I'm looking forward to a future build with basement sump. In the meantime I've been running a sumpless 77 gal that I aquired used from a lady in Richmond a few years ago. It came with a DIY HOB old school counter current wooden air diffuser skimmer. I was a total newb & had little clue as to what was in store for me. The only info I started with was a small book on SW aquariums my niece had given me for Xmas. About a year or so later I snagged a deal on another tank (65 gal) that was on sale locally. Added the livestock & LR to the 77 and replaced the old school skimmer with the RemoraC Pro that came with the 65.
Must say that I prefer the old DIY skimmer over the Remora. I found the Remora very noisy and only pulled mild tea out of my system. The price was right since it came with the 65 gallon, but I really don't think I'd spend the money on a new one. I ended up cracking the intake tubing one day and was happy to go back to the old DIY job. Much quieter and uses a fraction of the wattage as the beast of a Mag 3 pump that ran the Remora. After a few mods to the DIY skimmer it performs well. I'm now even to the point where I'm making my own 'monster' wooden air diffusers since the LFS around here don't stock wooden air stones with any regularity. It skims quite dry and the stuff I scrape out of the upper chamber is what I consider 'quality' gunk. I have a drain tube on the collection cup going to a 2 liter pop bottle and only need to empty that every few months, to give you an idea how dry I skim.
Debates on skimmers seem to get heated quite regularly. The cheapo used DIY unit is still running on my sumpless system and I have no plans to 'upgrade' until I do the basement sump build. At that time I'm considering another 'wood driven' DIY skimmer, only much taller since room won't be an issue. I have no problem changing wooden air stones every once in a while. Still one of the best methods to create very fine bubbles with a minimum requirement for high powered equipment. Other than the Remora and my DIY, I have zero experience or knowledge regarding skimmer technology. Most of what I see out there is beyond what I'm willing to spend to replace my current one.
I'd say Myka's advice on having your tank drilled now is a good idea, even if you don't plan a sump right away. As mentioned you can plug the holes until you're ready for a sump. At the very least this will save you some time when you make your move. The less time your livestock spends in temporary containers during a move, the better. As you've seen throughout this thread, there are a number of options open to you, including sumpless, skimmerless with more frequent water changes or going all out with overflow, sump, skimmer and all the fixins'. I guess it boils down to your budget and future plans. Either way I'm sure you'll be successful. Best of luck.
Here's my favourite skimmer. Foam head is quite white since it's just been cleaned. I've upgraded the air pump to a larger one since taking the photo:
Pre skimmer box with pump and skimmer output into separate compartment at far end:
