Coral Only Tank. Skimmer needed? Do I feed it?

[dmmitchell]

Hello all,

I’m building a small (10-20 gallon) coral grow out tank and have a question as I go.

Do I need (or should I have) a skimmer in the tank? I plan to have just a utility fish - either a Blenny for algae or a six line for pests.

thanks!

 

[Uncle99]

If nutrients are on the rise, that’s one way to stabilize.
Not mandatory, water movement is.

 

[Joe31415]

I have an invert only 20g AIO, without a skimmer, that I use for QTing corals and other inverts. It's been up and running for a few years and everything does just fine in it. Some of the corals even seem to do better in that tank. I couldn't tell you exactly why, but I suspect the water being a bit dirtier helps.

I really should check the parameters on that tank now that I think about it.

 

[bushdoc]

I have 20 gal passive quarantine, coral quarantine tank.
Was holding few fish there, which are now in main DT.
Had Tunze skimmer there, but took it out now as bioload is very small.
Skimmers for 10-20 gal tanks are limited in supply and of dubious efficiency, difficult to adjust. I would go without one.