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I would not say that they "do very little for the cost and maintenance".Skimmers???? Why? They are a pain in the ….. neck! Do very little for the cost and maintenance. I’ve had my setup for years without a skimmer and doing just fine!
There are numerous ways to sustain a healthy captive reef, all of them require a long term strategy for waste export or sequestration (which eventually requires export). A skimmer is one of the viable tools for export.
Each export method has pros and cons (and costs and maintenance) associated. I personally prefer to deal with the skimmer vs other media reactors and mechanical filters. Likewise, maintaining a refugium and/or ATS were loathsome tasks for me.