Running without a skimmer is easier than running with one. With a skimmer you have to constantly monitor SG and top of with mixed water. Overflows, too watery, dialing in etc. yuck.

A refugium and weekly 10% water change is all I need.

I have none of those issues.

I ran my 50g with refugium and lots of water changes, it was a swamp.

I tried it and came to the conclusion that I would never run a tank without a skimmer again! :)

maybe on a small (pico) tank but removing two cups a month of skimmate sure doesn't change my sg. I top off with pure clean ro water no mix. when I change water I check sg and make adjustments due salt creep ect. but it hasn't changed in 4 years.

Yes I should have mentioned my tank is 12g. I can see where a large tank could benefit from a skimmer.

All my set ups have been sumpless & skimmerless. They all have been extremely successful with amazing growth and good coloration. Oh, and I have never had any algae issues and I feed a mix of pellets, frozen and cyclopezze about 3 times a day.

My tanks have always been very low maintenance and I don't use any fancy equipment. It's not that I can't afford buying the high end equipment. I simply don't need it to have a beautiful successful reef tank.

It might not be for everyone but it can definitely be done successfully.

I agree completely, Ive seen beautiful tanks without skimmers, I was just at Lyndsy's (flash) house and she runs no skimmer or any gfo, bio pellets ect. and her tank was beautiful.

I will still say that its easier to maintain a beautiful tank with one than without.

My current set up does not use carbon or anything similar. All the equipment that I use for this tank is a heater, light fixture, an mp10 and a white filter pad to trap floating particles that are suspended in the water column. That's all.

This set up is extremely low maintenance. I feed the fish and top it off daily. The glass is cleaned every few days and w/c are done once a month.

would you recommended this to a new person as the best setup for long term?

Skimerless & sumpless is all I know. That's how my very first set up ran super successfully for 7 years. I didn't have any experience back then but I did a lot of research and didn't rush it. By the way, 7 years is long term and a lot longer than most people keep their systems going.

Most people are not patient enough and they end up dumping a ton of corals and fish right away and that's just a recipe for disaster. The way I run my system is not for everyone. I care a lot about my fish and corals and I am always on top of everything making sure I provide the best environment for my livestock. At this point I know what works and what does not work for my system.

Would I suggest this method to a newbie? If this person is going to be diligent and a responsible reefer then I would say sure, why not.

Finally,I want to state that I am not saying that skimmers don't work or that skimmerless and sumpless is better. There are many ways to skin a cat and skimmerless & sumpless is what works best for me>

i run one on the 175g and 34g but nothing on the 29g.