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I'm considering getting a protein skimmer for my 72g tank so I thought I'd do a poll to see how many people own skimmers and if they feel they are worth it.
I got this in a a few days on a 15g tank that did not have any fish in it:
That tank got at least one water change a week and I only feed one every 10 days to keep the inverts alive. I never plan to run a marine tank again without a skimmer after seeing the junk it can pull out.
Empties when the cup is 3/4 full...once the junk is in the cup..it's not in the tank. It's cleaning the riser and so forth that I would suggest have a more rigid cleaning regimen. Every couple of weeks..all depending on how much waste you are collecting in the cup
My underpowered skimmer pulls out tons of junk from my 110g reef. I have a few tanks with real cheap skimmers and a tank w/ no skimmer.
IMO, skimmers are by no means necessary depending onw what you plan on keeping and your setup. Frequent water changes, running GAC, and be very careful on amounts of food provided to the tank will help a great deal.