The Sink or Swim Method!

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Dez, sorry, but I gotta say this is probably not a good opinion worth considering, seeing as this is the first plunge into reef keeping. While it may work for you ok, without killing anything, more of a structured approach might be better for beginners, no?
Barrie, please do water changes WITH the use of a hydrometer. Supplements are not needed yet, if eve,r with that setup, water changes should handle it. If you do frequent enough changes, a skimmer is not neccesary, especially since most that you would get as hangon would not really do all that much anyway.
Overall, looks like a good start, good luck and welcome to the board!

Oops, I guess I was unclear. My suggestion was skimmerless WITH lots of water changes. Not no water changes without a hydrometer. I was just sharing my poor husbandry experiences (and not too proud of it myself). But I still believe that if you keep it simple without a skimmer and frequent water changes that the livestock will still be in good hands. I have just found that I've tried too many hang on back skimmers in my time and they are just loud and if there is something in the water that the skimmer wants to go crazy then it overflows. As long as you aren't heavily stocked I would still personally go skimmerless on tanks without sumps.

And please do NOT follor my past poor husbandry experience without water changes and a hydrometer