Is there a need for a skimmer if there are no fish?

[davidl]

I recently swapped tanks , both 55 gallon , and had a few setbacks when it came to leaks in my pvc plumbing installation anyhow, I had set up some temporary tanks, a 10 gallon to hold the fish and some polyps and then a 39 gallon to hold the LR. It took me 1 week to fix the leak issues, and by then the sand was putrid... so I cleaned it off as best as I could ,but I am going through a big ammonia spike and essentially going throuhg the whole cycle..

so to my question, the tank with the LR and other polyps doesn't have a skimmer and things are starting to look quite sad in there.. the water seems fine in terms of ammonia/nitrite/nitrates and there is a powerhead in there.. do I need to worry about a skimmer in there? I figured with no fish it shouldn't be a big problem. you guys concur?

 

[spllbnd2]

I would say that a skimmer should always be run. Run a good skimmer and strip the water of excess elements.
Waste not only comes from fish but other creatures in the reef tank as well.

 

[gotfish]

No, you don't need a skimmer, do water changes on a weekly basis and maybe run some carbon on it and you'll be fine. Before breaking my biocube down, it was running for 10 months with fish, without a skimmer without an issue.

 

[trido]

Snails, crabs, bristle worms, pods......... all excrete waste creating DOC's. A skimmer helps to remove those things along with adding O2 to the water keeping Ph up.
Do you need one? probably not...
Is a skimmer beneficial to a reef tank? IMO Yes.

 

[davidl]

well, I am ashamed to say that of all the tests I did the one I just plain forgot was salinity.. fixed that last night and everything looks happier.

thanks everyone