Skimmers

[Ruth]

KK I think that "most" people do run a skimmer on their tanks. I chose not to on my smaller tanks because water changes are a snap. Personally on anything larger than a 30g tank I would run a skimmer because you are right, they do pull a lot of smelly stuff out of the tank. Bob and others have success with not using them and also not doing significant water changes. I think that is great and just show the vast range of experiences in this hobby. I have tried to run a 77g with a crap skimmer that might as well not have been there and canister filters - it was an algea and cyno machine and actually made me quit the hobby for a year it was so frustrating. Others such as Bev and Bob and more have great success keeping reefs using these methods so who is to say it is wrong or silly or whatever.
As far as "silly" goes - we are all silly - imagine trying to keep creatures in glass boxes that really belong in the ocean simply for our own enjoyment - now that is silly!