Protein Skimmer Do I need one?

Like I said... Or at least IME
You don't NEED a skimmer. They do a good job so having one is really good nonetheless..

My 150 has been running 3 years without a skimmer and doing great.
My 29G was running almost 4 years without a skimmer and doing awesome.

Again, I'm not saying you shouldn't get or consider getting one, quite the opposite. Having one is better than not having one.
I don't have one because I don't have the money for one, but everything is good so...

 

Understand, as a beginner like me it's useful to have parameters in which you 'think' you 'should' have a piece of kit to get the best out of your set up and what to do in place if a piece of kit if you can't get it - there is sooo much conflicting info out there!

 

With that in mind, if you can't afford a decent skimmer go without one until you can afford something good.

I had a Marineland 300 that was very unreliable and finally died two months ago. I'm waiting for my tax refund to come in before I revamp my sump and get a decent skimmer. In the meantime, I'm seeing remarkable coral growth and a REDUCTION in an on-going battle I had with small scale cyano outbreaks.

That being said, my bio-load isn't that high and I have media trays in my sump that I run filter floss in and change on a regular basis... so I am getting some nutrient export.

 

What you NEED is nutrient export. Period. Small tanks can get buy with out equipment because water change is the acceptable nutrient export mode and changing out 2 gallons a week is not that big of a deal. The bigger the tank the bigger deal water changes becomes.

So after that you NEED nutrient export. You can do that with filters... PITA... cost, time, maintenance... skimmers... easy to clean, other benefits... algae scrubbers, large fuges or very large amounts of sand rock and filter feeders.... all require much more space and size.

There is no one size fits all. Saying you should have one or should not is worthless advice. As long as you keep importing nutrients with food, you need to export them because you do not have a vast ocean to take care of them for you.

Having said that, skimmers are a good way to remove wastes, and do not require ongoing costs after the initial purchase. They also help oxygenate the water which is needed in most aquariums. If you do not employ a skimmer... then you NEED to employ another way of dealing with nutrients and wastes.

 

The bubbletip anemone is doing great, and the corals have grown alot and doing good!!!

 

a solid skimmer is one of the most important parts of a successful long term reef aquarium in my book!!---i wont do without...

 

What would be the best make of skimmer for a 20gallon, provided I live in the UK?!

 

If you can get a Tunze 9002, go for it.

 

+1 pretty much sums everything up (ATSs may become the next big thing but for now the quality and functionality of a retail skimmer is top dog in nutrient export)