to skim or not to skim

[straightrazorguy]

I just wanted to revive this thread, rather than starting a new one. My 6 moth old RLSS 6I skimmer died, so I am skimmerless, not by choice, but by circumstance. I just wanted to know if there are any succesful SPS tanks out there that run skimmerless.

I run a mixed coral 3 ft cube (150 gallon in the DT), with a 30 gallon sump. The tank is plumbed in line with a 55 gal refugium that is full of cheato and rock. I probably have a toal of 80 lbs or more of rock between the DT and the fuge. The tank is predominantly SPS, but with a few LPS and some zoas and mushrooms.

As far as my bioload, I have the following tank inhabitants:

- 3 inch yelow tang,
- 3 inch copperband butterfly,
- 3 inch harlequin tusk,
- 3.5 inch tamarin wrasse,
- 3 inch reticulated anthia,
- a pair of mated Percs (2 and 3 inches)
- a 2 inch cleaner wrasse
- a pair of skunk shrimp (2.5 iches)
- a lonely peppermint shrimp (about an inch).

Should I try to run it skimmerless or scramble to replace the skimmer?