Skimmerless reef systems

[Darthv247]

Hello Everyone,

Just for discussion, no finger pointing or disregarding peoples opinions. I was curious what the popular opinion is in running old school skimmerless, or lack of modern equipmemt systems.

With all the data and evidence that has been documented on sites like this one in regards to keeping a more successful thriving reef system. Is running a system without heeding the modern practices, like skimmers for example, "responsible reefkeeping"?

Is there an extent which an aquarist must at least achieve to be considered responsible in keeping marine animals?

Minimum requirements equipment wise?

Since the advent of marine aquarium systems, our understanding of what these animals need as far as husbandry and water parameters has increased greatly. In the early days people were lucky to keep any animals alive in captivity very long. Whereas, we are now able to not only keep the animals alive, we are able to breed and propogate many spieces of animals in captivity.

I accredit this success of the reef keeping community to people like yourselves who selflessly share their findings, techniques, systems, equipment, and husbandry practices. As well as, the success and failures that happen along the way.

So why are there still people that refuses to accept this modern approach by running extremely outdated equipment and practices?

I mean, c'mon. If you are running a reef tank with an undergravel filter or no skimmer with a large bioload or a wet dry filter. Are you being a responsible aquarist?

For those of you pushing the envelope and sharing their findings, Thank you.

You are really making a huge difference by advancing this hobby. More scientific research has been documented and shared by home aquarists than all the science labs in the world could even dream of.

Maybe one day we will be able to apply this information towards saving the reefs of the world. or at least help more than we are now.

I'm not saying we all should jump on every gadget that hits the shelves. But shouldn't we at least make sure to use things with a looong track record of increased success?

Regards,
D.Vayder

[Timfish]

For an opposing view here's my skimmerless thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2601390&highlight=skimmerless
There's a list of links in post #18 of research by Ken Feldman, et al, which shows how little skimmers actualky do.
And for all the "research" there's still no metric the skimmer manufacturers or anyone else can use to rate a skimmer like we have for lights (PAR, Kelvin) or pumps (gph/kph).

[Darthv247]

good point. even skimmers have limited proof of results other than observations

[Darthv247]

I do think we can very easily devise a metric for skimmer production or effectiveness. Though, the numbers would vary greatly based on operation by the aquarist.