can i use my skimmer as the only filter

On my 20 gal,i have a hob 40 gal filter and a seaclone skimmer,the skimmer is modded and pulls decent junk out,i also have 2 powerheads so there is plenty of flow,along with 30lbs liverock and cheato in the tank.Can i do away with the hob filter?

 

I have a 55g reef with about 60lbs of live rock, 2 Koralias and a Remora skimmer, no other filtration. Been up and running for about 7 months, no issues (other than red slime due to overstocking, solved it though) As long as you have good LR & circulation you should be fine. I also run a phosban reactor on my tank but that's not really filtration.

The hob filter will end up becoming a nitrate factory anyway also.

 

I'm wondering about my lr,half was baserock,the tank is 5 months old now and i would have to think it's a least bacterially(<spelling?)live even though theres not much growth on it yet.I was still thinking along the same line as you,but figured i better ask the pro's first.

 

You should be ok, I'm def not a pro but I did have a mix of 70% LR and 30% BR when I started & it was fine. As long as your water params are fine you are good to go. The only time I used any type of hob filter was when I was clearing my tank of the dust cloud when I first put my live sand in.

Having a SW tank has proven to be much easier than I had though, months later I'm still amazed at how little you need to do to sustain it. Going to a reef def was a little tougher but for a FOWLR or FO tank it's much easier to do than I ever had thought.

 

I agree,I give it about 10min of daily maint,everyother weekend i do a 15% wc and clean the filter or a powerhead(i only clean one at a time so i don't kill off to much bacteria at once being a small tank)and my params are in check.So except for cleaning and topping off,it pretty much runs it's self.