Any “Top of the line" GAC and GFO free SPS tank?

I have run GAC and GFO at different times, but I stopped running both over two years ago. I read research that showed how GAC was harmful to some fish, and then my personal experience with GFO was always complicated in that my anemone seemed sensitive to over use so I opted for none at all rather than trying to find the right amount.

I would definitely agree that they are valuable tools for most aquariums, but they are not critical.


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I have used both in the past. I still use gac in low amounts to help polish the water. I stopped gfo about 2 or so months ago. I was experiencing stn on some corals. It took a while to figure out, but I zeroed in on the gfo as the problem. I know a lot of tanks that use both and look great and on the flip side I know of tanks that don't use either and still look great. What's got my interest now is a zenia farm. From what I understand it work similar the gac and gfo. Plus all the filter feeders help polish water ie clams, anemones, aptasia, and the similar. There are lots of different was to export nutrients(what ever is may be). Sorry about the rant.
 
RB tanks will be the next big thing Neil - resort bottom ftw. The frags on the right are slowly going under the dunes.........
 
Awesome tanks guys!
ridetheducati, I just want to improve my reef skills, I have an AGA 120g SPS Dominated tank and yes I use passive GAC and GFO, but I' thinking if their is a possibility of being more sucessful in my tank, if I remove the GAC and GFO.

Thanks my friends!
 
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No GFO, just 50mL of KZ carbon near the outflow of the skimmer. All Zeolite filtration baby!

Beautiful tank. :thumbsup: Whilst you technically dont use GFO, Zeovit systems usually run PO4 levels lower than even most people who run GFO. The combination of carbon source, zeolites and other potions (of which part of must be a nitrate source), acts together to dramatically reduce PO4 and NO3 levels. A VERY efficient system.
 
Wouldn't call mine top of the line or top notch. I've been quite pleased with the growth and have had the best color I've ever had before since removing everything but my skimmer. Basically everything has been growing from frags. A few of the biggest colonies I cut in half recently to make more space. I do grow bubble algae in the tank, but no other algae issues at all. LED's, Dosing Pumps, Skimmer...

Sorry I don't have a better full tank shot for some reason.
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Wouldn't call mine top of the line or top notch. I've been quite pleased with the growth and have had the best color I've ever had before since removing everything but my skimmer. Basically everything has been growing from frags. A few of the biggest colonies I cut in half recently to make more space. I do grow bubble algae in the tank, but no other algae issues at all. LED's, Dosing Pumps, Skimmer...

Sorry I don't have a better full tank shot for some reason.
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Wow Dustin! That's a beautiful tank!

That is very interesting that you dont run any other filtration than rocks, sand and skimmer.

Please give us details of the following:

1. Size of display? -I think this is your downgrade to a 90G.
2. How many lbs of liverock in the system?
3. What skimmer do you use?
4. Do you dose any bacteria?
5. Which LED lights and how many units do you have over the tank?
6. What fish do you have in the tank?
7. What do you feed the fish and SPS corals?

Many thanks.
 
GFO, GFH (Rowa), Phosguard, or really any other type of PO4 reducer was hardly ever used years ago, and we only ran carbon passively maybe for a week at the most every month just to clear the water a little bit. Here are many tanks that ran neither, or only ran carbon passively a quarter of the time:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-03/totm/index.php (check out his PO4 test reading)
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/totm/index.php (note PO4 levels)
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-09/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-03/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/totm/index.php (did run gac passively 24/7)
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/totm/index.php
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/totm/index.php (Ran carbon 24/7)

This gives you an idea, if you want to go and look at all of the TOTM setups from back then here is the link:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/totm-list

Carbon was a big debate back then of being ran periodically to polish up the water versus being ran 24/7. However I would say that anyone who ran it back 24/7 had it running passively except for a select few. Note that most of the tanks from back then didn't even test for PO4, let alone use chemical filtration to reduce it.

