Additive and Skimming

[sg1.025]

I've been wondering if keeping the skimmer going when i add some Kent supplements to my tanks is a good thing or a bad thing. I've notice that after i add the supplements, the skimmer seems to collect more "blueish" matter then it normally does. Most of the time, my skimmer pulls out mostly "clear" bubbles/matter.

Any info?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Which additives are you referring to? Calcium and alkalinity additives are not impacted by skimming.

[sg1.025]

Randy,

I'm adding the following:

LiquidCalcium
Pro-Buffer dKH
Iron
Coral-Accel
Strontium & Molybdenum
MicroVert
ChromaPlex
PhytoPlex
Essential Elements
Tech-I
Coral-Vite

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Wow, that's a lot of additives. I personally I would not use all those.

All that I currently use are limewater (for calcium and alkalinity), iron for macroalgae, and silica for sponges/diatoms/etc.

I personally would not turn off the skimmer, but some of those may be partiially skimmed out. I'm also not sure exactly what many of them are (such as the Tech I) and so would not use them, nor would I be able to say whether they might be skimmed out.

These will not be skimmed out:

LiquidCalcium
Pro-Buffer dKH
Strontium & Molybdenum

[sg1.025]

Randy,

Thanks for the info. I dont' add them all on the same day. I'm adding them over the course of a week. Not all are supplements either. Some are filter feeder food.

The Tech-I is "time released" Iodine.
Some stuff is coral food, and as i said, other is filter feeder food.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, I'm familiar with Tech I, but Kent does not reveal what exactly it is, so I cannot determine if it is something that I would want to add, nor can I be sure whether it is skimmable or not.