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105man

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Wondering whether anyone has done just great without a skimmer, or experimented with and without and found any difference.

54 gal corner tank
Live rock, live sand
Fluval, UV
mushrooms, polyps and leathers
tang, flame angel, copperband butterfly, shrimp, algae critters

Thanks!
 

PeeJ

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I'm sure many people have. In fact I know many people have becuase there are countless threads on this same topic and they all come to the same conclusion. My good buddy Yves doens't run a skimmer on his 75 and he has an awesome lookin tank...just using an Eheim wet/dry.

Is there any reason why you don't want one? Or what are you tryin to achieve without using one rather?
 

105man

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No big reason. I happened to be having some problems with mine, and wonder whether replacing it is really worth it. I could do without the buzzing sound, and another piece of equipment to maintain and look out for. Also, Ive always wondered about whether skimmers mostly appeal to the human sense of hygiene...the reflex reaction to assume the ugly gunk they pull out must be bad, whereas maybe to the livestock it's meaningless.
 

reefsnreptiles1

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Personally, I would never run a reef without a skimmer unless I had a good sized refugium. IMO having both is good but I would definitely want at least one of them on a reef tank.
 

reefsnreptiles1

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Many nano reefs are skimmerless.

Sorry, I should have specified "other than a nano". We actually have a 7 gallon nano that we run skimmerless. However, on a larger system I would want something to deal with/remove the excess nutrients (our other tanks have skimmers). Nanos don't usually have big waste producing fish (tangs, angels etc).
 

Unarce

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I've run without one for a couple of years, but I you'd definitely want a refugium. I rely on macroalgae and bivalves for nutrient export. The only drawback is a yellow tint in the water, so I have to use carbon every once in awhile.
 

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