Chaeto Sump Growth Log

[Goss]

About 3 weeks ago my skimmer passed away. I was going to buy another one but decided to go all natural nutrient elimination. I bought a tennis ball size of Chaeto for six bucks and a $29 100w waterproof Led grow light. My tank has never been more stable and happy. The microfauna in my system has gone from nothing to amazing. My fish and coral now have the opportunity to eat natural occurring microfauna that comes from the Sump.

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[Goss]

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[Goss]

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[RBU1]

You need a skimmer also for added oxygen in the tank. Hope you never loose power your tank will not have much oxygen in it to last very long.


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[2000se]

You need a skimmer also for added oxygen in the tank. Hope you never loose power your tank will not have much oxygen in it to last very long.


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I think there are plenty of tanks that are running skimmer-less just fine. The chaeto is extracting CO2 from water to grow and putting O2 back in. Hence the reason most people run them on the alternate schedule of there main lights. It helps to balance the PH levels throughout the 24 hr cycle day.

I do agree that skimmers really help aerate the water and having one is also a great tool to remove excess nutrients, but they are not a requirement IMO..

Someone else chime in...

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I too am skimmerless, using plants as export media. I keep a battery-powered bubbler for power outages, just in case. Any place that sells fishing gear should have one.

 

[Genevagreg]

good luck

good luck

i get it and agree the short term works as the chaeto does the heavy lifting but over time i have seen what appeared to be stable systems crash re: nutrient buildup. i think the key to avoiding that might be water changes. now that you went skimmerless what will be your water change routine? 10-20% every 2 weeks?

 

[ThRoewer]

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The one thing you definitely need is a pump to keep the chaeto moving so that it doesn't form a solid matt on the surface. The way you have it now the light will be blocked to reach the algae layer that actually can remove nutrients.
The other option would be to use algae that attach to substrate so that they grow from the bottom up.