SPS Nano tank with no Skimmer ?

[JVD BVI]

After years of a 90g (40g sump) SPS dominant tank up north, I now find myself in FLA with a 17g tank slowly populating with SPS frags.

The question is, can I manage it without a skimmer ?

Would love to hear the thoughts of the SPS experts


Thanks

 

[plyle02]

Hello,
I would say yes, however, that would depend on a few things.
1. How many fish, how often fed?
2. How large water changes with what frequency changed?
3. Are you running any kind of mechanical, chemical, or biological filtration? (eg. fuge)

Simple rule of thumb with sps is keeping the alk stable. Also, keeping pristine water, where regular feedings to a heavier fish population is what sps seem to thrive in, at least for coloration. So, whatever goes in, must come out, that is why most sps keepers tend to not only run a skimmer, but usually one that is over rated for the system requirements. Can this be done, yes, but you will likely being doing a couple large water changes per week, so find a salt that dials you in to the parameters you prefer, at least for alk. Red Sea makes a good salt, lower in alk, I prefer this for example because I prefer lower alk. That said, I do not have to worry about water changes altering my desired levels, I sort of maintain my alk at the same level of the newly made saltwater to avoid any fluctuations, this is key for sps as I am sure you know. I would look up Arverly 20 gallon skimmerless on the Orlando forum, he seems to be doing well at the moment, but again.... What goes in must come out, so I personally would not do this, but it can be done, just seems like a lot of work, FWIW...
Cheers!!!

 

[JVD BVI]

I have a pair of clowns and a lawnmower blennny, been on a 3g every week and a half water change schedule. Although I'm switching that to weekly.

Currently only running chemi-pure blue.

 

[anbosu]

I don't think you could do it long term with that bioload in a nano unless you set up an auto water change system.

 

[JVD BVI]

Definitely not opposed to a nano skimmer. I know they have gotten better over the years.

 

[acro-ed]

I can share a recent personal example. I was running a 40B sumpless and skimmerless. I had a few acros and they did ok and were growing slowly. I recently switched the contents over to a 37 cube and added an HOB skimmer. After two months the acros are growing significantly faster. The sand, rock, inhabitants, chemicals, salt, water changes, powerheads, light, and feeding have all stayed the same. Judging by the skimmate I'm pulling I am just giving them lower nitrates and they are responding accordingly. I'm sure I could have accomplished the same thing with weekly water changes, but I don't have the time right now. YMMV.

-Ed

 

[ARVERLY]

Hey there,

I'm running a skimmerless and sumpless 20L mixed reef, but I'm doing 5gal water change/week and running ROX carbon and BRS GFO high-capacity, 1 TBSP each, in a mesh bag, and change it every two weeks.

Phosphate is 0.10 and nitrate is 10 and these are monitored weekly. I have a dozen SPS frags and they are encrusting well, but very little vertical growth. Colors are doing great too. The tank is only 4 months old and light is a Radion XR15 with two 24" T5s. However, I will be upgrading to a 4-bulb 24" ATI Sunpower with two 24" Reefbrite XHOs this week.

Everything is doing well now but I will definitely be upgrading soon because I like to feed my flame wrasse pair and clowns heavy (3-4x/day) and it takes a lot of time and effort to keep the phosphate and nitrate at optimal levels.

Hope this helps!

 

[Lilmatty5dimes]

Agreed with arverly. If you are willing to do weekly or smaller biweekly water changes you don't need a skimmer. I did the same thing with the carbon and gfo running through a aquaclear filter and changing it about every 3 weeks. You'll def have to dose alk and calcium which can be a pain unless you have a doses pump. Go to the nano section of RC(http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=75) and search for sps tank and you'll get a few nice ones. Here's an example of a nicely done nano sps Dom tank.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2230774&highlight=sps+tank

 

[MrHarvard]

To answer your question yes. I have a 29g BB SPS tank and I do have a small Tunze skimmer running on it but I have to take it off line or increase my feeding to keep from starving the tank. I would completely remove it but due to having to dose Alk, Ca, and Mg so heavily I need it to remove water and keep my ATO running more or my salinity creeps up. All the sodium in these additives can sometimes be a bit much for a smaller tank. I normally do a water change every 2 1/2 weeks and Inhand dose nightly. It's a lot to keep up with but I love the hobby so I really enjoy doing it. The key is keeping up with the WC and having enough LR to provide surface space for good bacteria to flourish. I guess the better answer to your question is yes BUT only if you can commit to keeping up with the maintenance. I have had several SPS tanks and the smaller ones are definitely more challenging. Here are a few pics of my current 29g SPS tank under different led spectrums. The tank has been up for almost 10 months and all my SPS are groing strong and as you can see from these pics I wasn't running my skimmer at this time. Almost every SPS you see was grown from a 1" frag or smaller. (Sorry for the crappy pic was taken with iPhone)

 

[JVD BVI]

Thanks for everyone's input but after some research I decide to get a skimmer. Just ordered the Tunze Comline DOC Skimmer 9001

 

[MrHarvard]

Thanks for everyone's input but after some research I decide to get a skimmer. Just ordered the Tunze Comline DOC Skimmer 9001

That is what I am running on my 29g in the pics on and off.

 

[JVD BVI]

I received the skimmer yesterday and quickly installed it. I love the fact that it can be converted to surface skim. My tank is a 17g Mr Aqua, not an AIO so I had no other surface skimming capability.