Tip of the Day – 1/22/2012

If you are trying out a new fish food, be sure to turn off your protein skimmer prior to feeding. The reason being that the protein skimmer may react to the food almost as soon as it hits the water, often flooding the collection cup and dumping old skimmate back into the aquarium. If this happens, the aquarium water must be changed, as the corals and fish are now being subjected to immediately terrible water quality and plenty of anaerobic byproducts that are sure to have developed inside the skimmer’s collection cup. If the water change isn’t done, the skimmer will probably continue to overflow once it is been turned back on, as it has old skimmer to re-collect.