Skimerless 50 gallon Specs & Pics

[Carrera76]

Hello Everybody

I thought I would share some pics and info about my Skimerless 50 gallon. This set up has been running for over a year and so far it has been totally algae free. The idea was to get a good skimmer but it was difficult to pick one as there are so many oute and I wanted the best one. Time went by and noticed that the all the corals, fish and livestock were doing very well even though there was no skimmer. Eventually I decided to run this set up without a skimmer. The tank is packed with tiny feather dusters, snails, tiny shrimp, pods, tiny brittle starfish...all kind of tiny creatures ......

I do 10% weekly water changes and only feed once a day. I also add DT's Phytoplantkon once a week and that's all. There are no other additives that I currently use for this reef set up.

The T5's are on from 9:00 am until 11:00 pm and the Metal Halides from 2:00pm until 9:00 pm. So far this has worked very well for me.

Am only posting these pics and specs to share my tank with all of you guys. My goal is not to start a discussion on whether it is a good idea tu run skimerless but to share some pics with everyone.

Tank Specs

Equipment

50 Gallon Tank,
2X150 20000K HQI MH + 2X39 Pure Actinic T5s
HOB AqauClear 110 used as a Refugium with Macro Algae and Carbon Filter Pad.
70lbs of Liverock
15 lbs of Livesand
Koralia # 2
Maxijet 900


Livestock


Black Saddleback Clownfish
Yellow Watchman Goby
Coral Beauty Angel
Red Scotter Blenny
Orchid Dottyback
Bicolor Blenny
2 Emerald Crabs
3 Red Starfish
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Fire Shrimp
2 Sexy Shrimp
1 Pom Pom Crab

Corals

Long Tentacle Plate Coral.
Green Metallic Torch
Pearl Bubble Coral
Green Candy Cane
Green Star Green
Orange Ricordea
Yellow Polyps
Green Yuma
Mushrooms
Frogspawn
Zoanthids
Hammer
Anthelia
Cloves

The pics are not the best and the colors are more intense in person. My camera is crappy :-(


Looking forward to all hearing all your comments, suggestions and questions!

 

[Carrera76]

Some more pics!!!!

 

[Ritten]

That is a sweet looking tank. I really like the plate coral. Looks like you are doing great without a skimmer.

 

[tmc1313]

Nice tank, I love simplified setups. Here's a pic of mine.

 

[Carrera76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150093#post11150093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ritten
That is a sweet looking tank. I really like the plate coral. Looks like you are doing great without a skimmer.

Thanks for your comments . The plate coral has been sold, somebody is dropping by later on to pick it up. It has got way too big for my tank. It is about 7" in diameter but during the day it expands to about 12" in diameter and tentacles can reach 8" long. Am very sad to have to let it go as this is my favourite coral but have no choice .

 

[Carrera76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150102#post11150102 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tmc1313
Nice tank, I love simplified setups. Here's a pic of mine.

Wow! You have a stunning tank. Hpw big is it? Is it skimerless too?

Cheers

 

[goldmaniac]

terrific tank. one question for you:

I also run skimmerless, with a refugium (caulerpa), and my water is always a slight yellow from the macroalgae. I run NO carbon, however.

You say you run carbon and I see your tank is nice and not yellow.

Carbon always? or just sometimes?

thanks,

G.

 

[Carrera76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150197#post11150197 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by goldmaniac
terrific tank. one question for you:

I also run skimmerless, with a refugium (caulerpa), and my water is always a slight yellow from the macroalgae. I run NO carbon, however.

You say you run carbon and I see your tank is nice and not yellow.

Carbon always? or just sometimes?

thanks,

G.

Hi there

There is carbon pad in the Aquaclear 110 Refuge all the time. It is one of those pads that have filter floss and carbon inside. I replace it every 2 weeks. By the way, the refugium was set up only a week ago and before this I had carbon in a Marineland filter.

The water in my tank is never yellow, I guess this is because I run carbon all the time. All my corals have been doing very well. Most of them were very small when this tank was set up. The frogspawn had 3 heads and it has now 13 heads, the Candy cane had only 2 and it now has 12 so I think they are happy :rollface: :rollface: :rollface:


Let me know if you have any other questions

 

[Mappelbaum37]

Carrera: When you do water changes, do you grvael vacuum the sandbed or just water? Im switching from crushed coral to sand in a couple of weeks and am trying to gather up as much info as I can.

 

[tmc1313]

Carrera76,
Yes my tank has been skimmerless for awhile. I used to run a prizm skimmer, but took it off awhile ago. It's a 30 gallon tank and I change about 15 to ~20% of the water every one to two weeks.

 

[uscharalph]

No sump also?

 

[uscharalph]

Very nice tank by the way!

 

[tmc1313]

The tank is sumpless. I just run powerheads for circulation. That's it. I believe water changes are definitely the key to success, in my setup anyway.

 

[Carrera76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150318#post11150318 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mappelbaum37
Carrera: When you do water changes, do you grvael vacuum the sandbed or just water? Im switching from crushed coral to sand in a couple of weeks and am trying to gather up as much info as I can.

Hi there

I do 10% weekly water changes and sometimes vacuum the sand bed but not all the time. Mostly just change water and try to remove detritus that accumulates on the liverock.

Let me know if you any other questions.
D

 

[Mappelbaum37]

On your first post you said that you have 3 red starfish... Are they hard to take care of? do they die off in a certain amount of time? When I switch to sand Im going to get a sand sifting goby and a bunch of sea stars, snails and hermit crabs.


Thanks!

 

[Carrera76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150438#post11150438 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tmc1313
The tank is sumpless. I just run powerheads for circulation. That's it. I believe water changes are definitely the key to success, in my setup anyway.

Well, it looks like you are doing a great job man. So no sum, skimmer or refuge?

D

 

[Carrera76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150371#post11150371 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by uscharalph
No sump also?

Hi there

Yes , there is no sump! Just 2 powerheads, heater and an AC 110 turned into a refugium (Refugium was set up only a week ago). That's all!

 

[Carrera76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150502#post11150502 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mappelbaum37
On your first post you said that you have 3 red starfish... Are they hard to take care of? do they die off in a certain amount of time? When I switch to sand Im going to get a sand sifting goby and a bunch of sea stars, snails and hermit crabs.


Thanks!

Hi there

The Red Starfish have been in my tank only for a month. All 3 of them are doing great. They are constantly moving all over the tank. They are not fed, I think that there is a lot of stuff in the tank that they can eat. Last night an hour after the lights were turned off , there were so many pods and tiny shrimp swimming all over the tank. It was neat to see so many little creatures.
By the way I was told that the star fish maximum size is 5" so that's not too bad.

Cheers

 

[Mappelbaum37]

thanks a lot for all that info...good luck with your tank!!!

 

[Carrera76]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150712#post11150712 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mappelbaum37
thanks a lot for all that info...good luck with your tank!!!

Hi there

Thanks and good luck to you too.
Cheers