Large Refugium with no Skimmer?

[Phillybean]

I'm in the process of setting up a 75 gallon reef, and while waiting have been leaning towards getting a 10 gallon nano. Now, most several people on the Nano form have mentioned not having a skimmer but using a HOB Refugium. My question is, would a large (55 gallon+) refugium do the same job as a skimmer. Interesting idea here, that much chaeto would really eat up a lot of waste. Run carbon with it and some kind of screen to pick up any "big chunks" and it just may work. Any thoughts?

 

[DesertBandits]

Though I like to skim, I think if the lights in your refugium are redder than the lights on your main tank, you would do a better job of exporting nutrients into your sump rather than into your display. For example: a 6500k flood light over your sump, or a couple t5s 3000k or 6500k. I don't think though, that a big sump would be as effective as skimming. If i had a nice setup with an overflow, I would do both to have a tank where I nearly never need to clean the glass.