Poll: Any self sustaining long term tanks ot there? No frequent water changes, etc
- Thread starter fantastic4
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Fred I think the name I was thinking of was Friedfish but have not seen him/her post lately to double check. I meant the nano reef website.
Perhaps I will post this in another forum too. But if I decide to make my tank skimmerless can another summarize the steps I should take for a smooth transition? My sump left to right (55 gal) is intake with skimmer:baffles:return section with base rock for bubble control, heater and return pump:rufe with 30# live rubble and cheato on a reverse lighting.
Also I looked in my first chamber yesterday and noticed the little pineapple sponges on the glass. If I pull my skimmer what should I stick in there? More base rock to colonize lower light organisms or make it a second fuge with cheato?
Ever since my cheato took off my skimmer has slowed down. It still makes dark green skimmate but less. I cleaned it on Sept. 30 and will record how much skimmate is produced on Oct. 10. It is an unmod. Aqua C with a mag 3 pump.
This is why I started thinking about pulling my skimmer all together.
Also I looked in my first chamber yesterday and noticed the little pineapple sponges on the glass. If I pull my skimmer what should I stick in there? More base rock to colonize lower light organisms or make it a second fuge with cheato?
Ever since my cheato took off my skimmer has slowed down. It still makes dark green skimmate but less. I cleaned it on Sept. 30 and will record how much skimmate is produced on Oct. 10. It is an unmod. Aqua C with a mag 3 pump.
This is why I started thinking about pulling my skimmer all together.
This is specifically in refrence to zooplankton. Dynamic Aquaria pg. 27.
See also http://www.advancedfluid.com/discflo/csoth.htm
Bladless pumps were demonstrated at the Smithsonian to not kill plankton like bladed impellors do.
I have also seen a great increase in plankton in aquariums in which bladed impellors are not used. I've never quantified it though. I've designed and built my own bladeless pump, but as I mentioned there are other possibilites.
See also http://www.advancedfluid.com/discflo/csoth.htm
Bladless pumps were demonstrated at the Smithsonian to not kill plankton like bladed impellors do.
I have also seen a great increase in plankton in aquariums in which bladed impellors are not used. I've never quantified it though. I've designed and built my own bladeless pump, but as I mentioned there are other possibilites.
hwyman
New member
our tank has been skimmerless for sometime now, and I havent done a water change in well over a year. All levels are zero.
we have 3 types of macro , chaeto, razor and grape caulerpora. Amazing thing with that grape, once it takes all the phospahtes out of the water it disappears, then when the phospahte increases it comes back.
we have 2 false perculas that spawn on a regular basis, a yellow eyed tang and one green chromis. Had 4 but lost 3 to either the sebae or the brittle star. Note, that when they dissappeared there was no ammonia spike or any change in the water chymestry at all!
for annemonias we have a huge sebae (a couple years now 2-3) and a rose bta. funny thing is the rose has a tougher time then the sebae.....
xenia that we have to get rid of on a monthly basis, three or for types of mushrooms, bubble coral which is spliting, hammer coral, seawhip,some zoo's, brown and green star polyp, tons of tiny feather dusters(covering the glass) Tons of sponges, sea sqiurts, gonipora (just had a baby) coraline algae everywhere, a huge brittle star that lets us hand feed it silversides(when you can find it). some emerald crabs as well. I am sure that i have left some stuff out as well.
We try to feed the fish daily but sometimes we dont, also we try to dose bionic daily as well.
The amazing thing is until I said the heck with it and got rid of the skimmer and stopped changing the water, we could control the nitrates, but now they are always 0. we have to get rid of the macro about once a month, but we sell that along with the xenia.
heres a pic
we have 3 types of macro , chaeto, razor and grape caulerpora. Amazing thing with that grape, once it takes all the phospahtes out of the water it disappears, then when the phospahte increases it comes back.
we have 2 false perculas that spawn on a regular basis, a yellow eyed tang and one green chromis. Had 4 but lost 3 to either the sebae or the brittle star. Note, that when they dissappeared there was no ammonia spike or any change in the water chymestry at all!
for annemonias we have a huge sebae (a couple years now 2-3) and a rose bta. funny thing is the rose has a tougher time then the sebae.....
xenia that we have to get rid of on a monthly basis, three or for types of mushrooms, bubble coral which is spliting, hammer coral, seawhip,some zoo's, brown and green star polyp, tons of tiny feather dusters(covering the glass) Tons of sponges, sea sqiurts, gonipora (just had a baby) coraline algae everywhere, a huge brittle star that lets us hand feed it silversides(when you can find it). some emerald crabs as well. I am sure that i have left some stuff out as well.
We try to feed the fish daily but sometimes we dont, also we try to dose bionic daily as well.
The amazing thing is until I said the heck with it and got rid of the skimmer and stopped changing the water, we could control the nitrates, but now they are always 0. we have to get rid of the macro about once a month, but we sell that along with the xenia.
heres a pic
Well I took the plunge and pulled my skimmer tonight so we shall see what evolves. It was an AquaC urchin pro. I was happy with the performance but the amount of skimmate produced was reduced after my Cheato took off. This is one reason why I thought to do this. I measured 10 days' worth of skimmate: 150 ml. It was very dark and some was paste like. I will keep the skimmer in case I need to put it back on. I measured NO2, NO3, and NH4 and all were not detected (doesn't mean it is not there though).
I would like some suggestions as to what I should put in the empty skimmer chamber of my sump. I have small sponges on the glass and I removed some pods and worms from the pump and returned them to the tank before cleaning the pump. I don't think sand would work but what about more LR or another fuge? Thanks.
