Thank you all for sharing, its interesting to see so many seasoned hobbiest going skimmerless or using a skimmer on a limited basis, and have positive results from it

I will cycle my skimmers on and off, depending on what is happening with the system. Sometimes my tank just looks so darn healthy when they are off. But it is just temporary, within a month or two the systems health begins to slowly decline. I think this is do to competing corals, and decreased water clarity. I also begin to see a skim develop on the surface. But usually with some heavy skimming, and carbon dosing it all goes back to normal within a few weeks.