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+1 on this one... I have a skimmer + sump + refugium + GAC. I shut my skimmer and GAC down ever day during my photo period including ramp up/down (12 hours). For my system, this is a good balance, it also helps with heat management as those submerged pumps don't contribute more heat as the lights come up. My refugium is on a reverse photo period from my lights, and my skimmer comes back on at lights out. This combination also helps with CO2 management and pH stabilization, so the added benefit is I only have a very slight pH swing at night (8.35 average day, 8.28 average night). And for my system I am able to maintain a good nutrient level by only using the skimmer for 1/2 of the day.
Back to the OP.... a skimmer is useful. If one comes with the system you are getting, give it a try after the tank is cycled and stocked before you worry about replacing it. As long as you can adjust it, maintain it easily, and it pulls decent skimmate then why replace it? IME it takes a year to really get a system tuned and find its individual balance, just be patient and make small adjustments over the first year until you find what works for your system.
Perhaps the question should be, "In a tank that includes : <insert stocking list> , do I need a skimmer?"
You can fill a tank with saltwater and nothing else and it's still a reef tank...
There are endless ways to keep a reef tank. Pick what works for you. Skimmers are useful for someone new to the hobby because of the tendency to over feed.
There are endless ways to keep a reef tank. Pick what works for you. Skimmers are useful for someone new to the hobby because of the tendency to over feed.
Zero Nitrates... I like ur choice of a name. I was running close to zero nitrates for a long time until I started SPS and they just were not doing well. Now I have to run about 5 ppm but still zero phosphate. It is funny how all this time I was striving for something that wasn't working and it was a heck of a lot easier to keep it at zero than it is to keep it at 5. too
Oh well, great name though
Very nice!Some tanks I run a skimmer on and other tanks I do not for one reason or another. I have countless images of both types of tanks, but you get the idea. The premise of thread is are skimmers necessary, no they are not, it's a personal choice based on how you want to run a specific system.
My current tank will eventually be sps dominated, and yes I will add a skimmer, that is just my preference for this current tank.
Sps dominate nano cube, no skimmer:
A softy tank/mixed reef no skimmer: