A Self-sufficient Tank?

[CarrieB]

I'm going to be setting up a 150 tall. Unfortunately, I already have an expensive and time consuming hobby- a sailboat. In order to make to two play nicely together, I need to set the tank up such that I can be away from home from Friday night to Sunday night. I'm pretty sure that if all I had in it was LR, that this wouldn't be a problem. The question is, what else can I have? I'm thinking algae grazers would be good? Which coral? I am planning on going very slowly and keeping the tank lightly stocked with smallish, hardy fish.

What's your favorite self-sufficient tank inhabitant? How would you stock a tank like this?

 

[kmbyrnes]

It might be tough going for the first few months, but once your tank settles in you should be able to go away for a weekend.
You'll need an auto top off and an auto feeder system. With those 2 items you can have a large variety of fish, corals and inverts.
My choices would be some clowns and a bubble tip anemone, maybe a tang and definitely a lawnmower blenny. That fish had the most personality of any I have owned.
Cabbage leather corals are hardy as are xenia and hammer corals.
I am sure others will chime in.
Have fun.

 

[CarrieB]

Yes, starting in the off-season is definitely an advantage. Also, I'm getting established LR with the tank, so I won't be starting completely from scratch.

How much would putting sand in the sump help? I'm thinking that growing a live food source is a good idea.

 

[IanWR]

If all you're talking about is being away for 2 days, you don't have to do anything special. An ATO is a help for sure, although depending on your setup you might be able to go 2 days without. You can leave your lights on a timer, or just leave the lights off for the weekend. Fish will be fine without being fed for 2 days. When I saw your thread title, I thought you were wanting the mythic self-balancing complete ecosystem tank!

 

[CarrieB]

Haha! No, really just looking for advice about setting up a robust system. Wasn't sure how to say that in a title. Thanks for the positive response.

 

[Sk8r]

I have a coral reef that I can leave on ATO, kalk, an autofeeder and timed lights for a month with no issues. I've even come back and had it look better than I left it. Maturity of the tank and care in choosing specimens is recommended.

 

[CarrieB]

Thanks, Sk8r. Do you have a list of what's in your tank somewhere that I could see?

BTW, love your posts.

 

[shifty51008]

i also have no issues leaveing my tank alone for weeks or even months with doing just minor things to it if needed such as refilling the ATO container, filling the fish feeder or cleaning the skimmer. and I agree it seems like it does better for me if I leave things alone.

 

[vikinglord13]

Sk8r,

I'm wondering if one of your blog posts directly addresses your own maintenance regimen for your tank. I've read a few before and from what I can gather you've learned how much kalk to dose automatically. Is that the gist of keeping your params in check? I know you like to keep your alk at 8.3(?) to help keep your magnesium and calcium locked in. I'm curious, do you have crushed coral for a substrate, or do you have any sort of coral skeletons or limestone rubble in your sump to dissolve as levels go down?

Apologies to CarrieB as this is not directly related to your post. I figured others reading this thread might be interested. I know some of us reefers *cough* are really lazy and like our systems to be as "self-sustaining" as possible

 

[CarrieB]

I think the subject is pertinent to the intention if not the letter of the post.

 

[ClownFishGuy6]

Do you have a filter? All you need is a filter and a good light. And if you have fish I would get a auto feeder to feed them while you're away from home. Try a pair of clownfish you like. Or maybe a dottyback and some Chromis's or a damsel. But keep in mind damsels don't welcome other fish so easily so if you plan on getting a damsel get it last. And I don't know much about coral but I would reccomend getting some red legged and blue legged crabs and a couple turbo snails. If you just have a filter algae graisers and an auto feeder (if you have fish) then your tank will be fine. But if your keeping corals and live rock I would definitely have a good light and protein skimmer

 

[shifty51008]

Do you have a filter? All you need is a filter and a good light. And if you have fish I would get a auto feeder to feed them while you're away from home. Try a pair of clownfish you like. Or maybe a dottyback and some Chromis's or a damsel. But keep in mind damsels don't welcome other fish so easily so if you plan on getting a damsel get it last. And I don't know much about coral but I would reccomend getting some red legged and blue legged crabs and a couple turbo snails. If you just have a filter algae graisers and an auto feeder (if you have fish) then your tank will be fine. But if your keeping corals and live rock I would definitely have a good light and protein skimmer

you will deff want an ATO also, one that will hold enough water for the ammount of time you will be gone.

 

[shifty51008]

the biggest thing i can tell you is keep things simple, less things to go wrong. and also have quality equipment so your not worried as much that a pump will burn up while your away. and also redundancy.