[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Bob_I

What a load of crap. I have kept successful reefs for years, and don't use a skimmer , or RO/DI. Do the proper research, and you will find it is not nutrients that cause Cyano. Cyano is a part of natural maturation of an aquarium. I have not seen Cyano in my tanks for years. However, I am tired of being the voice that cries in the wilderness. Go ahead waste your money on a skimmer. At least you will have a gadget that looks like it is doing something.
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Bob, giving people advice like this with out knowing how there tank is set up for things such as nutrient exportation, coral types and filtration methods can cause more problems then good sometimes.

yes we all know you use tap water and that you use no skimmer and that you have low lights, but you also keep low light corals, use macro algae export and have soft corals that like a bit of nutrient in the water. you also have a conch in a tank that in my opinion doesn't have enough surface area so he keeps your sand looking nice. Also you are a user of chemicals to help clean your water.

now if you were go go to corals that demand more light say, acro's. then you would probably have more algae outbreaks because of your nutrient levels that are not a problem in dimmer light but would fuel the algae in higher light systems. this is the set up where getting a better skimmer will be of a benefit as it will be more efficient in dropping nutrient levels to a lower level where they will not cause as much problems in the brighter light.

for example i am building a new monster skimmer for my tank as I feed my critters fairly well and have a low level nutrient that is fueling an algae that got imported to my tank as a hitch hiker with some corals I got. this algae is actually having a negative effect on a couple corals. this out break was also fueled by my upgrade to newer lights as the intensity of the old ones was low enough that the algae couldn't use all the nutrients.

to be honest your tank is a simple set up and you have chosen your occupants according to your equipment (or the other way around which ever it may be) and like I pointed out it is working because of the match.

Steve