Lately, I've been contemplating skimmer options.
I feed daily, and have never had this heavy of a bio load in any of my fishless SPS tanks. There are no visible ill effects beside the daily algae buildup on the glass - I have to clean Sundays and Wednesdays to keep it looking respectable.
However, my HOB filter with chaeto does not seem to be doing well. The handful of chaeto has not grown a mm in over a month, and appears to be breaking down. I have the new IM cheato grow light ($70!) that makes everything look hot pink and I don't think its doing anything. In the past tank with identical setups, I've had white LEDs over the fuge and had crazy chaeto growth.
I think I may swap the pink light out for a white LED. If that still doesn't help, I'm thinking of removing the AC70 HOB and replacing with a skimmer.
A local club member sold me a Aquamaxx 1.5 HOB skimmer for cheap to experiment with. I've heard great reviews of the skimmer and have tested it on the tank and it does a nice job. However, being a 17 gallon tank, I want to make sure I wont be over-skimming if I swap and run it 24/7.
Any thoughts?