45 cube build. skimmerless

[saltlife2010]

we are in the process of setting up a 300gallon tank but cannot complete until we move in august so we decided to setup a little tank.

The tank : 45 marineland cube 24 x 24 x 18

Sump/refugium : 20 gallon high

lighting: lumenbright pendent 250 watt

pump. mag drive ( 350 gph )

flow: vortech mp40w

supplements: i will be making a diy kalk drip and dosing vodka

 

[saltlife2010]

the tank ( 24 x 24 x 18 )

 

[hk855]

Nice idea, I'm thinking of setting up a 7 to 15g cube in the near future and thinking about going skimmerless with sps. Are you just doing a fuge? I was thiking zeo and a large cryptic zone for mine.

 

[saltlife2010]

i plan on just doing a nice fuge and vodka dosing. On our 200 gallon we had a good fuge going and for 2 days i left the skimmer off by accident and noticed better coloration on our sps. i like the zeo but its very expensive . With sps its not how good of a skimmer you have its lighting. flow and water quality. This tank is going to be pretty simple , i want to show people you can have a nice sps tank without doing a million things to the tank.

 

[saltlife2010]

MAG DRIVE ( 350 gph )

 

[E.intheC]

nice setup. I have the exact same (45 cube and 20 gal high sump).. but why no skimmer?

 

[saltlife2010]

well we are setting up a 300g and we are getting the equipment for it now , when the 300 is setup we will probably plumb the 45 g into it. I looked on the web and found some nice sps tanks that are skimmerless and use a refugium. The other problem is sump space , im leaving the option open to put a reef octopus hob skimmer on the side of the sump.

 

[ganjero]

Have you read carefully about vodka dosing? you NEED an excellent skimmer as part of this approach. You can still do the skimmerless tank but dosing vodka wouldnt be a smart idea.

 

[saltlife2010]

skimmer

skimmer

yea i just read up on vodka dosing and i think it is very helpful in coloration, so with that it looks like i will most likely get the reef octopus bh 100 ss hob skimmer to hang on my sump, heres the link about vodka dosing for anybody new to it.

 

[saltlife2010]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

 

[saltlife2010]

filled the tank today

filled the tank today

Rockwork

 

[saltlife2010]

new coralife salt

 

[saltlife2010]

vortech mp40w