Skimmate as fertilizer

[Kensington Reefer]

Anybody out there ever thought about using the juice that your skimmers produce as a fertilizer for plants? I wonder what the N:K is? I empty my skimmer cups into a 30gal bin and dilute with FW.
Ideas? Thoughts? Comments?

 

[r0ck0]

I don't know if that stuff is good or bad for compost.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature

 

[Gomer]

the organics are probably fine. The salt isn't. Even if you dilute it, you can get an accumulation. Some plants do not tolerate salt. If you dilute the skimmate, you are also diluting the effectiveness of the organics. I think it is likely not worth the effort nor risk.

 

[r0ck0]

Can I get a frag, My number is 4 billion.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Sorry don't know how the frag stuff got there . The skimmer juice is diluted in 30gal fw. Plants are fertilzed once/ mo and watered weekly without.

 

[seminolecpa]

You are creating a new thread as a chain.

 

[scuba71]

the organics are probably fine. The salt isn't. Even if you dilute it, you can get an accumulation. Some plants do not tolerate salt. If you dilute the skimmate, you are also diluting the effectiveness of the organics. I think it is likely not worth the effort nor risk.

+1 Also, keep in mind that salt will make plants grow shorter and and the fruits will be smaller. Not many plants can tolerate salt. I would monitor closely.

 

[Gomer]

again, I think it isn't worth the gamble or effort, especially considering how little waste there is in disposing skimmate and how cheap normal fertilizer is. It's like trying to save a buck by getting a dremel to do your own dentistry...ok not that bad, but still.

I do however, advocate using WC water from planted FW tanks to water your household plants.

 

[Vincerama2]

Well, if you have dental coverage and your co-pay is $10, then it's not even worth the dremel effort!

I agree with this though, just pour the skimmate into the toilet. The organics will be returned to the ocean after some processing.

V

 

[GreshamH]

Actually next to none of the organics will be returned to the ocean unless we have heavy rains and the storm drains flood the sewer.. otherwise the organics will be removed by the sewage plant

 

[Coral reefer]

Weird... Spam?

 

[Thales]

I tried it once and got dead plants.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

I did it and I got wonderful plants!! Fertilizers are a type of "salt". Remember I am diluting skimmate in 30gal of filtered freshwater. The ratio is huge. Just an idea of recycling generated waste. I would love to know N:K.

 

[Chromis]

Just wanted to share that my palm trees seem to like skimmate, maybe trees that live closer to the ocean can deal with whatever extra salt is in it. Here is my baby canary palm being fed skimmate (it also benefits from the RO unit output, we ran the RO output all the way to it). Palms are supposed to like a higher ratio of potassium in the NPK of fertilizers (something that is said to be skimmed out of reef tanks via assimilation by bacteria) as well as magnesium.

Basically all my skimmate has been dumped on my palms the past year.

 

[Flagg37]

Just wanted to share that my palm trees seem to like skimmate, maybe trees that live closer to the ocean can deal with whatever extra salt is in it. Here is my baby canary palm being fed skimmate (it also benefits from the RO unit output, we ran the RO output all the way to it). Palms are supposed to like a higher ratio of potassium in the NPK of fertilizers (something that is said to be skimmed out of reef tanks via assimilation by bacteria) as well as magnesium.

Basically all my skimmate has been dumped on my palms the past year.

Can you automate this process? I remember hating having to empty my skimmer cup.

 

[max_nano]

Can you automate this process? I remember hating having to empty my skimmer cup.

Yeah, it would just require drilling the skimmer cup to have an outlet. Or mine came with a barb fitting, then have that fill a container and have a float valve on the container that turns on a pump for a set time each time the float valve is hit.

If someone waters with a rain collection system I wonder if you could just plumb the skimmer Cup into that container, but it seems like a quick way to make that collection container nasty.

Would skimmate be beneficial for a compost pile?

 

[Chromis]

Can you automate this process? I remember hating having to empty my skimmer cup.

If someone can think of a way, let me know. The way the sludge sticks to the skimmer cup, I would imagine it would clog a hose, or at least create some new work cleaning skimmer hoses. And I’m kind of scared to plumb a skimmer drain, I’ve heard lots of horror stories...

 

[Wlachnit]

Would skimmate be beneficial for a compost pile?

Well...the basic requirements for compost is organic material and Nitrogen. So, I would think that it would be beneficial...unless the inorganic salts overwhelm it?