well i had an elagance for a little over a year and it was the size of my head. but it died beacuse my lighting was not strong enough, but know i am waiting for my lfs to get one that size again now that i have upgraded my lighting
i have a friend that has a 30 gallon with a fluval filter and she does not have a protien skimmer and her tank looks awesomeit also is a reef. and my 60 gallon reef does not have a protien skimmer and is doing awesome too
i've had a reef tank for about a year and five months now! and i done great with out one and i only 13 so i don'tt think that it is so important if you don't keep a lot of fish