No skimmer?

Really? Hmmm...maybe I'll save $250 and just do 15 gallon weekly water changes.

 

who is that directed to?

 

Me I think. I also forgo to mention I have a refugium with various macros.

 

ahhh what types?

 

Chaeto,ulva,red gracilaria,and grape caulerpa.

 

Ok look at it this way. If you are planning on keeping your tank up for long term, keep this in mind. A protien skimmer pulls disolved organic compounds out of your tank (phosphates). This keeps your substrate and liverock from absorbing these phosphates. (when live rock leaches phosphates, algae grows in the rock. not coraline) The live rock can only gather so many phosphates before it just starts to expell them and this can come in many ways. huge ammonia spikes, massive algae blooms, etc. Your tank may look just fine for 2...3....even 4 years but it will catch up and at that point your LR will be toast and you'll have to cook it for around a year to get those phosphates back out of it. This is just my .02 tho