Skimmer

[SSalty]

The guy at the local pet store said I wouldn't have to go with a skimmer for my 55 gallon. What are you thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[jhnrb]

You will not need a skimmer to start until your system cycles. Now having said that, if you intend to cycle your system with uncured live rock, a skimmer is a must, if you intend to have corals, fish, deep sand bed, live rock, etc, a skimmer will most likely be requried. if you intend to put one or two corals and maybe 3 or 4 small fish in your system and religeously do water changes and maintenance you may not need a skimmer. a skimmer will make things much easier for you and give you some forgiveness for the occassional over feeding or dead animal. hope this helps.

 

[Bifferwine]

Definitely buy a skimmer if you want to keep more than a few fish in your tank. Especially if you want to keep invertibrates. Skimmers are the best of all the filter types -- if you buy a skimmer, you probably won't need a canister filter, power filter, trickle filter, etc. A skimmer is usually all you need, as long as you don't overstock.

 

[Chris]

You will need a skimmer pretty quickly if you want to keep your tank clean with less water changes.

 

[JellyMan]

Skimmer = Cleaner tank, better water quality with less frequent water changes. Not saying you must have one you can do without but even an el-cheapo is better then nothing.