Do you need a skimmer if you have a fuge?

coral: Favias, zoos, messing around w/ xenia because I am bored, clams, 1 sps to see what happens, acans, shrooms, and duncans.

fish: yellow tang, 6-lined wrasse, 2 clowns, 1 purple firefish

Tank size: 50g (about 40 gallons of water)
Wet/dry/sump: 8 gallons of actual water
Fuge: will add about 15 gallons

I think I will see how everything does on a timer, then go from there. My main concern is that it isn't working the way it should work. However, I don't overfeed my fish, corals, or use tap water. This means less dissolved solids in general. Odds are I will leave it skimming all the time because i like to be safe and not sorry.

 

That sentence right there is probably the most informative out of everything. Not saying the other input was not useful. it was, but that has told me iI should keep my skimmer running. However, I may mess with a timer since I don't overfeed and my tank is not overstocked.

Thank you all for all the help. K+ to all

 

Thanks. Honestly, in all of my endeavors, I have learned there is no substitute for experience.... and I do not have a long amount of experience in salt water. But when I jump into something I do lots of research.

What we are trying to do is to provide a un natural habitat to keep things alive away from their natural one. It's easy to just hear about a fuge or a skimmer or a "filter", but it is important to understand what role those play in the habitat system you are trying to put together.

Hard to paint with a broad brush in this hobby. There are a variety of successful ways to run an aquarium. But just because somebody says it works for them, does not mean it will work for you. So the "why" is sort of important. I do love hobby forums. I get to do the research, then I get to ask for others experience and what works for them. So far so good.