Cali Kid Corals

Protein skimmer & water parameters questions

newfly

Supporting Member
How much skimate can I expect from a 3 months tank? I don’t feed heavy. 11 small fishes in a 65g

I’m getting half a cup of light tea color skim mate every 2-3 days on a tunze 9004 dc. My parameters seems to be good, so that means the skimmer is doing it’s job? 10% WC weekly.

Water parameters as follows

Ammonia 0
Nitrates <5
Salinity 1.025
Cal 400
Mag 1260
Alk 8.6

No coral yet.

I’m using TP classic salt. No dose of any kind. Is this good enough for corals? I understand stability is key, but is this is good starting point?
 
really depends on the type of corals you will be doing. i haven't searched if you have a journal but lights will play a role also. you are okay where you are at until you start stocking it up. some people wet skim, some people dry skim.
 
really depends on the type of corals you will be doing. i haven't searched if you have a journal but lights will play a role also. you are okay where you are at until you start stocking it up. some people wet skim, some people dry skim.

I can get 400+PAR on the top and 300+ at the bottom at 85% power. I’m running at 45% power to get 200’ish PAR. I think I have enough light for LPS and SPS like montipora. I can always bump up the power if needed. Plenty of headroom for now.

Not much idea on coral yet. Will start out slowly and grow from there. Not interested in Arco.

I am starting my coral qt tank which can get 200PAR at high/ medium of the tank and 120’ish at the bottom. Planning on 45days QT before adding to display.
 
Start lower on the PAR readings - the 120ish is fine on the sandbed (less in shade obviously). For SPS, shoot for ~250-350 on the average and watch out for hotspots depending on which LEDs you're running (that's if you run LEDs). It's better to start out with less light and then bumping it up versus going too strong initially and burning them.

For reference, this is was my weekly skimmate production from my Vertex 150 skimmer on the 46G tank.
1618028980039.png
 
I have 7 small fish in a 65g and skim wet.

After cleaning the cup i can fill half of it in 24 hours with a light brown tea. Reef octopus bh-2000.

My nitrates are consistently at around 1 ish and po4 around 0.06 ish.

Can say from experience, the better skimmer pulls way more.

I had an aquamaxx hob 1, which is rated similar to your skimmer, and it probably was half as effective.
 
feed your fish!
they NEED it
a hungry fish is in a weekend state
they spend LOTS of energy swimming...even if it's in the same place with all the flow

FEED your fish
Haha.. I do feed my fish . 5-6 times a day if not more since I’m home practically 24/7. I do feed just enough everytime to ensure most of the food is eaten.

I enjoy feeding them. Just not excessive that pollute the tank.
 
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