All Natural Tank

[Nikki777]

I have an 80 gal reef tank and want to go "all natural" but have several questions. My concerns are creating this all natural environment without sacrificing water quality. I have an 80 gal reef tank with a 20 gal refugium with a deep sand bed. I do not have a deep sand bed in my main tank but would like to. What is the best way to do this in an established tank without getting sand all over the corals? I have several mushrooms, zoos, and a few soft corals and LPS. Next question, I run a skimmer but would like to stop because I feel it is also skimming out the beneficial aspect from the fuge along with trace elements. I also heard running carbon takes out trace elements too so I stopped running that and have not noticed a change in water quality. I am reluctant though to stop using my skimmer also because when I test for nitrates I can't get them below 40ppm even with a 30%water change 1-2 times per month. This brings me to my next question. Do I need a bigger refugium and/or lower my bio load of fish? In my tank I have 5 small lyretail anthias, 1 sunburst anthias, 1 firefish goby, 1 med. tile fish goby, 1 golden dwarf angel, 1 bi-color blenny, 1 small yellow clownfish and 1 tiny neon goby. I feed them 1-2x daily of small quantities of various foods. So, in a summary do I:

1. Run skimmer/ act. carbon?
2. Get bigger fuge/ deep sand bed in main tank?
3. Get rid of some fish?
4. Do more water changes?

 

[SuperNerd]

FWIW I took my skimmer out too. I do see a lot more variety of critters but I do use carbon and now rowaphos in a reactor.
May be a little bit helpful: http://www.ronshimek.com/Deep Sand Beds.htm

 

[SuperNerd]

And here's a link of a tank without a skimmer: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/2/aquarium

 

[SuperNerd]

Btw IMO you do have a hefty bio load and anthias, I believe, like to eat a little more than that.

In regards to your DSB and the nitrates (is it just in the fuge or in the main too)...exactly what grain size is the sand and how deep is/are the bed(s)?

 

[Fredfish]

If you want to go without a skimmer you definately need a larger sand bed. Adding sand to a tank that is already set up is a pita.

If you do this, age the new sand with some salt water for a week or two. This will coat the fine particles with bacteria and they will settle in the main tank much more quickly than if you don't. Without the aging, you will end up with a cloudy tank for a week or two and this will not be good for the fish or corals.

I have added sand to an existing sandbed using a tupperware container.

I would also not remove the skimmer until your nitrates become undetectable.

Regarding trace elements, there is no evicence that any of our tanks are trace element defficient in any way. Many of the elements removed by skimmers are in our tanks at higher levels than natural salt water. Most of these elements enter the water by way of food.

Below is an excellent thread on skimmerless tanks. Definately worth reading:

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic26392-9-1.aspx

Hope this helps a little.

Fred

 

[SuperNerd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8527733#post8527733 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fredfish
Below is an excellent thread on skimmerless tanks. Definately worth reading:

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic26392-9-1.aspx

Hope this helps a little.

Fred

Nice link. Been reading it forever now. :lmao:

 

[Fredfish]

It is kind of long, but there is lots of good information burried in there.

Fred

 

[MCsaxmaster]

If I were you I would do the following:

1. Skim heavily
2. Run lots of activated carbon. If feasibly force water through it (e.g., through power filter).
3. Attach a much larger, well-lit refugium and grow as much algae as you can in it.
4. Feed frequent, small meals to the fish (3-4 times per day).

Once the tank is running well and nitrate and phosphate have dropped to undetectable levels feel free to start turning the skimmer off for several hours per day. If things continue to go well and nitrate and phosphate don't become particularly elevated increase the amount of time the skimmer is left off. Do this until decreasing skimmer output results in a major increase in nitrate and phosphate that does not go away even after a few weeks.

Worrying about overskimming in a tank that has a large fish population which is being fed daily and significant nitrate is putting the cart before the horse IMO.

Chris

 

[geekreef_05]

Balance! The key is to natural reefing is to keep a balance between bioload and filteration. I seriously dont think a DSB is gonna help you; attempting to add one is gonna be a PITA and would only start working after its established (least a year).

Consider your options and how nitrates can be broken down in the reef. Better than adding sand would be to add more liverock.

If I were you Id:
(1) Add more liverock or remove a couple fish
(2) do a 50% water change.
(3) continue 50% weekly water changes until nitrates are 0
(4) remove skimmer. check params weekly.
(5) re-evaluate your feedings (methods, frequency food quality, etc; in order to reduce pollution)
(6) run carbon 24/7 and change it regularly