LPS Lovers, do you run a skimmer?

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I've run a skimmer 24/7 on my tank for the last 7 years and my bubble is about the size of a basketball with my toadstool even bigger. I don't target feed them either.

My bubble has more than trippled in size since getting him and has even spawned once in my tank as well as repaired tears in his flesh a few times. Just and FYI.

I use NSW and have seen an increase in my corals size and "happiness" over the years since I switched.

 

[Thurge]

No skimmer, just a fuge. It got the boot when I lost my Thorny Oystuers to overskimming, and replaced with half a dozen steamer clams

 

[ACBlinky]

I think LPS can do well with just a skimmer, just a fuge, or both. As justincognito said, there's more than one way to keep these guys happy.
I keep LPS in three tanks - one has a skimmer (65g), one has a skimmer and a refugium (30g), one has neither (fishless 5.5g). LPS are doing well in all three, despite different conditions. I spot feed the 5.5g corals more than those in the other tanks (it's a hospital tank for rescued corals) and add zooplankton and phyto to all three tanks a few times a week. I'm also keeping softies and want to encourage pod growth, so I try and keep the tanks nutrient-rich without being polluted, if that makes sense... in other words, I like to feed heavily but aim to keep NO3 and PO4 as close to 0 as possible. I think LPS are quite forgiving, and if you have a system that works for you I wouldn't change it