Protein Skimmer

[tncoe18]

I have a 13 gallon salt water tank (yes, too small, I know) mostly reefs and one sweet blue damsel.
Is it necessary to have a protein skimmer for my tank?
Recently, my pink leather and kenya tree do not open, I am not sure what techniqual term is, but they do not seem to be thriving. I did a water change but nothing has changed.

So...is protein skimmer helpful? How so? I want to make sure that it is the solution for my tank before I am a few hundreds $ deeper in debt because of this tank already.

Thanks!

 

[melosu58]

IMO they are very important but in bigger tanks. In a 13 gallon tank I would just do weekly PWC`s and leave it at that. I just feel that 29 gallon and less that a skimmer is really not needed. JMO. As far as the corals, how about some water test results and tell us what type lighting do you have?

 

[ccCapt]

For a tank that small, I would say your better off doing more water changes.
How often are you changing water now and how much do you do at a time.
What are your water parameters? Specifically pH and nitrate....assuming this is a cycled tank that has been running for a while.