Is it possible? Minimalist Set-ups?

[REV]

Agu, nice...but still nano. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Pygmy, it seems your tank is a qualifier! You're through to the next round. lol But I do wonder about the one... more... thing... with you. We may have to keep you under observation for a while.

Man that REV... why do I feel like I'm the only one giggling??

P.S. Pygmy, didn't mean minimalist wasn't show-worthy, but it seems that several frag tanks and things of that sort can be rather minimal.

 

[johnb0184]

I currently have a 75 with a cpr bak pak 2. and a cpr bak pak fuge, the 24" one. It has been running for about a year with no problems, and I have no tracable trits, trates, amonia. Also only using power compact lighting

 

[Drewcipher]

My 26g is 2 years old. I have a fluval cannister filter, a CPR Bakpak HOB skimmer, and Mag 5 closed loop. Lighting is 3 X39 watt T5s 2 blue plus and one daylight bulb.

 

[Chihuahua6]

The 400 I am planning will be as simple as possible. I love the nature part of reefkeeping, not so crazy about the equipment part. It gets too confusing for me and the thought of a fire scares me. Here's my plan:
Tank: 90X36X30
Rubbermaid sump (100 gallon maybe?)
Flow: overflows and one other large pump returning water to a top perimeter closed loop manifold (see All Things Salty forum).
Light: Natural light through 3 Suntunnels, supplement with T5s only if necessary
Skimmer: 2 smaller ones since I alreay have a good ETSS, just isn't big enough
Inhabitants: softies, shrooms, few LPS, easy peaceful fish. No super high lighting, calcium sucking coral for me and no target feeding
Not part of the plan: calcium reactors, chillers, wavemakers, Kalk dosers,
The tank room is already fitted with an infloor drain for water changes, an exhaust fan in the ceiling on a sensor and the Suntunnels. These are all part of the house though. I'm trying to keep the tank wiring and plumbing as simple as possible.

 

[REV]

I'm sorry Drew and Amanda, IMO (and I'm in control here! lol) closed loop circulation is grounds for immediate disqualification. I'm also sorry, your entry fees will NOT be refunded. (They will go toward my next piece of equipment! LMAO - it wasn't that big to begin with...)

 

[Drewcipher]

Haha. Ok, but does it help that the tank isn't drilled for a closed loop? I just did the old hang on back intake and returns, just like the cannister filter. I needed the extra circ and was sick of have the powerheads in the tank fall off and land on corals.

 

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6747560#post6747560 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by koden
I just setup a small pico tank for fun in my bedroom

Looks simple and minimalistic here:

But just to keep softies I need this craziness:

that includes an auto topoff module, ato pump and airlines, two float sensors, 50watt heater, minijet 606, 1/2" locline system, coralife aqualight, etc etc.

it's hard to be minimalistic on equipment =(

I'm actually LOL, too - thanks for that post!

 

[brandon1982]

tank(10gal), pump, heater-$39.99 at petco

96 watt powerquad $120 at local LFS

aquaclear powerhead-$20 at petco

aragonite sand & 10 gallons catalina salt water- $30 at petco

LR - $75 at local LFS

cleanup up crew after cycle(7hermits, 7 snails)- $10 at local LFS

frags (4 zoos, 1 yellow polyps, 1 leather)- $4.99 each at LFS

For only $300 dollars over the course of a month and a half I have a fully functioning tank that looks great!

 

[CMReefer]

Fairly Minimal

Fairly Minimal

I guess I would classify mine a a minimalist setup. My main goal was to save as much $ as possible setting up (equipment) and on electricity since that is something you have to pay each month.

Stats:
DIY 140G tank made from plywood and acrylic built into a diy oak cabinet.

30 Gallon refugium drains into 18 gallon rubbermaid sump

Small rio recirc (I think the 17HF)

4 Seio 620's in tank

4 x 65 watt pc's and 2 x 110 watt VHOs for lighting

Tank has a little of everything ranging from Softies to LPS to SPS (near the top) and a large squamosa clam on the sand (27" deep tank). I do very large water changes about once a month and use kalkwasser to maintain calcium/alkalinity. I plan to post pics this month in the diy forum as it will be excactly a year old this month.