I would like some suggestions as to what I should put in the empty skimmer chamber of my sump. I have small sponges on the glass and I removed some pods and worms from the pump and returned them to the tank before cleaning the pump. I don't think sand would work but what about more LR or another fuge? Thanks.
I have not used carbon on this tank. I have some coconut carbon by coralife, I think, that I use on my fw tank. It is a quart sized box that I have had for years and only use it every few months. I figure 1/8 - 1/4 cup per week would be enough for the sw tank. I have always thought a little goes a long way and the chemical filtration effectiveness is limited.
I found this interesting post by Eric Borneman about tank cycling, succession communities and mature tanks that I think is very relevant to this thread.
It explains very nicely what happens as a tank matures and why you may NOT want to forgo water changes until your tank is mature and more stable. FYI Eric suggests it takes much longer than 6 weeks or a few short months for tanks to form stabale communities.
Something to ponder for those people thinking about changing their aquarium husbandry technique.
Fred
It explains very nicely what happens as a tank matures and why you may NOT want to forgo water changes until your tank is mature and more stable. FYI Eric suggests it takes much longer than 6 weeks or a few short months for tanks to form stabale communities.
Something to ponder for those people thinking about changing their aquarium husbandry technique.
Fred
i havent been on reefcentral for a while, but i have been wanting get on to look into these very subjects, to see if others had similar results that i am having.
My tank is 3 yrs old, i did regular water changes the first year, i then did maybe 8 water changes in year 2,...and now i havent done a water change in over 12 months.
0 nitrates, 0 phosphates
I do have a skimmer though,..not quite ready to let it go.
here is my thread/story, with pics of my tank (also in my gallery).
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=965155
My tank is 3 yrs old, i did regular water changes the first year, i then did maybe 8 water changes in year 2,...and now i havent done a water change in over 12 months.
0 nitrates, 0 phosphates
I do have a skimmer though,..not quite ready to let it go.
here is my thread/story, with pics of my tank (also in my gallery).
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=965155
I have a 130 gallon, with 75 gall sump and 40 gallon fuge. Tank has been up and running for about five years now. It is loaded with live rock, fish and a bunch of easy keeper corals. Also a squamosa clam about the size of a head of lettuce. This tank is absolutely covered in shrooms and zoos -- I'd wager there are at least 750-1000 -- some shrooms nearly 6" in diameter. Everything thrives. No algae problems at all.
I run two DE 250MH and 360watt worth of VHOs. Skimmer, and diy neilsen reactor. Also have a calcium reactor, but the CO2 tank ran dry about 9 months ago and never got around to changing.
I do almost nothing to this tank except RO/DI top-off.
Haven't tested water parameters in well over two years. Haven't a clue as to the pH. Don't supplement. Haven't added a clean up crew in at least a year. No phosban. No activated carbon. Nothing.
All I do is feed the fish, clean out the skimmer ever few weeks and harvest the fuge every 6 weeks or so.
I'll post pics at some point soon.
I run two DE 250MH and 360watt worth of VHOs. Skimmer, and diy neilsen reactor. Also have a calcium reactor, but the CO2 tank ran dry about 9 months ago and never got around to changing.
I do almost nothing to this tank except RO/DI top-off.
Haven't tested water parameters in well over two years. Haven't a clue as to the pH. Don't supplement. Haven't added a clean up crew in at least a year. No phosban. No activated carbon. Nothing.
All I do is feed the fish, clean out the skimmer ever few weeks and harvest the fuge every 6 weeks or so.
I'll post pics at some point soon.
Wow-- I maybe on a completely different page here... I have spent 3 years trying to set the perfect tank with no water changes... for 2 years all I have done is run a 46 bow to perfection... keep it clean with a skimmer-- then is you overfeed the "kids" love it!! I am not sure an extra 5 gals of salt per week will save the tank... please let me know if I am screwed!!
Blue Deuce
New member
My 125 with fish, live rock and inverts has been running flawlessly for 9 years. The only water change I have done was 4 years ago and that was only due to having to move it while remodeling that area of the house. No supplements, no testing, hardly feed the fish, no cleaning except the front glass. I will occassionally swap out the Chemi-Pure but only like once a year. Two skimmers that need emptying maybe every 3 weeks. I have not had a fish die in 6 years. Other then electricity it costs me virtually nothing to keep it. I might add that 2 years ago we were w/o power for 11 days after a hurricane and all I did was keep it running with a battery operated airstone.
I might add though that when setting up a tank I am meticulous in getting the parameters correct and don't rush the cycle and slowly increase the bio load. After that I just let it do its own thing.
I figure if everyone looks and acts healthy why screw it up by agonizing over test results.
I might add though that when setting up a tank I am meticulous in getting the parameters correct and don't rush the cycle and slowly increase the bio load. After that I just let it do its own thing.
I figure if everyone looks and acts healthy why screw it up by agonizing over test results.
Chihuahua6
Premium Member
What do you consider long term? How long can be considered a success? Eight months? One year? Two years?
Stoney Mahony
New member
I have a 35 gal hex thats been up for about a year and a half. Skimmerless, no fuge, just a return pump on a wet/dry trickle filter. I have 2 croceas(4"), 1 maxima(5"), 1 gigas(7-8"), xenia, a few leathers, some shrooms, frogspawn, a big clown, kole tang, cleaner shrimp and 2 convict gobies. I get a little bryopsis every couple of months but it kinda shows up and then dissappears. Easiest tank I have ever had and all l livestock has been in there at least a year. Ill post a pic when I get home.
Stoney Mahony
New member
Heres mine:
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