Protein Skimmer take good things out of the water?
 

Im setting up a 75 gallon tank and wonder if a protein skimmer might take beneficial organisms out of my tank? It seems as though there may be downsides to a protein skimmer. Any thoughts?

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.

Thanks Reefwreak, I began to wonder about potential harm of protein skimming or for that matter any mechanical filtration when listening to a podcast by Eric Borneman on Talking Reef . He mentioned how at night how many small organisms were observed within a couple inches of the bottom of the sand in the water column and how skimming might affect this. I like your list alternatives for filtration. I have a large protein skimmer, and probably will use it on new tank, just concerned about over skimming.

I suppose it might make sense to forgo a skimmer if your goal is raise those benthic organisms. But I have a feeling that's not what you are going for :-P

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11450372#post11450372 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JC VT [/i]
[B]I suppose it might make sense to forgo a skimmer if your goal is raise those benthic organisms. But I have a feeling that's not what you are going for :-P [/B][/QUOTE]

Exactly.

i use a algae turf scrubber, and i have no complants, takes a little skill and time but once you get the hang of growing and harvesting the turf its great, the reef flora they produce and support are great for the reef.