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Yes it does. However the benefits SIGNIFICANTLY outweigh the costs of protein skimming. Some people are able to run a reef tank without a skimmer, and I can understand how and why, but for me and most other reefers as well, it's not really an option.
You can replace a skimmer with a working Deep Sand Bed, best option is Remote Deep Sand Bed in a Bucket, either of those working in tandem with a photosynthetic refugium with cheato, caulerpa, or another fast growing higher order algae. Maybe even using an Algal Turf Scrubber (though a lot of work and difficult/complicated to setup) is an option.
There are more than one way to do things, but for most of us, skimmer is the easiest/best solution.
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