At MACNA 2003 in Louisville one particular speaking guest who is well known in our hobby did a pretty big promotion for Deltec during his presentation. Deltec was part of D&D Aquarium Solution who had been pushing the Rowaphos product for a few years overseas. The following year in late 2004 was when Rowaphos made a push into the US market and this was the very beginning of PO4 absorbers and reducers becoming mainstream into our hobby, and really the standard at which most include in their filter systems to date.
 
Having been through many of the trends in the last 40 years of this hobby I have seen great looking reef tanks with every variation of carbon and GFO.

I've tried carbon 1 week a month, carbon all the time, GFO until levels are beneath some arbitrary number, GFO all the time, using reactors or passive with both Carbon and GFO. Now if I use either it's only for a short period of time.

I use all NSW that's filtered to 20 microns. Before my weekly 10% water change I filter the water I'm going to add with carbon for 24 hours. Match parameters and then make the change.

The tanks have good skimmers, not skimmers that extract the last degree of everything out of the water.

All corals are showing good growth and color, SPS included.
 
Dustin that's sweet! Well done! Which LED are you running?

Thanks guys! I have been quite pleased with it since I set it up and moved stuff over last July. Only a couple pieces were colonies when moved over, the big Cali Tort, the Lakers Scroll, the BA Bower, and the Space Invader. The Space Invader has more than doubled and that's with cutting a few frags off it. LED question answered below!

Wow Dustin! That's a beautiful tank!

That is very interesting that you dont run any other filtration than rocks, sand and skimmer.

Please give us details of the following:

1. Size of display? -I think this is your downgrade to a 90G.
I downgraded a step further unfortunately from that tank. Moved for the 2nd time in a year and a half after spending all of last winter backpacking SE Asia. So this tank is a 57 gallon with 20 gallon sump and 20 gallon frag tank.
2. How many lbs of liverock in the system?
Not sure. What you see there and a couple pieces in the sump. My best guess would be 60-80 lb range.
3. What skimmer do you use?
Reef Octo xp1000sss
4. Do you dose any bacteria?
Nope.
5. Which LED lights and how many units do you have over the tank?
I run a Mvava fixture I got from someone locally. 36" with 12 10 watt whites and a whole bunch of 1 watt blues. A few greens and reds in there as well. Additionally, there is a homemade strip of 5 watt blues, can't remember which Crees are in it. It ramps for about 2 hours on either both sides with 7 hours of "peak".
6. What fish do you have in the tank?
Whew, Whew, Wheeeuw. Tang Police. I have two baby tangs, a Carberryi Anthias, 4 Blue Eye Cardinals(spawning, one has a huge clutch in it's mouth right now.), and a hooded wrasse. There is a pair of Black Ice Snowflakes in the frag tank and for the past couple months a small semifasciatus angel because I need to move him and he is a jerk and would pick on my angels in my Fowlr.
7. What do you feed the fish and SPS corals?
Fish get Limpits(a frozen reef blend here in WI), flake, Mysis, Angel Formula, Enriched Brine, and an occasional piece of nori. Generally feed a cube or two of frozen plus a chunk of limpits or mysis each day, plus a few pinches of flakes. The corals get broadcast fed 4-5 spoonfuls of Reef Chili a couple times a week on average after lights out. Though I am very inconsistent with this. Sometimes 4 times a week, sometimes not for multiple weeks.

Many thanks.

Additionally, I do water changes, though not religiously. Proly average a 15 gallon change every 3 weeks or so. When I do water changes I use RODI water, but a majority of the time the top off is just tap water with a few drops of Prime.

It started when I didn't have my RODI in town and wanted to get the tank filled up asap to get ready for the move. I filled it with tap water. I noticed, just like on my first reef tank before I had RODI that my coralline grew like mad, but the more I used RODI the less it grew. So I kept using it and my corals show better color than they have before across the board, LPS, SPS, Zoas all growing very well. For some reason I can't really keep mushrooms. I do have a small Jawbreaker, but it grows at a snails pace if at all. I had a dino bloom a few months in, but never any hair algae. There is bubble algae, which I believe I previously mentioned. I initially ran GFO on the tank, but I let it get really really old and saw my corals only getting better, so I thought why replace it and took it offline.
 
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