skimmer question

[susan]

I originally wanted to get a skimmer rated for a 250 gal tank. Will this be overkill on my 55gal I'm using in the meantime until I upgrade to a bigger tank? (The skimmer that's needed will be used to cycle 50 lbs of LR soon.)
When I upgrage, It'll be to a 100-125 gal tank. By that time, I'll have 100-150 lbs of LR pluss the LS from the 55 gal, and however much more LS I'll need to make a DSB. Will I need the skimmer then? Will the big tank need to recycle then? If so, I know I'll need the skimmer. If not, will I ever need it? I'll only be adding small amounts of LR from time to time and maybe a few live critters.
I ask all this because I don't want to waste the money on a large skimmer if I don't need it. I'll then only need a skimmer for a 100 gal tank. (doubling the skimmer ratio)
Thanks!

 

[susan]

Thanks-
Is 50-75 bls of rock a substantial enough amount of rock to need a skimmer initially though?
I was told by the LFS that with at least 100 lbs of LR and the DLSB, you don't need a filter or skimmer. Is one of those LFS tales I should let go in one ear and out the other? I initially wanted a wet/dry filter, but the more I hear about just using sumps with what I'll have, the more I'm wondering if that's what I should go with now. What do you think?

 

[susan]

Just another thought.
I'm told that some people don't like to skim much while curing LR to keep more of the interesting things that come with it. Also, because a lot of what you'd want to keep on a large reef would be taken away and that it's not needed with a large enough LR reef and a DLSB.
I would think you'd need to skim ALL THE TIME to keep the amonia levels from spiking too high during curing AND as a safety fall back in case they spike because of a death or introduction of a new living organism (such more LR being added at once than your tank can safely handle)
So am I right in thinking the skimmer should be running all the time? (except when cycling a tank)?