Protein Skimmer Do I need one?

Hello,
I'm upgrading to a 135 gallon saltwater tank. I all ready have a 75 gallon saltwater tank without a protein skimmer, with corals, bubbletip anemone, and fish. Do i need a protein skimmer for a 135 gallon tank, if a have good water movement, and water changes every 2 or 3 weeks? Will the corals, fish, and bubbletip anemone live?

 

i have a 150G tank and i have no skimmer and everything is doing perfectly fine.

however it is always a good thing to have a skimmer.

 

IMO I think a skimmer is a must for a SW tank. Not to say you can get by without one with consistent water changes, but I would think the tank would be much happier with normal WC's + a skimmer.

How is your 75g doing without one, wondering how long it has been up? Also wondering about your params & if everything is doing well?

 

That depends on your bio load. Will you be adding fish and coral? You could maybe try it without the skimmer but be ready to purchase one in case its not going as planned. I think for a tank of that size i would just bite the bullet and get the skimmer.

 

everytime I empty my skimmer cup each week I just look at the gunk it has pulled out of my tank & am glad I have it. Not to say that sometimes when we buy too powerful skimmers, they can skim out beneficial things, but if you get one rated to your tank you should be good to go.

 

my skimmers pump went bad. and i have been without a skimmer for 5 days. well my carnation corals are loving it. i can see a diffence in them. when i put the skimmer back in when the pump arrives, im thinking i might have it turn off at times 12 hours on 12 hours off

 

cool. interesting idea, I know some corals like dirtier water.

 

I just recently purchased in installed my first skimmer. Got a SWC 160 cone and it is working great so far. I ran my tank for a year or so without it and I never had any problems, however I didn't have it heavily stocked. My skimmer has been up and running for about 24hrs now and you wouldn't believe how much junk it has captured. I'm still working on getting it dialed in, so I expect it to pick up even more junk in the near future.

Can't speak to the effects it will have on any of my corals since I've had running for such a short time.

 

At what gallon size (med bio load) is it really important for a skimmer, I have a 21 gallon and have been told that a skimmer is not really required?

 

"need" is a strong word, but for a 135g it is one of the most important things you could possibly buy IMHO.