Can a skimmer be harmful?

hey guys, I am getting a skimmer soon and I was wondering if adding the skimmer to my tank could harm anything?

My tank has been without a skimmer since I set it up. Everything that I have in there, corals included seem to be really happy and reproducing.

My toadstool is Gigantic ( so big it can't fit in a large bucket anymore), My kenya tree is growing like crazy too budding at least twice every two weeks, my anemone became 3 and it's happy as can be as well. I believe this could be due to the fact that my tank might be rich in nutrients, which a skimmer would remove if added..

I was worried that adding a skimmer now could harm things rather than help because of the sudden cleaner water?

 

Simple answer to a simple question. no

 

I ask because it isn't as simple as " is a skimmer bad".. I know skimmers are great.

The problem is the sudden change in water parameters that worries me. I'm sure that my tank is rich in nutrients and my corals to my knowledge do prefer dirtier waters.

 

If your tank is doing so well without a skimmer is there a reason you plan to add one? From the assorted coral that you are growing high nutrient levels in the water are just fine. As you stated, a skimmer will drop the nutrient levels.

If it's not broke don't fix it.

 

True, but I wanted to add a skimmer because I do want to slowly make this an SPS tank. Not in its entirety but a good part of it.
SPS can't survive in my tank as I have it right now. I just wanted to make sure that my current Corals wouldn't die of sudden cleanliness if that makes sense?

I wouldn't mind if my toad stool and kenya slows down on the growth just as long as it doesn't get harmed.

 

Agree entirely here. I wouldn't do it unless we're missing part of the story here.

What's the reason you want to add one?

 

Ah, posted at the same time. That clears things up a bit.

In that case, I'd start it very slowly. I'd run it wide open and very, very slowly dial it in. Less is more in this case. You really don't want it suddenly pulling all kinds of gunk out of your water column and make a sudden change. Think slow progression.

 

Yeah, I figured there was more to it.
Right now I have my Toadstool, like 10-15 Kenya trees ( all buds from the original growing nicely), a few mushrooms, palys, 3-GBTA (split) and some zoas.

I few months ago I tried adding 2 monti cap and a bird's nest. They basically died within a few weeks. I figured it was the extra nutrients in the water...
I would be happy if I could find a happy medium, so I can keep a nice mixed reef with tons of SPS.

 

I'll say this much: SPS and leathers are NOT friends. You'll need carbon full time, and even then some SPS placed downstream of leathers simply won't survive.

 

What I was thinking on doing was to remove most of my kenyas and just keep the 2 big ones.
I love my toadstool so I have to keep that one LOL
I already do run Carbon 24/7 so I believe that should be mostly ok? I might have to add a third bag of carbon into the mix.