Originally Posted by Fishyfins

now, what i am about to say will go against everything you will read and be told, but im gonna say it anyway, because it is something i firmy believe in. DO NOT USE A PROTEIN SKIMMER!!!! these pieces of equipment are probably the biggest waste of money in the marine trade. they certainly do a good job, but they do far too good a job, and remove all the good stuff from the water, as well as the bad. this needs to be replaced if you are to be successful, and is expensive and can be dangerous to do so if not done correctly. i have been keeping marine fish for a good 5 or 6 years now, and i have never used a skimmer on any of my tanks, and have never had a single problem. indeed, my father has always sworn by skimmers, and is constanrtly having problems. the one time the skimmer was taken offline, was the only time the tank has been stable. but this isnt to say you dont need someting to do the job. there is a wonderful product out there called purigen, made by seachem, that, when added to the filter, does the exact same job, but leaving the good stuff in the water. i have used this for many years, with excelent results. it just needs changing every few months. some people say that skimmers are needed, but i have proved this wrong time and time again.