ThE StArT Of My 120 BB sPs TaNk

[Wiskey]

According to my research, and what I have read on these fourms, Andy is not correct.

Thanks,
Whiskey

[Weatherman]

Originally Posted by trueblackpercula

The owner Andy of Mrc told me that there skimmers run better when run dry.

I guess it depends on what Andy means by "better".

To illustrate the point, let me make up some numbers...

Let’s say, with wet skimming, you remove 1 mg of, whatever nasty thing you can think of, per liter of water, and you produce 4 liters of skimmate a day. This means you will remove 4 mg of nasty stuff per day.

With dry skimming, say, you remove 1 mg of the same stuff per 0.25 liters of water. Seems “better”, right? Four times more efficient.

But wait… You only produce 0.1 liter of skimmate a day. 4 mg/l * 0.1 l/day = 0.4 mg/day.

So, in this simple example, dry skimming may be four times more efficient, but wet skimming will remove ten times more nasty stuff per day. That's why we like to skim wet.

[trueblackpercula]

"So, in this simple example, dry skimming may be four times more efficient, but wet skimming will remove ten times more nasty stuff per day. That's why we like to skim wet."

Makes more sense now, But wet skimming reduces the salinty level and at the same time removes more water from the system a day. That means I have to add more water to the tank daily. So that makes more work not less...........Is there any reason that I can not run this barebottom tank my way or will it fail? I did not cook my rocks and I will run the skimmer dry. Lets see if this will work for my system.
Or will it be doomed I hope not

[Weatherman]

Originally Posted by trueblackpercula

Is there any reason that I can not run this barebottom tank my way or will it fail? I did not cook my rocks and I will run the skimmer dry. Lets see if this will work for my system.
Or will it be doomed I hope not

Your water may be a little more nutrient-rich, but it's unlikely your tank will fail just because of that. Just reduce your feeding to match the reduction in nutrient export.

The best way to tell how nutrient-rich your water is by how fast algae forms on the glass. If you are scraping off an algae film every couple of days, you have lots of nutrients in your water.

[Wiskey]

Great posts Weatherman! I tried 3 times to type up a better explanation than what I had, then tried to find links to the Wet Skimming threads I had remembered and realized they weren't here. In the end I just gave up and typed my 1 line reply

One thing I want to add, keep your fish load low as well, more fish means more food, and avoid fish like tangs that need to feed on phosphate rich Norri.

If it were me (and it will be me soon) I would (will) and one small fish at a time, waiting a month+ in between additions, look for darkening coral, buildup of algae, excess detritus etc,.... If all checks out then another small fish could be added.

I am not going to add any fish until my coral starts to lighten up though, then I know the rock is done shedding and I am good to go.

Whiskey

[trueblackpercula]

I still do not have any fish in the tank as of today. Maybe soon I will add the 2 fish that will be going into the system.(Centropyge resplendens) or (Centropyge interruptus) But this is a long toime away at least a year............I must stock up on all the Sps i want first then fish.

They are the only fish that will be going into the tank. As for the build up of algea I clean the tank glass every Saturday and there really is no film on the glass very small amounts that even I was saying to myself that the skimmer really is doing its job.
This is the best place to talk about things and get a straight answer not like R/c.
This is my new home for sure well as long as you guys and girls keep me
P.S. what else should I read on BB tanks Just in case .