Minimal Maintenance Reef

[grabthereef]

Hello all. I was asked today to set up a reef tank, after my aunt saw my latest pics on facebook. I told her that with enough money you could pretty much automate a system that i could visit and maintain about once every month or so. my questions are what size tank to do this? i was thinking 100gal to keep math easy and give more fish options. If you guys were faced with this request what would you get? Money is pretty much not an issue, but simplicity is the goal.

As far as livestock goes i am interested in ideas, she loves the colors, bright and various. It almost feels like i should set up an anthias tank with dendros, acans, zoas, maybe some neon leathers, and some low light sps. The only thing that would worry me about this setup is how finicky anthias are but once you get them eating they are such great fish, and beautiful.

I would love any and all feedback i can get, as im trying to draw up some plans.

 

[d3hree]

I would question whether one visit per month will be enough.
Because of long work hours I am trying to automate as much as I can with my new build and I know that it will still require "hands on" time once a week or so.
100 gallons isnt that big for stable water with monthly visits.
Anthias have high metabolic rates and require regular feeding, more food in water column = more p**h = higher nitrates so your filteration will have to be good.
Dendros could also cause issues as they will need feeding. Acans will need target feeding to thrive.
IMO a low maintenance tank wouldnt have those fish nor corals, a softie tank running good carbon and good filtration would be less maintenance but even then I think once a month would be pushing it.
I would also choose fish that have smaller appetites.

 

[dave.m]

Agreed. Anthias prefer five feedings per day. A more realistic schedule for any reef tank would be once a week on a low maintenance tank. Some softies, some chromids and a tang or two might be better. And since this is the Large Tank forum, a 100 gallon tank would barely constitute a sump.

Dave.M

 

[hpfunk]

To do right by your aunt, a FOWLR might be better to start with, ease her into the hobby. Start off visiting often and as she becomes more familiar with the setup dial it back a little, letting her alert up if something is off.
Then if she is into it, upgrade some of the equipment an add some corals. She may think she wants a tank but if it is overwhelming up front, or even if you just lose some of her new livestock that can be enough to shut it down.
Just my experience...my wife will cry every time I lose something! (well a fish anyway)

If you plan on the FOWLR and upgrading then remember to only stock reef safe fish.

 

[WDLV]

to do right by your aunt, a fowlr might be better to start with, ease her into the hobby. Start off visiting often and as she becomes more familiar with the setup dial it back a little, letting her alert up if something is off.

+1

 

[swanny]

FYI, I have a tank full of Anthia's and they get fed twice a day in the afternoon and have been doing excellent for at least three years. I love anthia's, easy to keep and beautiful.

 

[fewskillz]

A 125 is a very nice size. Big enough to keep some big fish and feel like a large tank, but small enough to be manageable.

 

[grabthereef]

thank you all for the feedback. this is what im thinking for keeping things simple. DSB in a 100+ gallon (need to figure out how much space she has for it) i think that the best way to do livestock is to let her be the judge based on how much she gets into it. definately starting off with some colorful tangs and a choice large reefsafe angel might be best. lighting will be led so she wont have to replace bulbs, sump with chaeto only for minimal maintenance.

whats the deal with auto dosers? i think reactors would be asking for trouble.

corals will go softies to lps to possibly a few montis or a slimer or something depending on her level of interest and dedication.

Thoughts? ideas?

 

[d3hree]

only my opinon but 100 gallons is a little small for tangS and LARGE angel...dwarf angel yes
If this is to be low maintenance personally I would rethink tangs as they are big messy eaters. Maybe a kole tang?
Again just my opinon but I would consider smaller schooling fish as they would make the tank look bigger anyway. Fish like threadfin cardinals.
Is the DSB in tank or is it RDSB?

Auto dosers are good if you are balling, you will just need large containers that dont need refilling per week.

Maybe consider GHL with iphone app that you can pick up highlighting any problems?

