Lets see the tanks running with no skimmers.....

[agoutihead]

Alright most of you and all of my friends who are in the hobby, disgree that you can run a successful tank without a skimmer.
And I'm not talking sps, I'm talking most about softies/lps tanks.
I have myself, personally ran a 55 with no skimmer for almost three years.
Did I lose corals over the years? Yes, but honestly I attribute it more to me not ever doing a water change. I would literally do one maybe every 6 months. Alot of it had to do with personal life problems I had that made me neglect that tank.
I think that if I do water changes every 2 weeks and run carbon, I will in fact have a succesful softie/lps tank.
This new tank (the 40 breeder I setup recently) also has an ATO to keep my water levels as stable as possible, which I think is a big factor in alot of the life span of corals.
Can anyone atest this as well?
How long has your tank been up? What is your maintence schedule like?
Post pictures if you have them.

 

[tiberius]

For about 11 years I ran my tank with no skimmer. I did have it hooked up for about 9 years prior. Don't really remember why I ever took it out. I just recently hooked it back up when I started trading my mushrooms for other corals. I was one of those that even had a bubble wand in my tank for those 11 years. Here are some pics of it before I got all my different corals.

 

[perfectdark]

Bio Cube 6 months old no skimmer ever...

 

[agoutihead]

Ahh the biocubes.
Many people have these nano's and biocubes, and most of them don't have skimmers, like my buddy who has a 6 gallon.
Yet I have seen these little nano's flurish better than most peoples reef tanks.
sure they have various media in the back chambers, but nothing is actually getting removed from the water.
So how do you skimmer fanatics explain this on?
Quite interesting.

 

[groupergenius]

Originally Posted by PerfectDark
Bio Cube 6 months old no skimmer ever...

Awsome tank. I have disabled the skimmer function on my bakpak 2 recently. I have noticed whenever I dose the tank with iodide for my softies, the skimmer goes nuts. It actually overflowed onto the floor and I lost 3 gallons out of my 15.

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by agoutihead
Ahh the biocubes.
Many people have these nano's and biocubes, and most of them don't have skimmers, like my buddy who has a 6 gallon.
Yet I have seen these little nano's flurish better than most peoples reef tanks.
sure they have various media in the back chambers, but nothing is actually getting removed from the water.
So how do you skimmer fanatics explain this on?
Quite interesting.
This is simple. People who run nano tanks can easily change large percentages of their water. And most do. Large water changes like that can be equally (if not more) effective than running a protein skimmer.
I personally have about 220 total gallons of water running in my house. It doesn't make sense to do huge water changes all the time on all of that. Protein skimmers (good ones) pull out a lot of nasty junk. I don't know how anyone could make an argument against them.

 

[perfectdark]

I cant argue with that statment. I do a weekly 15% water change which on a 200 gal system would be insane but in a 29 gal cube its only about 5 gals, and 15 minutes.

 

[koralkid]

Originally Posted by GrouperGenius
Awsome tank. I have disabled the skimmer function on my bakpak 2 recently. I have noticed whenever I dose the tank with iodide for my softies, the skimmer goes nuts. It actually overflowed onto the floor and I lost 3 gallons out of my 15.

did you have the air valve fully open. try that.

 

[threed240]

Its also a question of bioload on a nano tank, verses a larger aquarium. If you have some large tangs, or any other large fish, its going to pollute the water much more than say a clownfish in a nano tank. Alot of corals are filter feeders, that combined with larger/easier water changes, and smaller fish will produce less skimate. Nice looking tanks by the way.

 

[groupergenius]

My 15 is a coral only tank. A couple inverts, CBS and hermits, and 1 6line wrasse. Do ya'll think I even need a skimmer? I don't plan on anymore fish than just the one. The corals don't put off alot of bio-load do they?

 

[agoutihead]

Hagfish, you do make a good point with the nanos. Your right a tank your size is just not feasable to do that large of a water change that often.
But tanks 75 or lower, you can probably run them with no skimmer.
I was just making the comparison of a nano to my 40 breeder, like if it works on a 12, or 24, why wouldnt a no skimmer idea work on a 40?
Bioload is also another important factor. The largest fish I am going to get i a flame angel, and he will only be 2" when I first get him.
the other fish are...
true perc
blackperc
mandarine
neon goby
purple firefish.
That matched with a good clean up crew in both my display and fuge, I think is an avenue to succes.

 

[mscarpena]

I agree you should have a skimmer on a large tank, but are not needed on small tanks due to the ease of water changes. I had a crapy skimmer on my 75 gallon and I got a better one. Water has never been clearer and less aglae. Skimmers get an A++++ in my book. You ever smell the garbage that comes out of one, how would you like to live in that?? Not very fun that stuff is pretty funky. Also corals and fish are able to adapt to less than perfect conditions more than people think. Just because they are living does not mean they are thriving or doing the best they can. If you run a skimmer your corals and fish will live longer, healthier lives and be more colorful.

 

[kidreef]

i have a 29g 3yrs old recently started trying to form a reef no skimmer and after seeing these tanks i problt wont get one unless water starts to get outa hand

 

[agoutihead]

mscarpena, are you aware that softies/lps actually like dirtier water better?
all of that nasty funky stuff that you don't like the smell of, yes some of it is bad, and some of it is also good.
No one really knows what percentage is what though.
There are other things to do to your tank if not running a skimmer.
Carbon for one comes to mind.
that just takes out the bad and leaves in the good.

 

[trigger11]

I dont run a skimmer on my tank. I tried one once but it didnt seem to do very much and since then I have become convinced they pull out the very nutrients the corals need. I do have a 30G sump / fuge that is filled pretty full with LR though.
Here are some pics of my tank. I recently upgraded from having a hex tank to a regular 55G so I will need to a different light.