minimalist SPS tanks, lets see them

[supermarvin76]

I have been curious lately about people using minmal / cheap equpment for SPS tanks. I am certain there are people out there that do this. So.......If you are one of these people lets, see / hear, or see and hear about your tank.

Also curious as to how long the tank has been running.

Looking forward to the replies already.

 

[Cody Ray]

Most seem to enjoy putting as much equipment on their system as possible

 

[duwlski]

15 gal. 4 months:
- jbj chiller
- tek lighthood
- phosban reactor
- 2 maxijet
- 1 hydor seltz (external pump for closeloop to chiller)
- 75W ebo heater

maintenance: weekly 3 gal water changes

tek light and chiller is the most expensive ones..
do you think these minimum?

 

[clkwrk]

Nope that wouldn't count .

I think a 120g tank with a 2x175mh ,jebo skimmer, aquaclear 500 and a few maxijets would qualify . Although I doubt sps would like the tank much.

 

[LBCBJ]

Re: minimalist SPS tanks, lets see them

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8045801#post8045801 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by supermarvin76
I have been curious lately about people using minmal / cheap equpment for SPS tanks. I am certain there are people out there that do this. So.......If you are one of these people lets, see / hear, or see and hear about your tank.

Also curious as to how long the tank has been running.

Looking forward to the replies already.

That is a recipe for failure

 

[wrenchhead]

Click on the red house

90 gallon rr
2x150 hqi
4x65 pc
corallife skimmer
magdrive 9.5 and 2 maxijets
does this qualify?

 

[Cody Ray]

There are some easy to keep montis in there so I guess it qualifies but overall it is a very nice system.

 

[GatorReefman]

I believe that my tank could qualify for being a minimist: It is an two and half year old 55 gallon reef tank. I only recently converted to 2x250 watts metal halides with 2x110watts of VHO actinics. It has a small MAG 5 return pump( over 10 years old) with two powerheads along with one seio 620. Just upgraded to an remora skimmer in my wetdry filter. I used about 60 lbs of live rock- mostly florida with 2 inches of aragonite sand. I have no heater since I live in florida. I have over 20 sps colonies including 9 acros. Most of these colonies were either acquired or raised from frags within the last year and a half. I do have two colonies - pink pocci and brown staghorn that have been with me for about 2 1/2 years.

 

[Ti]

equipment is 1/2 the fun

 

[NuclearReefs]

We should have a contest,, Each person is allow one piece of each type of equipment

1 pump
1 light
1 heater
1 skimmer

Could you do it?
I could...

I should start a thread on this.... LOL !
I will.... hehe

Nathan

 

[madmac]

Not really minimalist but all things necessary for a full SPS tank:
36"*18"*18", 46G BB,
24" plain tank as sump
1*250W 10K-BLV (7 hrs)
4*39W T5s (2 Aquaz bluepro, 2 ATI blue special) (12 hrs)
Resun 450 Chiller
2 controllable streams
Weipro 2011 venturi skimmer, run by Eheim 1250 1200l/h (28W)
Aquabee 2000/I (2000l/h) return

I dose Ca and baking soda.

Tank is BB for 18 months. pics are in the red house.

 

[manderx]

a guy in my local club had what i've always considered a minimalist yet extremely sucessfull tank
2 175s + vho
cpr bakpak
cpr aquafuge
2 mj900s on a wavemaster
kalk only
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/totm/index.php

he's since upgraded to a 120, added a sump, bigger skimmer, and 2x250DE but otherwise pretty much the same. return splt by a scwd and 2 mjs for his only flow. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7948116#post7948116

 

[Razzagas]

not mine but....
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/2/aquarium

 

[duec22]

I run a 29gal Via Aqua tank with a 5 gal CPR fuge, 5x24W SLS T-5's for light, Sieo 620 and MJ 1200 in the display for flow (pluss the MJ1200 on the fuge), and a DIY Rowaphos reactor in the fuge...no skimmer, no sump, no Ca or Alk reactors (I use 2 part...90 mL of each a day)...been keeping SPS in it since Feb of 05 and all are doing great (other than the salt overdose a couple of months ago....I wan't accounting for the salinity increase from the 2 part)
Here it was last month after I got the salt levels back in line...the acros have regained pretty much all their color back now... more pics in my gallery..

 

[anathema]

40G stretch hex.
20G sump
cutout/siliconed on overflow on back that hold about a gallon with Gracilaria
mag 9.5
1 seio on a wave timer
I just bought 2 1/2" sea swirls I'm going to add
Iwasaki 150W 50K

I get good growth, and decent coloration. Biggest problem I have is keeping calcium in line.

1 small lavendar tang
6 line wrasse
black algae blenny
blue stripe blenny
royal gramma

tank has been running now for 1.5 years. I started adding the majority of the SPS after 6 months, but it's about 50/50 LPS and SPS. Almost no softies, some zoos and a sneaky mushroom or two though.

 

[anathema]

Close up of some montiporas:

 

[reefdood]

30g reeffready
175w hamilton 14k w/ no reflector
3 VhO
20 gal glass sump, no baffles
CPR backpack sitting in sump
Mag 7.5 through 1/2" line
2 maxijets
wavemaster pro
Chiller
Ranco
Pinpoint
Lowes powerstrips and $5 timers

Minimalist to me

 

[anathema]

Also wanted to add a response to someone above who posted that this sounded like a recipe for disaster.

I work in a job that requires me to be away for sometimes up to a week. After owning a skimmer, and several "gadget" tanks, I think that a simple tank is less prone to breakdowns than one that has a bunch of gear plugged into it. If you read the forum long enough you'll read a lot of "co2 probe malfuntcioned, causing my PH to go haywire" "Temp probe went out, tank is 500 degrees, want some acropora crispies?" "skimmer went wacko, causing auto topoff to dose 500 gallons of prime well water"

and on and on.

If you do it right, a minimalist tank is more stable and predictable than a supergizmo tank by far, and less work too. Also cheaper.

Here's the problem though:

I wouldn't recommend a minimalist tank for beginners. You have to know how to read your tank and respond to what's going on. You have to know how to stock appropriately and not rush things. You can do a much better job once you have a few years of reefkeeping under your belt.

Just my opinion.

 

[clkwrk]

Nice tank. I think is easy to go inimalist if the tank is small. Large tanks are a different story.

 

[anathema]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8051863#post8051863 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clkwrk
Nice tank. I think is easy to go inimalist if the tank is small. Large tanks are a different story.

I agree completely. Also ty for the compliment.