)
I keep mostly SPS in the 180 which require a lot of light. my T5's come on at 9am then the HID's come on at 11am till 4pm and the T5's go off at 7pm I don't use my moon lights most of the time corals seem to grow better when they have a total dark period, after all there isn't a full moon every night in nature. cutting your lighting back to about 8-9 hrs a day will help with the problem algae and Diatoms..we live in the boonies too but my well water is full of TDS I have tested and it's definitely not something I want in my tank.
I replace my cuc about every 6 months. copepods and phyto are two very different things, phyto is great stuff but be very careful not to over do it if you do the diatoms and other undesirables will feed on it and spread like wildfire I feed two drops literally of phyto a week "pumps and skimmmers off" to my non photosynthetic Gorgs and sponges..
you already have pods in the Chaeto I sent you, you may not see them right away but they are there one day you will start seeing them crawling on the glass they will multiply in abundance then disappear then come back. look in your tank with a flash light late at night. I would start smaller when you change over to distilled water 15-20% would be fine.
do you have any green star polyps in your tank? they are a great barometer for how your tank is doing depending on what kind of extension youre getting, the better the polyp extention the better your tank is doing they are one of those corals that are super easy to care for but also one of the 1st to react to unfavorable conditions. best of luck.

Excellent! Again, thank you!!

I don't have any Green Stars, but I do have the Jasmines and they are fully extended. I did see a nice frag of Yellow Stars at my LFS that I would love to get, tho!

I've seen some pods crawling around in the chaeto....shy little things, but actually pretty cute! :) I do need the phyto for my fan worm, tho...had to break down and get some from my LFS to use until I can get some from James. Wish I could target feed the little dude, but he's crazy shy. LOL!

I will get the distilled water today and do a 20% change and make sure I use nothing but distilled for top offs until such a time as I can get RO water.

I dont feed my coco worms, tube worms, feather dusters etc... they do just fine on their own good filter feeders. wait till you see it pop its top for the 1st time it's pretty cool if you happen to see it:) don't worry when you do it's not dead..
sounds like your tank is doing good keep it up!!!

Pop their TOP?! Why do they do that?!?!?!

lots of reasons maybe stress, water quality or they don't like their location in the tank. they can even leave their tubes to find a better location if they want too. never a dull moment:)

Ewwwww! That's just creepy!

So if they leave their tube, do the make themselves another one??

yep! I've even seen them live outside their tubes he was hitch hiking on another feather duster:)

That's entirely too bizarre! I'm glad you told me, cuz if I'd have seen that happen and not known about the top poppin' thing, I would have had a stroke!

OK...so I got the distilled water and did a 20% change and have 4 extra gallons for top offs. I'll never use our tap water again unless I have absolutely no other alternative. I'm sure hoping this helps get things cleared up!

** Params after the w/c are: Nitrates < 5ppm, Calcium 460ppm, Ammonia 0.25ppm (much higher than I expected). Button polyps closed up tight and the Jasmines are kind of limp looking (if that makes any sense). My Feather Duster is acting okay tho...and so far, no popping it's top! **

I've also lowered the temp from 76 to 74 degrees in case the temp is contributing to the diatom re-bloom and I'll cut the light period back as well to 10 hrs instead of 12.

Wish me luck! I'm about to go crazy with these dang diatoms!

i just learned a lot , Thank You Ladies.

strongarmtattoo wrote:

i just learned a lot , Thank You Ladies.

Awesome! I'm still learning too!

We all are except chip lol

lol chip:) I learn new things everyday too...