Do I need a protien Skimmer for a 10gal?

I'm planning on setting up a 10gal reef tank and I was just wondering if I need to use a protein skimmer? I will have no sump for it but I am going to use a 40gal canister filter for extra water volume and flow in the tank so I don't need to use a bulky powerhead. I want it to be a sleek as possible, but if I need a protein skimmer then I have one to use. I am going to be using water bought with those 5 gallon juggs that you can re-fill for like $5 for as clean as water as possible as my tap water is no good. If I don't use a skimmer can I just do a water change once a week instead of once every 2 weeks to make up for the no skimming? I would really preffer no skimmer if I could. thanks.

 

Sure you can do it.

Make sure you do the routine water changes, keep hardy fish and inverts and a low bio-load.

A skimmer gives you a larger margin of error, but totally doable without one on that size of tank.

 

ditto... i ran a 24 gallon for a year with no skimmer had great results