Are protein skimmers really that important?

[ShakeyGizzard]

I run a 40 breeder with a 20 long sump. I also have a filter roller and skimmer. I no longer run a fuge. During the early stages with the uglies including dinos and then cyano, I had to get into a routine with my maintenance schedule, feeding and regular water changes to get stable nutriants. Adjusting the filter roller to the max float switch level and only running my skimmer for 4 hours during a 24 hour period with a timer, has helped me achieve a balance as you may say. I will keep my skimmer, based on what it pulls out, its needed.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I’m curious too. If you feed light, do regular water changes and have a god filter roller and all your water goes through it, I’m thinking there should be a good chance for success. I run 3 filter rollers on my system. X2 RS1200s that my display normally has 100% of the water go through them. And a frag tank plumbed on the system that goes through a RS500. My BK200d pulls the blackest of water, it’s sick. But I also feed 12x a day.

 

[-XENOMORPH-]

As another once said.... Look at a skimmer cup of collected gunk, then smell it. Would you want to swim in that?

 

[X-37B]

Depends on the system and your planned method of export.
Most Nanos can be easily run without a skimmer if they are setup correctly.

 

[MajorDad74]

Been to his house, tank has great flow and a skimmer…

I’m a bit surprised…. Since he stated in both interviews that there is no skimmer on his main tank

One 12 years ago and another one more recently.

For the rest, being or not Julian was just to give a counter example of my own believe :)


Here it go:
Minute 3:20


And minute 12:00

I don’t trust any dude that like pugs

 

[ReefGeezer]

I think answering this question with a simple yes of no does everyone, particularly newbies, a disservice.

Here's what I think I know... Skimmers remove certain dissolved organic compounds (DOC). All other things being equal, their efficiency in removing this DOC is directly proportional with DOC levels in the tank. When supplied with air having a lower CO2 level, they can if you have depressed pH levels due indoor elevated CO2 levels. Oxygenation isn't really a strength of skimmers and in most systems, they can't raise O2 levels appreciably.

There are many variables that would determine if a skimmer would be helpful. Corals and other inverts use the same DOCs that skimmers remove. If that DOC is low due to low bioload, a skimmer can be a bad thing. In a high bioload system, where DOC is high enough to cause problems, skimmers can be a great tool.

I run a skimmer in my 90 gallon mixed reef. It is a heavily fed, high bioload tank. It is a very mature and is loaded with corals, so I run it very dry. I turned the skimmer off once. Nothing really happened except I saw a rise in phosphates over time. I decided to turn it back on simply to keep from using something else to control phosphate. When the tank was newer with about the same bioload, I skimmed way more aggressively to keep DOC from getting too high and causing trouble.

So, to answer the question... Yes, skimmers are great when they are needed.

 

[CHSUB]

I’m a bit surprised…. Since he stated in both interviews that there is no skimmer on his main tank

One 12 years ago and another one more recently.

For the rest, being or not Julian was just to give a counter example of my own believe :)


Here it go:
Minute 3:20


And minute 12:00

Maybe I’m mistaken on skimmer, however when I was there he had changed the tank from MR. Saltwater a lot and was not using the wave boxes which creates lots of flow. I just assumed he had a skimmer but lots of flow for certain…

 

[Pistondog]

I occasionally will see people on here who will not run protein skimmers in their tank and think, "Do I really need one in my tank as well?" That's why I'm asking all of you. Do you think protein skimmers are important for a reef tank, or do you think reefers can do without them?

Photo Credit: @Butuz

We recently took the collection cup off our skimmer as we think it exports some stuff we'd rather keep, ie traces and bacteria. Nitrates rose 10 to 15ppm. We also believe running the skimmer without collection, is helpful for gas exchange CO2 and O2.
Tank is coming up on 10 years old and has a good coral bioload.

 

[Dom]

I occasionally will see people on here who will not run protein skimmers in their tank and think, "Do I really need one in my tank as well?" That's why I'm asking all of you. Do you think protein skimmers are important for a reef tank, or do you think reefers can do without them?

Photo Credit: @Butuz

Protein skimmers are the sewage treatment plant of the tank.

You may get away without one if you have a low bio-load. But on large tanks where water changes alone are not practical, I'd say they are necessary.

