Dumb question?! No skimmer

Hope this is the appropriate place for this question.

I am running a 55g DT and a 20g sump, tank is 3 months old, cycled with live sand, water, dry base rock, and a damsel. I now have a couple soft corals and a few LPS, plus a BW clown and CUC. I have also added a few small pieces of LR to the DT.

My sump is setup with a baffle in the middle, 2 parts, drain into skimmer side, and skimmer outlet to return side with a carbon bag. I have had maybe a shot glass of skimmate total, and it's tuned. Levels have been stable for a couple months no issues with anything. **my skimmer is a Reef Octopus 150**
(off the top of my head):
Temperature: 78.2-79.1
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 1
Salinity: 1.025
dKH/KH/Alkalinity: 8
Magnesium: ?
Calcium: 440
Phosphate: cannot remember exactly but it was within par.

Can I remove the skimmer and get by with a fuge for filtration? Adding to the current skimmer side a DSB, LR rubble, some chaeto, and CUC? Will this support my low bio-load? I love the idea of having a more natural filtration system.

Thanks in advance!

 

With only 2 little fish in a 55g, you could certainly pull the plug on the skimmer. Question is, will such a small bio-load support a fuge?

I'd suggest killing the skimmer, then keep a check on parameters for a while. If you do notice an increase in nitrate, then add a small ball of chaeto to the fuge. Otherwise, just keep the sump online as-is for adding chemical filtration if needed (GAC/GFO for mopping up low-level nutrients), or in case you decide to add more fish to your stock so you can create/expand the fuge as necessary.

 

Thank you Mr Bill! That was one of my concerns and although my setup will change soon, I will still be trying to filter with a fuge only...it has become my new obsession, like I needed another one within this hobby lol

 

If you keep up with regular water changes, even with a decent bioload, you could get away without a skimmer. Skimmers are definitely not a MUST.

 

Good news! Thank you for the replies. It's great news actually, while setting up my 20g mini today I got a call about a 250g setup for DIRT cheap and will probably go pick it up tonight. I'll use my skimmer for that and setup my 20g with a fuge only, fuge on display through a glass door on the bottom of the stand

 

GAC and water changes are enough for a small system if you don't overstock and keep up with maintenance. You may have to do more waterchanges and change more GAC though, but often that isn't an issue, again, especially with a small bioload.


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