What is possible without a skimmer?

[hlcroghan]

+1 Great advice CK.

 

[coco worm]

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

 

[lion_crazz]

Glad others started mentioning the live rock issue.
Personally, your next purchase should be about 50 lbs of live rock. A skimmer can wait, for sure.

 

[dani]

i'm slowly adding to my reef.. however like some of you, I'm skimmer-less.
I need to add more live rock to my DT, but have been trying to do it slowly as I don't want to disrupt anything. Is there a good rule of thumb as to how much should be added at a time?
Like CK, I also dose with Ca and add iodine weekly. In addition to that I dose with Strontium/Molybdenum.

 

[mantisman51]

I have neither skimmer, nor sump and I do a 15-20% water change on my 125g reef and 55g aggressive every 4-6 weeks. I have no issues with trates, trites or any other water problem. I have 130+/- lbs of lr and a 4" dsb in my 125g tank and a bare glass floor in my aggressive. I keep the lights on in my 125g tank 16 hours a day and have NO algae problems. My filtration is 1 Fluval 404 canister, which I clean 1x/mo and a 350 gph Skilter, with the skimmer off-cause I don't need it. The 55g has a 400 gph hob filter and a 300 gph internal filter. I pick up all uneaten food from the floor of the tank and have 0 water issues. I am fastidious about water-monitering every 2 weeks, more if something doesn't look/feel right. In the last 3 1/2 years in SW, I spent too much money on an expensive sump and skimmer. I have had no problems with water quality without them.