Skimmer and chaeto filtration only?

gregrock68 · Sep 3, 2026

Looking for some advice from advanced reefers. I recently acquired an ATB 1050 skimmer which is a killer skimmer and I want install this with only my chaeto chamber on my total volume 240 gallon Cade S1500. Chaeto will be the first filtration chamber, skimmer will be in the second. Is anyone else running a set up like this?

My current sump has a roller mat first, skimmer second second. chaeto third. This works well, but with the major skimmer upgrade I am hopeful that I can remove the roller mat from my system

Appreciate your feedback /guidance

Dan_P · Sep 4, 2026

gregrock68 said:
Looking for some advice from advanced reefers. I recently acquired an ATB 1050 skimmer which is a killer skimmer and I want install this with only my chaeto chamber on my total volume 240 gallon Cade S1500. Chaeto will be the first filtration chamber, skimmer will be in the second. Is anyone else running a set up like this?

My current sump has a roller mat first, skimmer second second. chaeto third. This works well, but with the major skimmer upgrade I am hopeful that I can remove the roller mat from my system

Appreciate your feedback /guidance

A skimmer which removes dissolved organic matter and small particulates, does not perform mechanical filtration that a roller mat does.

Why don’t you remove the roller mat for a couple month and see if the condition of the aquarium still meets your expectations.

Seregus · Sep 4, 2026

Why you want to remove roller mat? It will remove bot only organics but any other little bits floating in a water and in our houses we always have those, your refugium will become … detritus grave without filter socks or mat or any other mechanical filtration

Fish Fan · Sep 4, 2026

As mentioned, a protein skimmer doesn't remove the same material that a roller mat does, but I believe your plan is fine. I believe that you can run a tank on circ pumps and a skimmer alone. I've done it at least for a short period of time, and I know at least one R2R member that does this on a smaller tank for quite some time now.

I know a lot of reefers don't use any mechanical filtration at all. I know that Josh Earle from World Wide Corals does not use any mechanical filtration and I heard him say in a video that you should take everything that your filter socks catch and put it back in your tank

I know another R2R member that loves that detritus that accumulates in his sump. He literally takes scoops of it and adds it to the sump of brand new systems.

I say go for it, and see what happens

Good luck!

exnisstech · Sep 4, 2026

Chaeto will get packed full of detritus if it's the first chamber.

PS. In one tank I ran chaeto in the same chamber as my roller for a while. I ended up removing the chaeto because the tank ran very low nutrients so it did poorly. Not sure what your goal is for the chaeto. I found it poor at reducing nutrient levels in my 180 even harvesting half of a 5g bucket every 7-10 days but great as a place for pods to grow. If your goal is nutrient reduction I think you'd probably be better off with a roller and skimmer vs chaeto and skimmer

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 4, 2026

You may well be able to remove the roller mat since plenty of reef tanks use just skimming and macroalgae.

BryanM · Sep 4, 2026

There are plenty of tanks not running socks or rollermats quite successfully. I assume you're wanting to remove it because you need the space for the skimmer?

If you're not needing the space I would keep teh roller mat. I find water clarity improves. I run socks as I find the maintenance not that bothersome.

RobertK · Sep 4, 2026

I ran my old tank with just a skimmer and a remote refugium for over 20 years, it was fine. On my new tank the sump has 2 sock holders in the refugium compartment that don't take up any space when not in use, so I can run a sock if needed. But most of the time I run it sockless. Never had a roller mat so can't help you there.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 4, 2026

RobertK said:
I ran my old tank with just a skimmer and a remote refugium for over 20 years, it was fine. On my new tank the sump has 2 sock holders in the refugium compartment that don't take up any space when not in use, so I can run a sock if needed. But most of the time I run it sockless. Never had a roller mat so can't help you there.

Wow, color coding the tubing! :)