Do I truly need a skimmer?

[MTF7]

Hello people I have had my biocube 29 for about 4-5 years now I have restarted 2 times now and currently this restart is the best so far I have had some GHA but have kept it pretty minimal. It's almost one year since my restart.
Although this is my best so far I have battled ich and a dinoflagellate like algae wining both of the fights ich with an overflow of garlic! And the Dino-like algae I really have no clue I changed water f every week for a month then stopped for like 2 weeks because I was gone and cut back feedings and it was all gone on day! Haven't seen any since!

My current parameters are
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate/nitrite : 0
Ph 8.2
Salinity 1.024
Temp 75
And I'm not sure about my phos I haven't tested them yet this week but I plan on doing a water change tomorrow.
As for my filtration I have 40+ lbs of live rock and 35 pounds of live sand
I also run filter floss, purigen, and chemi pure elite.

My current inhabitants are
1 hermit ( named lucky since he survived my previous tank compleat mealtdown after a nema-nuke) still the only hermit I have left out of 7 I put into the new tank)
One blood red fire shrimp, and a peppermint shrimp
2 snowflake clowns ( I have had 3 diff kinds and these are my favorite)
1 diamond goby
Lastly a domino damsel.

For my coral ( which is not much)
Frogspawn six heads
Green star polyps and mushrooms
And finally a sebae anemone ( thinking about getting rid of for a RBTA or keeping it and getting a rbta)

My question is I have ran a skimmer before ( not a good one) but how beneficial would a decent one be for me right now? This is really the first 100% skimmer less so far and it seems to be doing pretty good. I'm just thinking if it would help my corals or if it is needed with my corals I plan to add more until it looks like a tricked out reef tank.

Thanks and I will try to upload a pic of my tank but I use an ipad/Iphone so it is sorta hard for me.

[Blown 346]

A skimmer isnt a have to, but it will help create better water quality and reduce the risk of algae, by removing the organic waste the water changes wont due. This is only because the skimmer will skim 24 hours a day. It does help, especially when you have a bio load on the system. The more waste from corals, fish etc will all make a difference, and the skimmer will take care of it.

[DSPs]

Your stocking list is pretty good and since your nitrates are undetectable then I wouldn't bother adding a skimmer,imo

[DSPs]

If you start to notice nitrates rising and weekly waterchanges aren't keeping them low enough then Id look into adding a skimmer but for now from what you posted a skimmer isn't needed.

[davesolo29]

I think with a small tank I would likely keep running skimmerless. It seems to be working for you. Just keep up on regular water changes. The plus side to having a skimmer would be that you could probably cut back on water changes slightly.
Often times the simple route is the best.
I'm sure others with more experience will chime in soon.

[Reefvet]

You don't mention why in only 5 years you've 'restarted' a couple of times. That's probably the information that would tell more about your understanding of what's needed to keep a reef balanced and healthy.

Understanding is the key.

A protein skimmer is essentially replicating the oceans wave action on a beach. Walk down a beach after a good storm and it will have brought up all sorts of large debris that was floating on the surface or just below. Chunks of wood, dead kelp, plastic.

Walk down the beach on most any day at the right time and you'll see some bubbly, kind of sudsy foam at the waters edge, brought onto the beach by wave action. That's mother nature cleaning the dissolved organic compounds and pollutants from the surface of the ocean. The bubbles will be brown and gleaming in the sunlight, if there's sunlight. I see it almost every day in Southern California.

That's what a skimmer does. It removes what get's past your purigen and Chemipure. It happens constantly and is often almost undetectable, until there's an excess and then you're skimmer takes it out.

I've been doing this for over 4 decades and I wouldn't run any tank without a skimmer. It's just the most effective and natural way to keep what you can't see, and is most likely detrimental to your reef, under control.

[Reefvet]

Originally Posted by davesolo29

The plus side to having a skimmer would be that you could probably cut back on water changes slightly.

Except that the water changes maintain calcium, magnesium etc.. Components consumed by the reef but not typically removed by a skimmer.

Running a skimmer and the frequency of water changes have some similar benefits but they are not equivalent.

[Guygettnby]

A skimmer is not needed, But is a nice tool to have. I have seen many beautiful tanks that have never run a skimmer. I will try to always have a skimmer on any tank i ever own if it is possible.

but if you keep up with your water changes constantly, keep your tank from getting over stocked and have another form of decent filtration, you should be fine.

[Mark426]

I run small tanks too and have done it with and without a skimmer. My answer is...no you don't NEED one but after going both ways I suggest that you are better off with one than without. Not only from a water quality standpoint but the additional air exchange is a big help, especially with a closed top system.
Only other thing I suggest is do not, I repeat, do not get some el'cheapo skimmer....you are far better off without one if you go this route. They never really work and are a major pain.

[no694terry]

i run a skimmer on my 20 and its pulls a lot of stuff out of the water and i dont even feed my tank. If you do frequent water changes religiously you dont "need" a skimmer since you are exporting the concentrate by water changes. I call it concentrate because only H20 evaporates. Every time you top off you are adding more stuff to the water, real bad if your using plain tap water, even the dust in the air keeps going into the water. All the stuff in the water stays while the pure H20 evaporates. The skimmer collects the dust and bits that floats around in there. Purigan and chemipure and carbon all help remove some of it but i bet its a lot cheaper to buy a nano skimmer than to keep replacing your media.

