no photo nano?

[crsaz]

so I am about to set up my dream tank, but downsized 57 gal rimless, 60 gal rimless frag tank so I have recently fallen in love with non photo. corals. and I got to thinking(and as you know when your a reefer that means another tank lol) there is this "shelf" built into our wall/room divider right next to where the main tank will be and it measure exaxtly 19"x13" and I figured a 18"x12"x10" or 18"x12"x8" rimless no photo tank would be really cool right there and easy on the water quality(have the return line on a ball valve to shut off for feeding) what are some other things/ tips I should know for non photosynthetic corals. I currently have a small sun polyp I got just to try out and so far they are doing great.

 

[stunreefer]

What kind of non-photosynthetic corals do you want to keep? This will really determine what kind of system you have to run, but generally speaking you need a very efficient nutrient export scheme as all NPS coral require lots of food. Here's a little blurb I've posted before about the three "classes/types" (non-scientific ) I refer to when talking about NPS coral:

IMO there are three main "types/kinds/classes" (call it what you will) of "NPS" coral:

1.) Gorgonians/Sea Fans

2.) Soft Corals (Scleronepthya, Dendronepthya, etc.)

3.) Large Polyp Meat Eaters (Dendrophylliidae, Flabellidae, etc.)

At the moment I'm stocking and keeping an eye out for strictly #3. I do love NPS gorgs, but these are a nightmare to care for. They require specific flow rates and current speeds in combination with multiple (very expensive) feedings a day, generally 4-12 feedings!

I want nothing more to have long-term success with NPS soft coral, however that statement is almost an oxy-moron as we've discovered (only in the past couple years) that the majority of these corals only live 2 max years in nature. These corals also require a basically constant food source, but they're much more forgiving in regards to flow.

With any of the above "classes" I've designated, they do require pristine water, not as pristine as SPS, but the difference is negligible. These corals can most definitely handle a parameter swing better than most SPS, but the constant food is a killer - don't feed 'em for a day and you'll wipe your tank. Which leads to the next problem, removing the nutrients that (in certain situations) we are constantly introducing due to feeding - not to mention the food necessary for our fish!

For any of the above coral a stong nutrient export system is an ablsolute must, which is why many NPS keepers run "bacterial driven" systems of some kind... Merriq and Yoka use ZEOvit on their system, and obviously it does one helluva job! I'm very glad to see this as they have to feed that tank extremely heavily, but that's their main filtration along with a skimmer. Many NPS keepers use Denitrators and/or liquid PO4 removers rather than a bacterial driven system, however most of these people still dose a carbon source at least (vodka). Personally I prefer running a solid bacterial driven system as IMO/IME Denitrators and liquid PO4 removers are a PITA, however there are many ways to skin a cat Currently I'm utilizing Prodibio and H2O changes and it's working great. I do not have to "broadcast feed" as Merriq does for his gorgonians and NPS softies, so my nutrient load is much more managable.

Another note to mention is regarding Ca/Alk supplementation - not necessary with an NPS tank. Because we HAVE to do weekly water changes (bi-weekly at most) to keep nutrients down, Ca/Alk is kept in line with no additional supplementation. Most NPS are non-hermatypic (non-reef building), so their calcification rates are incredibly low compared to the Acros and other coral we generally keep.

 

[crsaz]

aI would love to try non photo gorgonians. but a I think I will mostly stick with non photo softies and lps. and some sponges. as for nutrient export I currently run the brightwell neo zeo method. and will be adding another reactor when I make the switch to my new tank.

 

[stunreefer]

Gotcha, any probiotic system will work wonders for you in a NPS system. As mentioned there is a ton of nutrients imported from feeding, and bac + carbon dosing will keep the nutrients at bay.

FWIW, NPS softies are pretty much the hardest corals to keep alive in captivity, let alone have them grow. Large polyp LPS and several species of gorgoinians would be a better choice. Check out Mikes (uhuru) thread on some of his successes with NPS gorgs and softies in this forum.

Simply put, NPS tanks should be ran like an "SPS tank" where nutrients are kept very low, but there is going to be much, much more food added into the water column so that statement is much easier said than done. Probiotic system will aid in that, along with feed many NPS corals through the bac additions.