 

[machliwala]

Some of the issues that you might have if you dont have protein skimmer:

1. Tank will start smelling eventually.
2. Water clarity might be impacted - might become slighlty yellowish
3. When something dies in your aquarium, you could have a more significant rise in phosphates and nitrates.
4. Less aeration...secondary role of skimmers

I had some of these issues when my skimmer died and I wasnt able to replace it immediately.

 

[exnisstech]

This doesn't mean anything but when my skimmer overflowed my zoas opened more than they ever have and my rocks flowers spawned within minutes.



Coincidence or something going back into the water that stimulated them. Maybe they felt threatened by the sewage and went into survival mode.

 

[exnisstech]

I hate duplicate posts

 

[zwalter38]

id argue that skimmers are quite unnecessary. Are they helpful yes, required or necessary? No.

I have a 135g mixed reef run on two fx4 canister filters. I also have a 35g cube plumbed into the system as a display refugium to help with nutrient export. I very rarely clean the canister filters, and don’t often do water changes. In the 2 year lifespan of the system I had one hair algae outbreak and one cyano outbreak very early on and just sorta let it run its course while trying to keep it from smothering corals. Both the cyano and hair algae went away with manual removal and the help of aggressive CUC.

I’m not saying this is the correct way or the easiest, but I’m successfully keeping most corals I’ve attempted (sps, LPs, softies). And I can’t keep the nitrates and phosphates up. (Nitrates about 5, phosphates about 0.01)
I also understand this system in the grand scheme of things is still new, but I haven’t had any major issues pointing me in the direction of needing a skimmer.

 

[CHSUB]

id argue that skimmers are quite unnecessary. Are they helpful yes, required or necessary? No.

I have a 135g mixed reef run on two fx4 canister filters. I also have a 35g cube plumbed into the system as a display refugium to help with nutrient export. I very rarely clean the canister filters, and don’t often do water changes. In the 2 year lifespan of the system I had one hair algae outbreak and one cyano outbreak very early on and just sorta let it run its course while trying to keep it from smothering corals. Both the cyano and hair algae went away with manual removal and the help of aggressive CUC.

I’m not saying this is the correct way or the easiest, but I’m successfully keeping most corals I’ve attempted (sps, LPs, softies). And I can’t keep the nitrates and phosphates up. (Nitrates about 5, phosphates about 0.01)
I also understand this system in the grand scheme of things is still new, but I haven’t had any major issues pointing me in the direction of needing a skimmer.

Why not just disconnect the canister filters, they are nearly worthless?

 

[zwalter38]

Why not just disconnect the canister filters, they are nearly worthless?

they are serving as power heads at the moment. They give me surface agitation to help with oxygen exchange. Other than the canisters I only have two AI Nero 3s on a 6ft tank. Which seems like not enough but with the two canisters I have pretty decent flow.
Plus with the struggle to keep up nutrients, the canisters help keep water clear as they trap debris which breaks down to help produce nitrates and phosphates for my macro tank.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

if you have high nutrients, sure. If you have chronically low ones, probably not.

 

[mike werner]

I occasionally will see people on here who will not run protein skimmers in their tank and think, "Do I really need one in my tank as well?" That's why I'm asking all of you. Do you think protein skimmers are important for a reef tank, or do you think reefers can do without them?

Photo Credit: @Butuz

We run no skimmers here on our farm! I understand the need in a new system but a healthy established system has no need for one imo.

 

[Johnnyrainbowreefer]

Not a requirement but… the benefits outweigh not having one. Gas exchange, ph stabilization, and cleaner tank are 3 major reasons I run my tanks with them. Even if I run a airstone driven skimmer I see a huge difference.

 

[LunaReefs]

I had an 85G emergency build for over a year with no skimmer (or sump) and had very healthy corals & no issues at all. I ran a giant Oase Canister and occasionally an HOB if things were getting dirty.

 

[MnFish1]

I occasionally will see people on here who will not run protein skimmers in their tank and think, "Do I really need one in my tank as well?" That's why I'm asking all of you. Do you think protein skimmers are important for a reef tank, or do you think reefers can do without them?

Photo Credit: @Butuz

If you look at all of the stuff collected in the cup- at least for me that answers the question. Additionally the aeration can be quite helpful. I also think that if one is not doing water changes, the organic removal of a skimmer is more beneficial