[UMass14]

I have a 29G Nano and do a 5G WC weekly. I was okay without a skimmer, then I was given a free HOB skimmer. I was surprised about all the black gunk it was pulling out even though I was doing a weekly 5G WC. My only complaint is that the skimmer is noisy, I can live with that since its free.

[KafudaFish]

Originally Posted by Reefvet

You don't mention why in only 5 years you've 'restarted' a couple of times. That's probably the information that would tell more about your understanding of what's needed to keep a reef balanced and healthy.

Understanding is the key.

A protein skimmer is essentially replicating the oceans wave action on a beach. Walk down a beach after a good storm and it will have brought up all sorts of large debris that was floating on the surface or just below. Chunks of wood, dead kelp, plastic.

Walk down the beach on most any day at the right time and you'll see some bubbly, kind of sudsy foam at the waters edge, brought onto the beach by wave action. That's mother nature cleaning the dissolved organic compounds and pollutants from the surface of the ocean. The bubbles will be brown and gleaming in the sunlight, if there's sunlight. I see it almost every day in Southern California.

That's what a skimmer does. It removes what get's past your purigen and Chemipure. It happens constantly and is often almost undetectable, until there's an excess and then you're skimmer takes it out.

I've been doing this for over 4 decades and I wouldn't run any tank without a skimmer. It's just the most effective and natural way to keep what you can't see, and is most likely detrimental to your reef, under control.

I have seen that statement numerous times about the beach being nature's skimmer collection cup and though I know exactly what you are saying I don't think it really has much impact.

1. Look at the area of beaches compared to the volume of water.
2. What happens on the out going tide?

Does this really have an impact or does it simply transport the available nutrients to a different location to be used by other organisms and continue the cycle?

[MTF7]

Thanks guys! I probably will end up going with a skimmer when I eventually add more corals. Anyone have some quality ones that would be good in a biocube 29? I would like to have it in the 1st chamber but if necessary I can remove my refugium rack in the second chamber and attempt to put it in the 1st chamber, I would also like to keep a heater in the tank, not that it is too important before I added on my temp was around 70-73 but since it's extreme cold here in St. Louis it has really helped out and just gives me that extra 4-5 degrees to keep it about 76-78.

@reefvet the reason I have restarted is because of bad husbandry, I am only 17 and I first got my tank when I was 12 so the two times I had to restart I really was not old enough to be responsible enough to take care of my tank and was too caught up in video games and all other things, now that I am a little older I now when it have to do water changes, how to check parameters, how to not over feed, and also understanding how beneficial weekly water changes are.
I have kept freshwater fish since I was 5 right now I have a 7 year old African cichlid and those cichlid are tanks! I was so used to changing the water once a month with fresh that I didn't realize I couldn't do that with my saltwater. It has all worked out good now thought because the cichlids are very hardy and sorta brackish ( don't think they could be like Mollies and convert to saltwater that would be cool though), I use my waste rodi water for their water and have seen no negative side effects

[Reefvet]

Originally Posted by KafudaFish

I have seen that statement numerous times about the beach being nature's skimmer collection cup and though I know exactly what you are saying I don't think it really has much impact.

1. Look at the area of beaches compared to the volume of water.
2. What happens on the out going tide?

Does this really have an impact or does it simply transport the available nutrients to a different location to be used by other organisms and continue the cycle?

It's simply an explanation of what a skimmer does and how it correlates to the ocean, but not a suggestion that wave action is the sole method by which the ocean exports DOCs.

[tmz]

Skimmers provide aeration.
Skimmers trap amphipathic molecules( organic compunds that have a positive charge on one side and a negative on the other).These get trapped in the air water inteface between the bubbles as one side of the molcule pulls towards the water and the other pulls away from it. It is effective atrremoving oranic compunds of this nature and some that are hydrophobic(relled by water) and in so doing removes the organic carbon, nitrogen and phospahorus held in those molecules before they break down to phosphate and nitrate. Inorganic phoshate (PO4 ) and dissoved nitrogen ( ammonia, nitire and nitate) are not removed by skimming.

I think a skimmer is a very helpful addition for water quaility.

[downbeach]

Good article here:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/rhf/index.php#6d

[HurricaneSystem]

I used to be in the same boat as you and I didn't think I really needed one either. However, after installing one, It is my opinion that you shouldn't ever have a reef tank without one.

All that dark green mess that it pulls out, that is in your water. The ocean, of course, acts as it's own natural skimmer.

So in my opinion, yes you need one.

[HaroldT]

Its not a bad idea to have a skimmer for that tank IMO. I run my 24 gallon right now without one but have used a small skimmer on it in the past.

If you don't, then just do more water changes.

[unitedbga]

It's honestly up to you if you want a skimmer or not. If your bioload is in check then you can stay were your at. A skimmer will give you additional security if something goes wrong. But some people run skimmerless because they designed their system with a very large refugium.