No Skimmer
No Halides
No Controlers, etc etc

I probably saved about 1000 dollars on the setup which has all gone into livestock over the past year. I have been in this hobby for a long time and would not necessarily recommend such a minimalist setup, but it has worked very well for me.

Electricty bill runs around 55 bucks a month on a 3 bedroom house.

 

[REV]

Drew, I'll consider your appeal... but, one question, What is the last thing you need to be "done" with your set-up?

CMReefer, from what you say you are definitely through to the next round! You're goin' to Hollywood baby! lol I do wonder though... why the fuge and sump, but no skimmer??

 

[Stile2]

Currently I have a 29 gallon, no skimmer, 5 gallon fuge, 110 w pc, 30 w NO, Rio 110 return, 3 Rio 90 in tank flow, heater, the only big thing I have is a chiller (because I live where it gets 110 degrees in the summer).

Stocked with 2 - acro, 1 - RBTA, 1 - clam, Xenia, Candy Cane, Zoas, Maroon Clown, Scooter Bleeny, Cleaner Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, hermits and snails, and one very mean, very bad, Gorilla Crab (that I am trying to get rid of).

Been running for year and a half.

Keith

 

[CMReefer]

REV,

I'm just sharing experiences, not trying to win Amrerican Idol

I have found that the fuge is great for nutrient export and it also harbors a safe place for pods and other life to reproduce.... and it's 10 times cheaper

I basically came to this conclusion while I was running a maintenance business. One of the tanks I was taking care of (which was full of life) had the skimmer crap out on it. The owner didn't want to replace it and after a year the tank looked better than ever.

I think a good skimmer is a good investment and makes it easier to maintain a tank, but i don;t think it is 100% necessary if your husbandry techniques are solid.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[REV]

CMReefer, Whaddya mean you're not tryin' ta win?!? Anyway, what I meant was not necessarily why you don't have a skimmer, but why do you have a fuge and a sump? This is just a first for me to see a system with fuge and sump with no skimmer... Not that there's anything wrong with that!

 

[FishAffair]

Here in Miami, i kept a 20gal reef tank by the window with nothing more than a single air pump. It didnt even have an airstone, just a piece of weighted airline tubing bubbling coarse bubbles. The tank was open top and received about 2hrs of direct daylight and 6 hrs of inderect light. The tank had live rock, many softies and two yellow coris. The tank was set up for a year, was fed sparingly and did great!
With decent all year-round weather, good husbandry and good selection it is definately possible to set up a "minimalist" reef. Now, the tank did make tons of saltcreep and i was limited to certain type of corals. Mushrooms, colt, capnella, star polyps all did great.

 

[REV]

FishAffair, kept? A year is borderline... Why the 180 now? Sounds like quite the upgrade. lol

 

[jvetter]

Keep it simple is my motto. I just always seem to have trouble practicing it.

 

[PygmyAngel]

reef bouquet

reef bouquet

I think this one wins the award for about as minimalist as it gets:

http://joshday.com/picoreef.htm




why even bother with a powerhead? why not just blow on it every once in a while?

 

[chilyb56]

45 gallon corner tank with 165 W PC, external overflow, amiralce sump, HOB Prizm skimmer, got one of those power heads that swings back and forth, DIY float valve make up water system, heater. Planning to add in tank CPR refugium for nutrient export due to space/laziness considerations. Bought pretty much everything 5 or 6 years ago from some guy in LA for $400. ~70lbs mixed Fiji, Florida aquaculture LR. Still cycling, so I'll have to get back to you all on how it's working out.

 

[REV]

Hey Jim, You're Preechin' to the choir!!

 

[CMReefer]

Rev,

I didn't take it personally, don't worry. I was having fun with the American Idol thing.

Sumps make sense for many reasons, mainly that you can hide equipment like heaters, it's a good place to add top off water and supplements, and good for adding water when performing water changes (easier to get water into your stand without spilling than to get it shoulder high into the tank).

A good quality skimmer is a great peice of equipment, but it does rob the tank of some useful nutrients as well as the harmful ones.

When going skimmerless the key seems to be religious and large water changes so that you have a no-nonsense way of removing organics that fish leave behind.

Make sense?