 

[hpfunk]

Go as big as possible on the sump.

 

[gofor100]

Since I'm planning my upgrade, I've actually thought about this quite a bit. Here's my thoughts on automation (if cost is truly not an issue):

> APEX controller to time the lights, control heating/cooling, etc.
> Skimmer with built-in drain and a swabbie to clean the head automatically
> Auto Top Off for Freshwater- you can use a large resevoir to keep a week's worth (or longer the larger it is of course)
> LiterMeter III and/or Ca Reactor to maintain Ca/Alk/Mg levels
> Water exchange system (or LiterMeterIII) to automatically change the water in little increments throughout the day- i.e., you can set it to change 1 liter everday (or less) to keep up on the water changes. Then you can siphon out any built up detrius in the sump once a month.
> Auto Feeder- this way, if you've weaned your fish onto flakes/pellets, you can get mutilple feedings throughout the day. Of course, this will have to be refilled regularly.
> Battery Back-up in case power goes out- to at least run the powerheads to keep the water circulated

I've probably forgotten some things, but this should get you started.

Hope this helps,

Chad

 

[grabthereef]

Chad, thank you.. these are the answers ive been looking for. ill have to mock up some plans and prices soon to see what she thinks.

 

[gofor100]

You may also think about "redundancies" in case something fails (i.e., running two skimmers instead of one), so she has something to back it up until you're able to swing by and fix the problem.

Happy to help though...

Good luck!

 

[d3hree]

I would also add auto flushers to the ro unit so that tds stays low.

 

[grabthereef]

the good thing is that she already has her whole house hooked up to a gigantic ro/di system. I drink the shower water when im there. --that might be weird

 

[elegance coral]

Go as big as possible on the sump.

I strongly agree. I need a system that will run on autopilot for a month or so. I'm installing a 120 gallon sump on a 200 gallon display. If I could install a 500 gallon sump, I would.

 

[gods child]

ok I had a 265 with a 500 gal sump going for about 2an half years before it the tank cracked. I live less than 500 ft from a lake water table rose an oh no floor shift.Man what a mess.!! An i spent more than an hour a week on it so good luck wit a 100 gal If you do an lps tank not to stocked may be ,may be, but like i said good luck

 

[WDLV]

Agreed. I have a 40 breeder on a 100 gallon sump. Hahaha! I do plan to upgrade to a 180 though. One other good thing about a big sump OS the ability to change a large volume of water without disturbing the display volume. I can do a 50% water change without ever changing the water level in the display... If I needed to.

 

[hpfunk]

The reason I like a large sump is for a number of reasons;
More rock in sump less in display,
more water volume for stability,
more room for equipment and modifications and maintenance.

For minimal maintenance (meaning no info for two weeks) you must have a good top off RODI system to start with.
An auto feeder so you know whats going into the tank.
You would want self cleaning skimmer, so in the event of a loss or a spike the thing doesn't overfill.
Good reliable reactors and pumps would complete the set up. IMO, dosing pumps seam more problematic compared to a fine tuned cal. reactor.

add a battery back up and fail test the $#!T out of it and that is all you need

Of course you could...
Get a whole house natural gas generator for power failures.
You could get aqua controller computers to tell you all the perimeters over the web. Install flood detectors that are hooked up to the house security system. Add web cams to check in on the tank and equipment any time...ect.ect.

You can take it as far as you need to, but my suggestion would be to keep it as simple as possible. Simple can look and work the best sometimes.

IMO...

 

[grabthereef]

i am a big fan of simplicity! ...and the more i think about it the more it makes since to go huge on the sump, at least equal to tank vol. --but i dont know the first thing about ca reactors. would it be feasible to put a shitload of aragonite in the sump and DSB the display to help with n,p? a self cleaning OVERKILL skimmer is a must. and vortechs with battery backups a must too! Im also thinking LEDs so i wont have to worry about changing out the bulbs.