Going without a skimmer?

[JZ199]

So I'm in the process of building and setting up my new 150 gallon tank and have been thinking about going without a skimmer... has anyone on here had success with a larger tank and no skimmer? From what I heard so far a skimmer is the most useful for a newly started tank but once it's established they don't make a huge impact.

I have a 55 gallon and after a while I eventually stopped using the skimmer and didn't really notice a huge difference?

 

[twilliard]

In my opinion its all about how you feed the tank

 

[Triggreef]

Been without skimmers for a couple years. Pros and cons. Tough to keep nutrients down even using denitrators. But I also like heavy load of fish. I'm just now revamping my systems and adding skimmers, mainly because I'm going to LC for po4 removal, trying to get away from using gfo. Skimmer is a must if using LC so I have no choice. But it will also allow me to just put vodka on a dosing pump rather than worry about manually dosing the denitrators. But to answer your question, yes, you absolutely can have success without a skimmer. I have everything from red planet, pearl berry, tenuous, pink lemonade, lps, Monti, acans, plates, shrooms, zoas, pavonas, stylos, etc.

 

[Humblefish]

I personally feel a skimmer is the most useful piece of equipment on a saltwater tank. It's like having an insurance policy. We all get lax something and don't do WCs like we should. A good skimmer provides you with some wiggle room by continuing to export nutrients even when you get lazy.

 

[Paranoiattack91]

What is reason for not wanting to run a skimmer? I don't really see any reason why you would want to pass on one.

 

[Harold Green]

For some tanks the skimmer is the main method of gas exchange in the water depending on flow across the surface of the tank.

 

[gaz]

For me it's the most important piece of equipment. What was the reason for not wanting skimmer?

 

[Jeff Kurtz]

I'm definitely in the pro-skimmer camp, especially with a heavier fish load. In closed aquaria, the nutrient import/export balance always seems to tip in favor of import, and skimming is a great hedge against that. And, as others have stated, in addition to removing DOCs, skimming is a powerful tool for gas exchange. IMO, the good skimming does far outweighs any potential negatives.

 

[ReefTankRebel]

No skimmer here. once you build up a bio life in the tank things kinda take care of themselves. I'm sure skimmers are nice for people that use them but most definitely not the most important piece of equipment or even essential to having a nice reef.

 

[gaz]

even with all my bio life my skimmer still pulls out a lot of crap only a good thing IMO.

 

[jared graves]

It can definitely be done but your going to need extra flow in your display thank and a filter sock or filter cloth to put over your drain line from your main display and then really stir the tank up to get the extra detritus moving over the over flows. I will just use a power head to stir it up by taking it off the tank wall and pointing it all around the tank it's crazy how much stuff gets moving!

 

[jared graves]

Let me clarify this is if you want it to look like you have a nice skimmer if you are ok with detritus here and there it really isn't a big deal as long is it's not piling up getting ready to cause a tank crash

 

[Trevors1972]

I don't use a skimmer on my clam tank.

 

[3dees]

look at what's in your skimmer cup after a few days. if it's like mine, you'll never want to go skimmerless. how can you be ok with all that crap staying in your water.

 

[jared graves]

look at what's in your skimmer cup after a few days. if it's like mine, you'll never want to go skimmerless. how can you be ok with all that crap staying in your water.

A lot of that has to do with feeding and water changes I really only feed once every 3 days ( I throw a pinch of pellets in every day for the fish that won't graze rocks or eat pods) and my tank runs just fine

 

[gaz]

I just don't understand why you wouldn't want the optimal care for the animals we keep but maybe Its just me OTT with uv ozone skimmers etc

 

[jared graves]

I just don't understand why you wouldn't want the optimal care for the animals we keep but maybe Its just me OTT with uv ozone skimmers etc

I have gone the skimmer route before. I had a reef octopus rated for up 300gal on my 90gal and it was fine it pulled junk out etc but I had a hard time keeping cal, all, etc up at there levels so I stopped running it added extra live rock and never looked back. I don't think my animals are under cared for my coral definitely grows fast and my fish I haven't noticed any difference in.

 

[NanaReefer]

When I see what my skimmer pulls out on a daily bases, I get great peace of mind. Something that doesn't come easy when keeping a reef system. I will never run without one.

 

[gaz]

I suppose it's down to the individual as long as you have a nice tank and happy inhabitants then that's good. never tried going with out a skimmer and probably never will do.

 

[jared graves]

I suppose it's down to the individual as long as you have a nice tank and happy inhabitants then that's good. never tried going with out a skimmer and probably never will do.

Multiple ways to do the same thing but I will give you running a Skimmer is a tried and true method you can't go wrong.